Ralph Fiennes and Fernando Meirelles were selected in the Best Actor and Best Director categories for the enthralling adaptation of the John le Carré political thriller. Fiennes’s co-star, Rachel Weisz, was nominated for Best Actress in the Baftas for a performance that won her the prize of Best Supporting Actress at the Globes.

The nominations bode well for the Oscars. The stature of the Baftas has been transformed since 2001, when they were moved to a pre-Oscars slot. Hollywood views the British awards as a gauge of Academy Award potential.

The shortlisting of Weisz for a Bafta reignited the debate about the definitions of “lead” and “supporting” roles. Three years ago Catherine Zeta-Jones was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the Baftas and for a Best Actress award for the same role in the Globes.

Duncan Kenworthy, the British Academy chairman, told The Times yesterday that the issue had been the subject of some discussion. Although the studio and the producers had written to the British Academy to suggest Weisz for the Supporting Actress category, the members of the academy voted overwhelmingly to place her in the more esteemed category.

Mr Kenworthy said: “She was amazing. I’m so delighted to see her nominated.” The Bafta members believed that she was “definitely the equal in weight” of the lead, Fiennes.

The film, set in Kenya, tells the story of multinational skulduggery. Weisz, appearing in flashback scenes, plays Tessa Quayle, an activist who has been found murdered. Her travelling companion, a local doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Fiennes, as her devoted husband, is determined to clear her name.

Fiennes said yesterday that nominations made a difference to the profile of a film. “Overall, awards are best seen as not necessarily confirming who’s the best but as a celebration of film. Films are so hard to get made. Awards are a celebration and a catalyst.”

The Constant Gardener was also shortlisted yesterday for Best Film and the Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year. Meirelles, who made his name with the acclaimed City of God in 2002, was nominated for the David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction.

The Constant Gardener faces competition from Brokeback Mountain, the gay cowboy film that won the top Golden Globe and received nine Bafta nominations. Good Night, and Good Luck, which chronicles the events surrounding the broadcaster Edward R. Murrow during the McCarthy era, received six nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for George Clooney. The A-list Hollywood star and director will be competing against himself because he has also been picked for Syriana, a political thriller set in the Middle East.

Keira Knightley was among the leading artists who were snubbed. The respective judges of the Globes and the Baftas disagreed on her performance in Pride & Prejudice. Although the Americans nominated her, the Baftas did not. The blockbusters of the year — notably Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong — also failed to feature in the leading Bafta categories. The Bafta ceremony will take place on February 19 at the Odeon, Leicester Square, and the programme will be broadcast on BBC One.

IN THE RUNNING

BEST FILM
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Good Night, and Good Luck

THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year
A Cock and Bull Story
The Constant Gardener Festival
Pride & Prejudice
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature film
DAVID BELTON Shooting Dogs
PETER FUDAKOWSKI Tsotsi
ANNIE GRIFFIN Festival
RICHARD HAWKINS Everything
JOE WRIGHT Pride & Prejudice

THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement in Direction
ANG LEE Brokeback Mountain
BENNETT MILLER Capote
FERNANDO MEIRELLES The Constant Gardener
PAUL HAGGIS Crash
GEORGE CLOONEY Good Night, and Good Luck

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
DAVID STRATHAIRN Good Night, And Good Luck
HEATH LEDGER Brokeback Mountain
JOAQUIN PHOENIX Walk the Line
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN Capote
RALPH FIENNES The Constant Gardener

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
CHARLIZE THERON North Country
JUDI DENCH Mrs Henderson Presents
RACHEL WEISZ The Constant Gardener
REESE WITHERSPOON Walk the Line
ZHANG ZIYI Memoirs of a Geisha

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
DON CHEADLE Crash
GEORGE CLOONEY Good Night, and Good Luck
GEORGE CLOONEY Syriana
JAKE GYLLENHAAL Brokeback Mountain
MATT DILLON Crash

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
BRENDA BLETHYN Pride & Prejudice
CATHERINE KEENER Capote
FRANCES McDORMAND North Country
MICHELLE WILLIAMS Brokeback Mountain
THANDIE NEWTON Crash

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