European Film nominations announced

Mike Leigh's 'Vera Drake' up for best film and best acress, while Spanish cinema fairs particularly well in this years nominations.

Nov 12 2004

The 2004 European Film Academy Awards have been announced, and Mike Leigh's 'Vera Drake' has been nominated in the best film category.

Telling the story of an abortionist working in post-war London, Leigh's moving drama also won Imelda Staunton a nomination in the Best Actress category.

Elsewhere, Spanish hits 'Bad Education' and 'The Sea Inside' lead the pack in terms of nominations, with Germany's 'Head-On' bringing up the rear.

Rounding out the best film nominations were the Swedish/Danish co-production 'A Hole In My Heart' and French/Swiss effort 'Les Choristes'.

In the director category perennial favourites Pedro Almodovar and Alejandro Amenabar both received nods, but will face stiff competition from Agnes Jaoui was at the helm of Time Out's recent film of the week 'Look At Me'.

In the best actress category Staunton lines up alongside Penelope Cruz for 'Don’t Move' and Sarah Adler for 'Notre Musique', while Javier Bardem's stunning performance as Ramon Sampedro in 'The Sea Inside' has a good chance of success in the best actor category having already won at Venice earlier this year.

As for the non-European film of the year, 'The Motorcycle Diaries' is the early favourite, but will face stiff competition from 'House Of Flying Daggers', 'Maria Full Of Grace', 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and Wong Kar-Wai's mind-boggling '2046'.

The winners will be announced at the Barcelona International Convention Centre on December 11.