Slumdog takes on Button for top Bafta honours

Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button each received 11 nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards today.

Following her US awards success, Kate Winslet had two nominations in the leading actress category - one for The Reader and one for Revolutionary Road.

The Dark Knight had nine nominations and Changeling had eight.

Frost/Nixon received six nominations, The Reader had five and In Bruges, Milk and Revolutionary Road all had four each.

The British film industry is already riding high. Earlier this week, Winslet and Slumdog Millionaire made it a night to remember for the British film community at the Golden Globes.

The star scooped two awards and Slumdog Millionaire, the story of how impoverished Indian teen Jamal Malik became a contestant on the Hindi version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire took home four trophies including best dramatic film. The movie also went down a storm at the recent Critics' Choice Awards.

Slumdog Millionaire was nominated in the Bafta categories Best Film, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Music, Production Design, Sound and Outstanding British Film.

Danny Boyle has been nominated for Director, 18-year-old Dev Patel for Leading Actor and Freida Pinto received a nomination as Supporting Actress.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was nominated for Best Film, Director for David Fincher, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design, Editing, Make Up & Hair, Music, Production Design and Special Visual Effects.

Those battling it out for Best Film alongside The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire are Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader.

In the Outstanding British Film category were the award-winning Hunger which documents the life of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, In Bruges, Mamma Mia! - which recently became the highest-grossing film in the UK, and Man On Wire as well as Slumdog.

Teenager Patel will compete against veteran actor Mickey Rourke in the Leading Actor category, for Rourke's much-hailed comeback role in The Wrestler.

In the same category as the pair were Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon, Sean Penn for Milk and Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Winslet will be going head to head in the Leading Actress category with Angelina Jolie for Changeling, Kristin Scott Thomas for I've Loved You So Long and Meryl Streep for Doubt.

Pitt was a double nominee, also nominated in the Supporting Actor category for Burn After Reading.

The late Heath Ledger was also nominated for Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight.

Jonathan Ross will present the Baftas ceremony next month, a fortnight after the BBC lifts his suspension over the Andrew Sachs lewd phone calls row.

Ross used his page on the social networking website Twitter to invite public suggestions for an unlikely word he could incorporate into his Bafta routine.

He wrote: "Thanks for Bafta suggestions. Will whittle them down to a top three then slip one in."

The BBC announced yesterday that this year's Baftas at London's Royal Opera House on February 8 will be shown across three TV channels for the first time.

Here are the Orange British Academy Film Awards nominations:

* Best Film

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

* Outstanding British Film

Hunger

In Bruges

Mamma Mia!

Man On Wire

Slumdog Millionaire

* The Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for Their First Feature Film

Simon Chinn, Producer - Man On Wire

Judy Craymer, Producer - Mamma Mia!

Garth Jennings, Writer - Son Of Rambow

Steve McQueen, Director/Writer - Hunger

Solon Papadopoulos/Roy Boulter, Producers - Of Time And The City

* Director

Changeling - Clint Eastwood

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - David Fincher

Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard

The Reader - Stephen Daldry

Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle

* Original Screenplay

Burn After Reading - Joel Coen/Ethan Coen

Changeling - J Michael Straczynski

I've Loved You So Long - Philippe Claudel

In Bruges - Martin McDonagh

Milk - Dustin Lance Black

* Adapted Screenplay

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth

Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan

The Reader - David Hare

Revolutionary Road - Justin Haythe

Slumdog Millionaire Simon Beaufoy

* Film Not In The English Language

The Baader Meinhof Complex

Gomorrah

I've Loved You So Long

Persepolis

Waltz With Bashir

* Animated Film

Persepolis

Walloe

Waltz With Bashir

* Leading Actor

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire

Sean Penn - Milk

Brad Pitt - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

* Leading Actress

Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long

Meryl Streep - Doubt

Kate Winslet - The Reader

Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

* Supporting Actor

Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder

Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Brad Pitt - Burn After Reading

* Supporting Actress

Amy Adams - Doubt

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Freida Pinto - Slumdog Millionaire

Tilda Swinton - Burn After Reading

Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

* Music

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat

The Dark Knight - Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard

Mamma Mia! - Benny Andersson/Bjorn Ulvaeus

Slumdog Millionaire - AR Rahman

Walloe - Thomas Newman

* Cinematography

Changeling - Tom Stern

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Claudio Miranda

The Dark Knight - Wally Pfister

The Reader - Chris Menges/Roger Deakins

Slumdog Millionaire - Anthony Dod Mantle

* Editing

Changeling - Joel Cox/Gary D Roach

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Kirk Baxter/Angus Wall

The Dark Knight - Lee Smith

Frost/Nixon - Mike Hill/Dan Hanley

In Bruges - Jon Gregory

Slumdog Millionaire - Chris Dickens

* Production Design

Changeling - James J Murakami/Gary Fettis

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Donald Graham Burt/Victor J Zolfo

The Dark Knight - Nathan Crowley/Peter Lando

Revolutionary Road - Kristi Zea/Debra Schutt

Slumdog Millionaire - Mark Digby/Michelle Day

* Costume Design

Changeling - Deborah Hopper

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Jacqueline West

The Dark Knight - Lindy Hemming

The Duchess - Michael O'Connor

Revolutionary Road - Albert Wolsky

* Sound

Changeling - Walt Martin/Alan Robert Murray/John Reitz/Gregg Rudloff

The Dark Knight - Lora Hirschberg/Richard King/Ed Novick/Gary Rizzo

Quantum Of Solace - Eddy Joseph/Chris Munro/Mike Prestwood Smith/Mark Taylor

Slumdog Millionaire - Glenn Freemantle/Resul Pookutty/Richard Pryke/Tom Sayers/ Ian Tapp

Walloe - Ben Burtt/Tom Myers/Michael Semanick/Matthew Wood

* Special Visual Effects

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Eric Barba/Craig Barron/Nathan McGuinness/ Edson Williams

The Dark Knight - Chris Corbould/Nick Davis/Paul Franklin/Tim Webber

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull - Pablo Helman

Iron Man - Shane Patrick Mahan/John Nelson/Ben Snow

Quantum Of Solace - Chris Corbould/Kevin Tod Haug

* Make Up and Hair

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button - Jean Black/Colleen Callaghan

The Dark Knight - Peter Robb-King

The Duchess - Daniel Phillips/Jan Archibald

Frost/Nixon - Edouard Henriques/Kim Santantonio

Milk - Steven E Anderson/Michael White

* Short Animation

Codswallop

Varmints

Wallace And Gromit: A Matter Of Loaf And Death

* Short Film

Kingsland ?1 The Dreamer

Love You More

Ralph

September

Voyages D'Affaires (The Business Trip)

* The Orange Rising Star Award (voted for by the public)

Michael Cera

Noel Clarke

Michael Fassbender

Rebecca Hall

Toby Kebbell