LONDON - Literary tear-jerker "Atonement'' led the race for Sunday's British Academy Film Awards, an awards-season fixture given extra prominence by the writers' strike that has crippled Hollywood and imperilled the Oscars ceremony due in two weeks' time.
The stylish adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel about lovers tipped into tragedy by a young girl's vivid imagination is up for 14 prizes, including best picture, actor, actress and director. Noir western "No Country for Old Men'' and oil field epic "There Will Be Blood'' have nine nominations each for Britain's equivalent of the Oscars.
Hundreds of film fans gathered under an unseasonably warm February sun as stars including Anthony Hopkins, Cate Blanchett, Keira Knightley and "Harry Potter'' star Daniel Radcliffe arrived at London's Royal Opera House for the black-tie ceremony.
Daniel Day-Lewis and Julie Christie were hot favourites to take acting honours for "There Will Be Blood'' and "Away from Her'' respectively.
Supporting-actor nominee Tom Wilkinson ("Michael Clayton'') was one of many people impressed by Day-Lewis' performance as an obsessed oilman in turn of the 20th century California.
"That's acting,'' he said. "With a capital A.''
Christie said she was surprised by the acclaim for "Away from Her,'' the story of a marriage strained by the wife's descent into Alzheimer's.
"It's a tiny film, very few people saw it,'' Christie said. "I'm not sure how it came about.''
The British awards -- officially the Orange British Academy Film Awards but popularly known as BAFTAs -- have become an important pre-Oscars stop since the ceremony was moved in 2000 from April to a February date preceding the Academy Awards in Hollywood.
This year, the BAFTAs may be one of the few chances the stars have to strut the awards-show red carpet. Last month's Golden Globes ceremony was cancelled due to the Hollywood writers' strike, and the Feb. 24 Oscars ceremony remains in doubt, despite a tentative deal that could end the three-month-old walkout as early as Monday.
Oscar nominees expected at the London ceremony include acting favourites Day-Lewis and Christie, best-actor nominee Viggo Mortensen, supporting actor nominees Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton and "There Will Be Blood'' director Paul Thomas Anderson.
"Atonement'"s 14 nominations include best picture and best British picture. Stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy are nominated in the acting categories, and Joe Wright is shortlisted for best director.
"Atonement'' is up for seven Oscars including best picture, although director Wright and both leading actors were snubbed.
Teen-pregnancy comedy "Juno,'' which charmed its way to four Oscar nominations, received two nods for the British awards -- for screenwriter Diablo Cody and 20-year-old star Ellen Page. Few in Britain have yet seen the film, which opened only on Friday.
The full list of best-picture nominees is "Atonement,'' "There Will Be Blood,'' "No Country for Old Men,'' crime epic "American Gangster'' and German drama "The Lives of Others.''
In the separate category of best British film, "Atonement'' is up against "The Bourne Ultimatum,'' Russian Mafia thriller "Eastern Promises,'' skinhead drama "This is England'' and Joy Division biopic "Control.''
The best-actor contenders are McAvoy, Day-Lewis, Mortensen for "Eastern Promises,'' George Clooney for "Michael Clayton'' and the late Ulrich Muhe for "The Lives of Others.''
Leading actress nominees are Knightley, Page, Christie, Cate Blanchett for "Elizabeth: The Golden Age'' and Marion Cotillard for "La Vie En Rose.''
