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LONDON: Made-in-England favorite ''The King's Speech'' leads the race for the British Academy Film Awards, Britain's equivalent of the Oscars, with 14 nominations, including best picture.
Colin Firth is odds-on favorite for a best actor trophy for his performance as stuttering monarch King George VI, with Geoffrey Rush nominated for best supporting actor as the unconventional speech therapist who treated him. Helena Bonham Carter is up for best supporting actress for playing the king's wife, the Queen Mother Elizabeth.
The list was announced Tuesday. ''The King's Speech'' faces strong competition from psychosexual ballet thriller ''Black Swan,'' which has 12 nominations, and mind-bending thriller ''Inception,'' with nine.
Endurance story ''127 Hours'' and Coen brothers Western ''True Grit'' have eight nominations each.
''The Social Network,'' the story of the founding of Facebook, has six nominations including best picture, Aaron Sorkin's screenplay, David Fincher's direction. Jesse Eisenberg received a best actor nomination for his turn as Facebook's college-student founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The British awards, known as BAFTAs, will be handed out Feb. 13, two weeks before the Academy Awards in Hollywood. They are considered an important indicator of likely Oscar success.
Last year, Iraq war drama ''The Hurt Locker'' won six BAFTAs, including best picture –then repeated the feat at the Oscars. – AP
