"The Grand Budapest Hotel", an offbeat comedy starring Ralph Fiennes as the concierge of a luxury hotel in a bygone Europe, topped the shortlist for Britain's BAFTA awards, with 11 nominations, including for best film.
Following is how the main films stack up for the awards. Nominations were announced on Friday and the winners will be unveiled by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on Feb. 8.
-- "The Grand Budapest Hotel" was nominated for best film, best director for American Wes Anderson and original screenplay; original music, cinematography, editing, production design, costume design, make-up and hair and sound. Fiennes was nominated for leading actor.
-- "Birdman", a satire of show business by Mexican director Alejandro Inarritu, was nominated for best film, best director, original screenplay, original music, cinematography, editing and sound. Star Michael Keaton is nominated for leading actor while co-star Edward Norton is up for best supporting actor and Emma Stone is nominated for supporting actress.
-- "The Theory of Everything", a biopic of scientist Stephen Hawking by British director James Marsh, received nominations for best film, outstanding British film, director, adapted screenplay, original music, editing, costume design and make-up and hair. English actor Eddie Redmayne was nominated for leading actor, while Felicity Jones received a nomination for leading actress.
-- "The Imitation Game", about World War Two code-breaker Alan Turing directed by Norway's Morten Tyldum, was nominated for best film, outstanding British film, adapted screenplay, editing, production design, costume design and sound. Benedict Cumberbatch was nominated for leading actor and Keira Knightley was nominated for supporting actress.
-- American director Richard Linklater's coming-of-age film "Boyhood", filmed over a 12-year period using the same cast, received five nominations, as did American director Damien Chazelle's "Whiplash", which portrays a music instructor who pushes students beyond their limits.
-- There were four nominations each for "Mr Turner", British director Mike Leigh's portrayal of landscape painter J.M.W. Turner, British director Christopher Nolan's space epic "Interstellar" and U.S. film "Nightcrawler", about a video cameraman who films gruesome accidents.
(Editing by Susan Fenton)