Las nominaciones a los premios BAFTA

By Stuart Kemp

LONDON -- James Cameron's " Avatar," Kathryn Bigelow's " The Hurt Locker" and Lone Scherfig's " An Education" emerged blinking with eight nominations apiece for this year's Orange British Film Awards including noms for best film and best director.

The big surprise on this year's list is the Peter Jackson produced South African set sci-fi " District 9" which secured seven nominations, one ahead of this year's six times nominees " Inglourious Basterds" and " Up in the Air."To win this year's best film award, recent Golden Globe king Cameron and his other worldly blue people drama will have to see off competition from " Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire" and "Up In The Air" as well as "The Hurt Locker" and "An Education."

Presented by the British Academy Of Film and Television Arts, the Orange BAFA for best director is a face-off for votes with "District 9" director Neill Blomkamp joining a list sporting Quentin Tarantino for his World War II actioner "Inglourious Basterds," Cameron, Scherfig and Bigelow.

Other Globe winners making the list include Jeff Bridges for his turn in " Crazy Heart" in the leading actor category where he finds himself up against George Clooney for "Up In The Air," Colin Firth for " A Single Man," Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker" and Andy Serkis for " Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll."The evening's leading actress nod will come from Carey Mulligan in "An Education," Saoirse Ronan in " The Lovely Bones," Gabourey Sidibe for "Precious," Meryl Streep in " Julie & Julia" and Audrey Tautou for " Coco Before Chanel."

Alfred Molina is in the running for best supporting actor for his turn in "An Education" alongside Alec Baldwin for " It's Complicated," Christian McKay for " Me And Orson Welles," Stanley Tucci's turn in "The Lovely Bones" and Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds."Meanwhile "Up In The Air" duo Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick and " Nowhere Boy" pair Anne-Marie Duff and Kristin Scott Thomas are nominated alongside Mo'nique" for "Precious" in the best supporting actress category.

Best British film, one of two of the evening's U.K. awards, will come from "An Education," " Fish Tank," " In the Loop," " Moon" and "Nowhere Boy."The awards will be dished out Feb. 21 at London's Royal Opera House.A full list of nominations can be found at www.bafta.org

BEST FILM"Avatar," James Cameron, Jon Landau"An Education," Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer"The Hurt Locker," Nominees TBC"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire," Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness"Up In The Air," Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Daniel Dubiecki

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM"An Education," Amanda Posey, Finola Dwyer, Lone Scherfig, Nick Hornby"Fish Tank," Kees Kasander, Nick Laws, Andrea Arnold"In The Loop," Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy, Armando Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche"Moon," Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler, Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker"Nowhere Boy," Kevin Loader, Douglas Rae, Robert Bernstein, Sam Taylor-Wood, Matt Greenhalgh

DIRECTOR"Avatar," James Cameron"District 9," Neill Blomkamp"An Education," Lone Scherfig"The Hurt Locker," Kathryn Bigelow"Inglourious Basterds," Quentin Tarantino

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY"The Hangover," Jon Lucas, Scott Moore"The Hurt Locker," Mark Boal"Inglourious Basterds," Quentin Tarantino"A Serious Man," Joel Coen, Ethan Coen"Up," Bob Peterson, Pete Docter

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY"District 9," Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell"An Education," Nick Hornby"In The Loop," Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire," Geoffrey Fletcher"Up In The Air," Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE "Broken Embraces," Agustin Almodovar, Pedro Almodovar"Coco Before Chanel," Carole Scotta, Caroline Benjo, Philippe Carcassonne, Anne Fontaine"Let The Right One In," Carl Molinder, John Nordling, Tomas Alfredson"A Prophet," Pascale Caucheteux, Marco Chergui, Alix Raynaud, Jacques Audiard"The White Ribbon," Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Margaret Menegoz, Michael Haneke

ANIMATED FILM"Coraline," Henry Selick"Fantastic Mr. Fox," Wes Anderson"Up," Pete Docter

LEADING ACTORJeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"George Clooney, "Up in the Air"Colin Firth, "A Single Man"Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"Andy Serkis, "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll"

LEADING ACTRESSCarey Mulligan, "An Education"Saoirse Ronan, "The Lovely Bones"Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire"Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"Audrey Tautou, "Coco Before Chanel"

SUPPORTING ACTORAlec Baldwin, "It's Complicated"Christian McKay, "Me and Orson Welles"Alfred Molina, "An Education"Stanley Tucci, "The Lovely Bones"Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"

SUPPORTING ACTRESSAnne-Marie Duff, "Nowhere Boy"Vera Farmiga, "Up in the Air"Anna Kendrick, "Up in the Air"Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire"Kristin Scott Thomas, "Nowhere Boy"