Meryl Streep has continued her awards run while silent film The Artist and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy have been showered with nominations at this year's Baftas.
The Iron Lady is up for only four prizes, including best actress for Golden Globe winner Streep for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher and supporting actor for Jim Broadbent as Denis.
The Guard, filmed in Ireland, is nominated for best original screenplay along with The Artist; Bridesmaids; The Iron Lady and Midnight In Paris. Irish actor Chris O'Dowd is also nominated in the best new artist category while Michael Fassbender is shortlisted for the leading actor award for his role in Shame.
Despite being shunned at the Golden Globes, Cold War thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has 11 Orange British Academy Film Award nods, including best film, director, British film and leading actor for Gary Oldman.
Black and white silent film The Artist is the frontrunner, cementing its reputation as an awards heavyweight with 12 nominations, competing for best film, director, leading actress (Berenice Bejo) and actor (Jean Dujardin).
Hugo,Martin Scorsese's first children's film, has nine nominations, including best director.
My Week With Marilyn has six and The Help - set in the early 1960s racially-segregated American South - and War Horse are each nominated five times.
In the competitive best actress category, Streep - who is tipped for Oscar glory for her role as the former British prime minister - is up against Michelle Williams for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe and Tilda Swinton for her role as the mother of a killer in We Need To Talk About Kevin.
Argentinian actress Berenice Bejo is in the running for The Artist alongside US star Viola Davis for The Help.
Oldman's leading actor rivals at the awards, the biggest event in the British film calendar, include heartthrobs Brad Pitt for Moneyball and George Clooney for The Descendants and French actor Jean Dujardin for The Artist.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Artist compete for the top prize of best film with The Help, comedy The Descendants and crime thriller Drive.
Drive's Carey Mulligan is up for supporting actress, competing with Dame Judi Dench for My Week With Marilyn.
US stars Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, who are both in The Help, are also nominated.
The supporting actor category pits Broadbent against Kenneth Branagh for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn.
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Ides Of March), Jonah Hill (Moneyball) and Christopher Plummer (Beginners) are also nominated.
Scottish film-maker Lynne Ramsay is up for best director, for We Need To Talk About Kevin, against Scorsese for Hugo, and the filmmakers behind The Artist, Drive, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy producer Tim Bevan said of the nomination: "Any film is the vision of a director, and that's particularly so with this movie, so Tomas Alfredson deserves the accolade."
Bevan said he was not disappointed that the film had not done better at award ceremonies in the US.
He said: "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a particularly British cultural phenomenon. It's great that it's being recognised at the Baftas but that it hasn't at the Golden Globes is not surprising."
He said of his competition: "The Artist seems to be the film with the momentum, and rightly so.
"It's been an okay year but not a brilliant year for movies, and The Artist defines what cinema should be. It's brave, different, it's got a great shot."
Hosted by Stephen Fry, the awards take place on Sunday February 12th at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
George Harrison's widow Olivia was said to be "delighted" that George Harrison: Living In The Material World, which she helped to produce, had been nominated in the documentary category.
The documentary, directed by Martin Scorsese, is in the running along with Senna, about the late Brazilian motor racing legend, and Project Nim, a documentary about a 1970s social experiment involving a chimp.
Fresh from her Golden Globe win, Streep called her Bafta nomination “thrilling, thrilling news!”, adding: “Not just for me, but for the film of which I am very proud, and for the hundreds of people who worked on it! Thanks, from a (New) Jersey girl...”
French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius, who directed The Artist, admitted he had been a "bit mad" to embark on a black-and-white silent film.
"Would you believe me if I were to say I am speechless? No? Then I will say on behalf of everyone involved in The Artist that we are thrilled, delighted and honoured to be recognised by the Bafta voters," he said.
“We were perhaps a bit mad to make a black-and-white silent film in 2011. We certainly hoped to find an audience but the support we have received from so many people in so many different countries was unexpected, overwhelming and quite wonderful. Thank you.”
Dujardin, a strong contender for best actor, said: “It makes me so happy that so many people are embracing this movie, a black-and-white silent film, and that it is becoming so universally celebrated.
“To be recognised in a category with these other actors, whose work I have admired for a long time, is a true honour.”
Berenice Bejo, who is up for best actress, said: “It was a labour of love for Michel, Jean and me, and a huge leap of faith for our producer, Thomas Langmann.
"That The Artist should be recognised in this way by the British voters, too, is the icing on the cake for all of us.
“If I were in London right now, I would dance for you.”
PA