Carpet rolled out for Bafta awards

The champagne is on ice and the red carpet is being rolled out as some of the biggest names in Hollywood gather for tonight's Bafta film awards.

The event at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden is the biggest movie bash of the year in the UK and is seen as an accurate pointer for Oscar success.

One of the night's most intriguing contests sees Margaret Thatcher face screen siren Marilyn Monroe as the actresses who play two of the 20th century's most famous women go head-to-head.

Black-and-white silent film The Artist is the award frontrunner with 12 nominations, while Cold War thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has 11 nods despite being shunned at the Golden Globes.

Meryl Streep looks set to continue her awards run, with a nod for best actress for her portrayal of the former prime minister in The Iron Lady.

She is up against Michelle Williams for her role as Monroe in My Week With Marilyn, and Tilda Swinton as the mother of a killer in We Need To Talk About Kevin.

Argentinian actress Berenice Bejo is also in the running for The Artist, alongside US star Viola Davis for The Help.

Streep said her nomination was "thrilling, thrilling news" and The Iron Lady is up for four prizes, including supporting actor for Jim Broadbent as Denis Thatcher.

The Artist cements its reputation as an awards heavyweight, competing for the top prizes of best film and director.

Its French director Michel Hazanavicius admitted he had been a "bit mad" to embark on a black-and-white silent film, but said he was "thrilled, delighted and honoured" to be recognised by Bafta voters.

Nominations for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy include best film, director, British film and leading actor for Gary Oldman.

Oldman's rivals at the awards include heart-throbs Brad Pitt for Moneyball and George Clooney for The Descendants.

Irish-German star Michael Fassbender is up for leading actor for Shame, the movie about sex addiction, and French actor Jean Dujardin is nominated for The Artist.

Hugo, Martin Scorsese's first children's film, has nine nominations, including best director.

My Week With Marilyn has six and The Help - set in the early 1960s racially-segregated American South - and War Horse are each nominated five times.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Artist compete for the top prize of best film with The Help, The Descendants and crime thriller Drive.

Drive's Carey Mulligan and My Week With Marilyn's Dame Judi Dench are among the rivals for supporting actress.

Kenneth Branagh is among the nominees for supporting actor for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier in the film about Monroe.

Scottish film-maker Lynne Ramsay is the only British name up for best director, for We Need To Talk About Kevin, against Scorsese for Hugo, and the filmmakers behind The Artist, Drive, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

The British debut category this year sees Black Pond, the film featuring the return of disgraced actor Chris Langham, nominated.

It will be up against Attack The Block, which is Joe Cornish's comedy about an alien invasion on a council estate, Coriolanus, Ralph Fiennes's first-time film as a director, Submarine by The IT Crowd star Richard Ayoade, and Paddy Considine's Tyrannosaur.

George Harrison's widow Olivia was said to be "delighted" that George Harrison: Living In The Material World, which she helped to produce, was nominated in the documentary category.

The documentary, also directed by Scorsese, is in the running along with Senna, about the late Brazilian motor racing legend Ayrton Senna, and Project Nim, about a 1970 social experiment involving a chimp.

Hosted by Stephen Fry, the awards take place at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden tonight and are being shown on BBC1.

Two men certain of taking home a trophy are Scorsese, who will be awarded the Bafta Fellowship, and John Hurt who will receive the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award.

But none of the Bafta nominees go away empty-handed. They all get a gift bag stuffed with top of the range goodies including a leather notebook, jet and silver cufflinks and a selection of beauty products.

They also get bottles of Disaronno liqueur and champagne to toast their success or drown their sorrows as appropriate.

AND THE NOMINEES ARE... the full list of nominations for the Bafta film awards:

Best Film:

The Artist

The Descendants

Drive

The Help

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Outstanding British Film:

My Week With Marilyn

Senna

Shame

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer:

Attack The Block - Joe Cornish (director/writer)

Black Pond - Will Sharpe (director/writer), Tom Kingsley (director), Sarah Brocklehurst (producer)

Coriolanus - Ralph Fiennes (director)

Submarine - Richard Ayoade (director/writer)

Tyrannosaur - Paddy Considine (director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (producer)

Foreign language film:

Incendies

Pina

Potiche

A Separation

The Skin I Live In

Director:

The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius

Drive - Nicolas Winding Refn

Hugo - Martin Scorsese

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Tomas Alfredson

We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lynne Ramsay

Leading actor:

Brad Pitt - Moneyball

Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

George Clooney - The Descendants

Jean Dujardin - The Artist

Michael Fassbender - Shame

Leading actress:

Berenice Bejo - The Artist

Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady

Michelle Williams - My Week With Marilyn

Tilda Swinton - We Need To Talk About Kevin

Viola Davis - The Help

Supporting actor:

Christopher Plummer - Beginners

Jim Broadbent - The Iron Lady

Jonah Hill - Moneyball

Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn

Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Ides Of March

Supporting actress:

Carey Mulligan - Drive

Jessica Chastain - The Help

Judi Dench - My Week With Marilyn

Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids

Octavia Spencer - The Help

Documentary:

George Harrison: Living In The Material World

Project Nim

Senna

Animated film:

The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn

Arthur Christmas

Rango

Screenplay:

The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius

Bridesmaids - Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig

The Guard - John Michael McDonagh

The Iron Lady - Abi Morgan

Midnight In Paris - Woody Allen

Adapted screenplay:

The Descendants - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

The Help - Tate Taylor

The Ides Of March - George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon

Moneyball - Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

Original music:

The Artist

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hugo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

War Horse

Cinematography:

The Artist

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Hugo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

War Horse

Editing:

The Artist

Drive

Hugo

Senna

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Production design:

The Artist

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Hugo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

War Horse

Costume design:

The Artist

Hugo

Jane Eyre

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Make-up and hair:

The Artist

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Hugo

The Iron Lady

My Week With Marilyn

Sound:

The Artist

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Hugo

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

War Horse

Special visual effects:

The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Hugo

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

War Horse

Short animation:

Abuelas

Bobby Yeah

A Morning Stroll

Short film:

Chalk

Mwansa The Great

Only Sound Remains

Pitch Black Heist

Two And Two

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award (previously announced, and voted by the public)

Adam Deacon

Chris Hemsworth

Chris O'Dowd

Eddie Redmayne

Tom Hiddleston

PA