'King's Speech' leads BIFAs race

LONDON -- Tom Hooper's "The King's Speech" nabbed eight nominations for this year's British Independent Film Awards, closely followed by "Monsters," "Never Let Me Go" and "The Arbor," which each received six noms.

"Speech," "Monsters" and "Never Let Me Go" will join Matthew Vaughn's "Kick-Ass" and Christopher Morris' debut feature "Four Lions" in the best film category for the 13th edition of the awards, which takes place on Dec. 5.

Jihad satire "Four Lions," which took ?2.9 million ($4.7 million) at the Blighty box office, received five nods this year, while four nods went to Mike Leigh's "Another Year," Nigel Cole's "Made in Dagenham" and Rowan Joffe's directorial feature debut "Brighton Rock."

Thesps battling it out for best actor will see new talent go up against veteran fare. Jim Broadbent for "Another Year," Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," Riz Ahmed for "Four Lions," Scoot McNairy for "Monsters" and Aidan Gillen for "Treacle Junior" are all nominated in the category.

Leading ladies vying for best actress are rising star Andrea Riseborough for her perf in "Brighton Rock," Sally Hawkins for "Made in Dagenham," Ruth Sheen for "Another Year," Manjinder Virk for "The Arbor" and Carey Mulligan, who nabbed the award last year for "An Education," for her perf in this year's pic "Never Let Me Go."

Both Riseborough and Virk are also up for most promising newcomer for their perfs.

Newcomer Gareth Edwards has received four noms for his directorial debut "Monsters," which will compete for best film, director, debut director and technical achievement.

Clio Barnard's "The Arbor," which nabbed two wins at the London Film Festival awards last week, will also be competing for best British documentary at the BIFAs, alongside "Enemies of the People," "Exit Through the Giftshop," "Fire in Babylon" and "Waste Land."

The Raindance Award nominees for this year are Ashley Horner's "Brilliantlove," Iraqi pic "Son of Babylon," "Treacle Junior," "Legacy" and "Jackboots on Whitehall."

This year's jury comprises of leading Brit industryites, including "An Education" producer Finola Dwyer, thesps Matthew Goode and Gemma Jones, producer Andy Harries, editor Mags Arnold, and helmers David Mackenzie and James Marsh.

This year's BIFAs will be hosted for the sixth year by thesp James Nesbitt.

Helen Jackson contributed to this report.

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