The Lord Of The Rings and Moulin Rouge are each nominated for 12 British Academy Film Awards and are to go head-to-head for best film.

Also in the running for best film Bafta are the French-language hit Amelie, the critically acclaimed A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, and blockbuster animated adventure Shrek.

Russell Crowe: Nominated for A Beautiful Mind

Robert Altman's Gosford Park received nine nominations, as did Amelie - including an actress nod for Audrey Tautou.

Iris, Richard Eyre's critically lauded film about writer Iris Murdoch, received six nominations including nods for all four main actors: Dame Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent, Kate Winslet and Hugh Bonneville.

Dame Judi and Broadbent also received further nominations, for supporting actress in The Shipping News and for supporting actor in Moulin Rouge.

The best actor category includes Sir Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings) and Golden Globe winner Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind).

Nicole Kidman, who won a Golden Globe for her role in Moulin Rouge, received a best actress nomination for The Others, and Sissy Spacek was also nominated for best actress for her role in In The Bedroom.

Iris has received six nominations

Box office smash Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone received seven nominations and Shrek received six, with Eddie Murphy up for best supporting actor.

The Harry Potter film, which has struggled to pick up awards in the US, was classed as British although it had US funding.

Stephen Woolley, of the Bafta committee, said the judges took their lead from films which can claim government tax breaks in the UK.

"Harry Potter has wonderful British acting and fantastic British technical achievements - it just happens to be made with American funding," he added.

"But you'd be hard pushed to find anything over a budget of one or two million dollars without American funding."

Atlman's Gosford Park recently won one Golden Globe

Other British nominations included supporting actress nods for Dame Maggie Smith and Helen Mirren in Gosford Park.

Colin Firth also received a nomination for best supporting actor for his role as the eligible Mr Darcy in Bridget Jones's Diary, based on the best-selling book by Helen Fielding.

Kevin Spacey received a best actor nomination for The Shipping News, and a best actress nomination went to Ren�e Zellwegger for her role in Bridget Jones's Diary.

The David Lean award for achievement in direction will go to one of five directors: Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie), Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind), Robert Altman (Gosford Park), Peter Jackson (Lord Of The Rings) and Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge).

'Delighted'

In the frame for the Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year are Bridget Jones's Diary, Gosford Park, Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, Iris and Me Without You.

Simon Relph, Chairman of Bafta, said: "I am delighted to see such a broad international sweep as well as some of the best in British talent represented at this year's nominations."

The awards ceremony will be broadcast on BBC One on Sunday 24 February.

The show will be hosted by Stephen Fry and other presenters will include Jamie Bell, Halle Berry, Monica Bellucci, Bj�rk, Saffron Burrows and Rhys Ifans.