Chopper and The Dish led the annual awards nominations from the Film Critics Circle of Australia.

The two pictures took nine nominations each, including best film and director. Innocence and Looking For Alibrandi will also be competing for best film and director when the awards are presented on February 9 in Sydney.

Nominations for the best actress went to Julia Blake (Innocence), Rachel Griffiths (Me, Myself, I), Pia Miranda (Looking For Alibrandi) and Susie Porter (Better Than Sex). The best actor nods went to Eric Bana (Chopper), Steve Bastoni (15 Amore), Sam Neill (The Dish) and David Wenham (Better Than Sex).

The foreign film nominations in the English-language category are: American Beauty, Ride With The Devil, The Sixth Sense and Three Kings. The foreign-language nominations went to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, All About My Mother, The Widow Of St Pierre (La Verve De St Pierre) and A Pornographic Affair (Une Liaison Pornographique).

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