27/01/2005

British talent will have a stronger-than-ever presence at this year’s Oscars ceremony on February 27, with Mike Leigh’s Vera Drake [+see also:
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film profile] nominated in three top categories, including its lead actress Imelda Staunton who will compete against fellow actress Kate Winslet for the Best actress award.
Mike Leigh is for the third time nominated for Best original screenplay (after Secrets & Lies in 1996 and Topsy-Turvy in 1999), and for the second time as Best director (Secrets & Lies, 1996). Commenting on January 26th on this year’s Oscars nominations, the director said: “I’m absolutely delighted and very surprised. Unlike the two previous occasions there’s been no evidence we’d get anything other than best actress for Imelda”.
The Gold Lion winner at the last Venice Film Festival is currently doing very well at the UK box office(Momentum Distribution) with almost £1m gross in only three weeks.

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Among the British talent also competing for an Oscar this year are Kate Winslet who gets her forth nomination for Best actress after Sense and Sensibility (1995), Titanic (1997) and Iris (2001), Sophie Okonedo, who previously played in Stephen Frears’Dirty Pretty Things and will now compete for Best supporting actress in Hotel Rwanda, and Clive Owen, who will try to reiterate his recent victory at the Golden Globes with the Best supporting actor award for Closer. Finally Andrea Arnold’s short film Wasp supported by the UK Film Council and Film Four’s Cinema Extreme’ strand, will try to win the Oscar for Best short, live action.
Commenting on the Oscars nominations, John Woodward, chief executive of the UK Film Council said: “It’s extremely heartening to see yet again that British filmmaking talent is being recognized by the most high profile film awards ceremony in the world. Britain has a hugely talented industry and these nominations show why National Lottery investment in film pays major dividends for our culture and economy”.