BEVERLY HILLS, Dec 13: ‘Brokeback Mountain’, a gay romance between two cowboys, topped the Golden Globes on Tuesday with nominations in seven categories, including best film drama, in a year dominated by independent movies.

Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which give out the Golden Globes, shunned major Hollywood studio movies in its top category, best film drama, including Steven Spielberg’s ‘Munich’ and Peter Jackson’s ‘King Kong’.

Joining ‘Brokeback’ on the list for best film drama were ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’, a stylish black-and-white movie directed by George Clooney, Woody Allen’s story about British social climbers “Match Point,” and two low-budget thrillers, “A History of Violence” and “The Constant Gardener.”

“Brokeback” also earned nominations for best director Ang Lee, best actor in a drama Heath Ledger, best supporting actress Michelle Williams, and screenplay, score and song.

“Good Night,” “Match Point,” and the film adaptation of Broadway musical “The Producers,” had four nominations each.

Combined with recent honors from major US critics groups, the Golden Globes should help “Brokeback” reach audiences outside gay communities and art houses, its backers said.

“It’s definitely good for the movie’s release in terms of broadening its audience, and getting them to think about the issues,” said director Ang Lee. Although it is about two gay men, the movie really touches on love, family bonds and fear.

“It’s a great pat on the back,” said James Schamus, a “Brokeback” producer and co-president of Focus Features, the film’s distributor. The independent wing of Universal Pictures came away with 12 nominations, more than any distributor.

INDIE SUCCESS: The Golden Globes, which will be given out by the HFPA on Jan 16, are widely watched as an indicator of early Oscar contenders. Many of the nominees will go on to be nominated for Oscars, which are the US film industry’s top awards given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

David Cronenberg, director of ‘History of Violence’, pegged the independents’ success to taking risks and covering subjects the majors don’t. “Violence” was released by New Line Cinema.

“You can take more chances when your budget is small,” he said. “The higher the budget, the more conservative you have to be because you have to have a wider audience.”

But the majors were not totally excluded. “The Producers” made the list of nominees for best film musical or comedy along with Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line.”

Indies in that category included “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” about a nude revue in a London theater in World War II, “Pride & Prejudice,” based on the Jane Austen novel, and divorce tale “The Squid and The Whale.”

Spielberg and Jackson did score nominations for best director with “Munich” and “King Kong,” respectively, but each film landed in only two groups.

Along with Ledger, best dramatic actor nominees included Philip Seymour Hoffman for his role as author Truman Capote in “Capote,” Russell Crowe as a boxer in “Cinderella Man,” David Strathairn as newsman Edward R. Murrow in “Good Night, and Good Luck” and Terrence Howard as a pimp in “Hustle & Flow.”

In the best dramatic actress category, Zhang is joined by Felicity Huffman as a transgender character in “Transamerica,” Gwyneth Paltrow for “Proof,” Charlize Theron in “North Country” and Maria Bello in “A History of Violence.”—Reuters