Once again, American Beauty has proved its modern classic status by leading the race for this year's British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTAs) which take place on April 9.

Following its eight Academy Award nominations, the Dreamworks production received 14 BAFTA nominations in all the major categories, including best film, best director for Sam Mendes, best actress for Annette Bening, best actor for Kevin Spacey, best supporting actress for Thora Birch and Mena Suvari and best supporting actor for Wes Bentley.

Neil Jordan's End Of The Affair came out slightly better with the British academy after its poor showing in the Academy Award nominations. It received ten nods including those in all the major categories. Two other Oscar contenders, The Sixth Sense and The Talented Mr Ripley, also made strong showings with four and seven nominations respectively.

However, The Cider House Rules, the surprise Oscar contender with seven nominations, only managed one BAFTA nod - for supporting actor Michael Caine.

UK sleeper East Is East reaped the benefits of its strong critical and commercial success with five nominations including both best film and best British film and best actress for Linda Bassett and actor for Om Puri.

In addition to its foreign-language nomination, Pedro Almodovar's acclaimed All About My Mother, which has already been garlanded with several international awards including three major European Film Awards, was recognised in the best director and best screenplay categories.

Once again, Alan Parker's Angela's Ashes was largely snubbed with just three nods although these included best actress for Emily Watson. Mike Leigh's Topsy Turvy, however, received a larger number of main category nominations compared to the Academy Awards, where it got a best screenplay and three craft nods. Its five BAFTA nominations include best British film, best actor for Jim Broadbent and best screenplay.

FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS:

BEST FILM
American Beauty (Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks)
East Is East (Leslee Udwin)
The End Of The Affair (Stephen Woolley, Neil Jordan)
The Sixth Sense (Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Barry Mendel)
The Talented Mr Ripley (William Horberg, Tom Sternberg)

THE DAVID LEAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR
All About My Mother (Pedro Almodovar)
American Beauty (Sam Mendes)
The End Of The Affair (Neil Jordan)
The Sixth Sense (M Night Shyamalan)
The Talented Mr Ripley (Anthony Minghella)

THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD FOR BEST BRITISH FILM
East Is East (Leslee Udwin, Damien O'Donnell)
Notting Hill (Duncan Kenworthy, Roger Michell)
Onegin (Ileen Maisel, Simon Bosanquet, Martha Fiennes)
Ratcatcher (Gavin Emerson, Lynne Ramsey)
Topsy Turvy (Simon Channing Williams, Mike Leigh)
Wonderland (Michele Camarda, Andrew Eaton, Michael Winterbottom)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
All About My Mother (Pedro Almodovar)
American Beauty (Alan Ball)
Being John Malkovich (Charlie Kaufman)
The Sixth Sense (M Night Shyamalan)
Topsy Turvy (Mike Leigh)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
East Is East (Ayub Khan Din)
The End Of The Affair (Neil Jordan)
An Ideal Husband (Oliver Parker)
The Talented Mr Ripley (Anthony Minghella)

BEST ACTRESS
American Beauty (Annette Bening)
Angela's Ashes (Emily Watson)
East Is East (Linda Bassett)
The End Of The Affair (Julianne Moore)

BEST ACTOR
American Beauty (Kevin Spacey)
East Is East (Om Puri)
The End Of The Affair (Ralph Fiennes)
The Insider (Russell Crowe)
Topsy Turvy (Jim Broadbent)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
American Beauty (Thora Birch)
American Beauty (Mena Suvari)
Being John Malkovich (Cameron Diaz)
The Talented Mr Ripley (Cate Blanchett)
Tea With Mussolini (Maggie Smith)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
American Beauty (Wes Bentley)
Cider House Rules (Michael Caine)
Notting Hill (Rhys Ifans)
The Talented Mr Ripley (Jude Law)
Topsy Turvy (Timothy Spall)

BEST FOREIGN FILM
All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre) (Agustin Almodovar, Pedro Almodovar)
Buena Vista Social Club (Ulrich Felsberg, Deepak Nayar, Wim Wenders)
Festen (Brigitte Hald, Thomas Vinterberg)
Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt) (Stefan Arndt, Tom Tykwer)

BEST MUSIC
American Beauty (Thomas Newman)
Buena Vista Social Club (Ry Cooder, Nick Gold)
The End Of The Affair (Michael Nyman)
The Talented Mr Ripley (Gabriel Yared)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
American Beauty (Conrad L Hall)
Angela's Ashes (Michael Seresin)
The End Of The Affair (Roger Pratt)
The Matrix (Bill Pope)
The Talented Mr Ripley (John Seale)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
American Beauty (Naomi Shohan)
Angela's Ashes (Geoffrey Kirkland)
The End Of The Affair (Anthony Pratt)
The Matrix (Owen Paterson)
Sleepy Hollow (Rick Heinrichs)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The End Of The Affair (Sandy Powell)
An Ideal Husband (Caroline Harris)
Sleepy Hollow (Colleen Atwood)
Tea With Mussolini (Jenny Beavan, Anna Anni, Alberto Spiazzi)

BEST EDITING
American Beauty (Tariq Anwar, Christopher Greenbury)
Being John Malkovich (Eric Zumbrunnen)
The Matrix (Zach Staenberg)
The Sixth Sense (Andrew Mondshein)

BEST SOUND
American Beauty
Buena Vista Social Club
The Matrix
Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
A Bug's Life
The Matrix
The Mummy
Sleepy Hollow
Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace

BEST MAKE-UP/HAIR
American Beauty (Tania McComas, Carol A O'Connell)
An Ideal Husband (Peter King)
The End Of The Affair (Christine Beveridge)
Topsy Turvy (Christine Blundell)

BEST SHORT ANIMATION
Jolly Roger (Clare Jennings, Mark Baker, Neville Astley)
The Man With The Beautiful Eyes (Jonathan Bairstow, Jonathan Hodgson)
The Old Man And The Sea (Bernard LaJoie, Tatsuo Shimamura, Alexander Petrov)
The Periwig-Maker (Annette Schaffler, Steffen Schaffler)

BEST SHORT FILM
Bait (Soul Gatti-Pascual, Tom Shankland, Jane Harris)
Perdie (Rachel Shadick, Faye Gilbert)
The Tale Of The Rat That Wrote (Ruth Kenley-Letts, Lisa-Marie Russo, Billy O'Brien)
Who's My Favourite Girl (Joern Utkilen, Kara Johnston, Adrian McDowall)