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Cold Mountain leads Bafta nominations

Anthony Minghella's Civil war drama Cold Mountain is leading this year's Bafta award nominations.

The film, directed by Brit Minghella and starring homegrown talent Jude Law, has received 13 nominations from the academy, including best film. The Lord of the Rings final instalment The Return of the King picked up 12 nominations. Girl With A Pearl Earring, starring Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson, picked up 10 nominations.

The UK equivalent of the Oscars announced the contenders for this year's prizes today and other films in the best film category included The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Master and Commander, Tim Burton's Big Fish and Lost in Translation.

Cold Mountain and Richard Curtis comedy Love Actually are both in the running for best British film.

Actor Sean Penn and rising star Scarlett Johansson both scooped two nominations each in the best actor and actress lists. Penn is nominated for his roles in dramas Mystic River and 21 Grams, while Johansson is a nominee for both Girl With A Pearl Earring and Lost In Translation.

Benicio Del Toro, Bill Murray and Johnny Depp are all nominated for the best actor gong, while Anne Reid for The Mother, Naomi Watts for 21 Grams and Uma Thurman for Kill Bill will all battle it out with Johansson for the best actress title. Nicole Kidman for Cold Mountain was the surprise omission in the best actress list.

Best director nominees include Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation and Anthony Minghella for Cold Mountain.

Last year's big Bafta winner was Roman Polanski's Holocaust drama The Pianist and the awards are increasingly seen as a serious indicator of Oscar success.

Comic Stephen Fry announced the nominations and will host the London award ceremony on February 15th.

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