Hunger, the debut film by artist Steve McQueen about IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, has been nominated for seven British Independent Film Awards.
Turner Prize-winner McQueen's film has more nominations than The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley, and Happy-Go-Lucky, the latest movie from Mike Leigh.
Hunger is up for Best British Independent Film, Director, Debut Director, Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor and Technical Achievement.
The awards also see Thomas Turgoose, the teenager who made his name in This Is England, up for Best Actor against established names like Colin Farrell.
Grimsby-born Turgoose, who was plucked from obscurity while hanging out at a youth club just a few years ago, is nominated for his role as a runaway in Somers Town.
The Duchess, based on the biography of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, has four nominations including Best Actress for Knightley.
Sienna Miller is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role opposite Knightley in The Edge of Love, the film based on the two women in poet Dylan Thomas's life.
Happy-Go-Lucky has three nominations, including one for Best Actress for Sally Hawkins, who played the lead role of a school teacher in the film.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, adapted from John Boyne's best-selling novel set in the Holocaust, is also up for three awards.
Asa Butterfield, an 11-year-old from Islington, north London, who plays German character Bruno in the film, is nominated for Most Promising Newcomer. David Thewlis, who stars in the movie, will receive the Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Film.
News Sources:- http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/latest-celebs/2008/10/28/sands-film-in-line-for-seven-awards-115875-20847977/
Sands film in line for seven awards
