Local box office hits line up against several of this year's festival prize-winners as the eight nominees for the 2002 European Film Award, to be handed out by the European Film Academy in Rome on Dec 7.

Leading the way in nominations for Europe's own answer to the Oscars is Aki Kaurismaki's The Man Without A Past, which is in the running in all six categories for which the award-winning co-production was eligible. Not far behind Kaurismaki is Pedro Almodovar, whose Talk To Her received five nods, it was announced today.

Rounding out the shortlist for Best European Film are: Francois Ozon's 8 Femmes, Gurinda Chadha's Bend It Like Beckham, Paul Greengrass' Bloody Sunday, Lukas Moodysson's Lilja 4-Ever, Peter Mullan's The Magdalene Sisters and Roman Polanski's The Pianist.

Chasing the prize for Best Non-European Film, a category curated by Screen International, are a quartet of American films plus films from Brazil, Palestine, Japan and Canada. Three of them have already grossed more than $200m at the global box office.

The non-European nominees, which span a wide range of budget levels and cinematic styles, are Curtis Hanson's 8 Mile, Fernando Meirelles's City Of God, Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven, Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention, Steven Spielberg's Minority Report, Joel Zwick's My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away and David Cronenberg's Spider.

Unusually, the entire female ensemble of 8 Femmes are competing en bloc for Best European Actress, alongside Oksana Akinshina (Lilja 4-Ever), Emmanuelle Devos (Read My Lips), Martina Gedeck (Mostly Martha), Laura Morante (A Journey Called Love), Samantha Morton (Morvern Callar) and Kati Outinen (The Man Without A Past)

The Best Actor will be chosen from among Javier Bardem (Mondays In The Sun), Javier Camara (Talk To Her), Martin Compston (Sweet Sixteen), Olivier Gourmet (The Son), Markku Peltola (The Man Without A Past), Timothy Spall (All Or Nothing) and Sergio Castellitto who is nominated for two performances (Mostly Martha, My Mother's Smile).

Kaurismaki, Almodovar and Polanski all compete for the best European director prize, challenging Marco Bellochio (My Mother's Smile), Andreas Dresen (Grill Point), Mike Leigh (All Or Nothing), Ken Loach (Sweet Sixteen) and Alexander Sokurov (The Ark).

Among the nominees for Fassbinder Award for European Discovery are two of this year's foreign-language Oscar entries, Hungary's Hukkle and the UK's The Warrior. Best Documentary nominees include Lost In La Mancha, which followed the chaotic production of Terry Gilliam's abandoned Don Quixote epic.

The full list of nominations:

EUROPEAN FILM 2002
8 Femmes, France
directed by Francois Ozon
produced by Fidelite Productions, France 2 Cinema, Mars Films

Bend It Like Beckham, UK
directed by Gurinder Chadha
produced by Kintop Pictures, Road Movies, Roc Media, Bend It Films

Bloody Sunday, UK/Ireland
directed by Paul Greengrass
produced by Granada Film, Hell's Kitchen, in association with Granada, the Film Council and Bord Scannan na hEireann/the Irish Film Board

Talk To Her (Hable Con Ella), Spain
directed by Pedro Almodovar
produced by El Deseo

Lilja 4-Ever, Sweden
directed by Lukas Moodysson
produced by Memfis Films, Film i Vast, SVT, Zentropa

The Man Without A Past (Mies Vailla Menneisyytta), Finland/Germany/France
directed by Aki Kaurismaki
produced by Sputnik Oy, Pandora Film, Pyramide Productions

The Magdalene Sisters, UK
directed by Peter Mullan
produced by PFP Films, Element Films, Wild Bunch, Momentum, Lucky Red, Film Council

The Pianist, France/Poland/Germany/UK
directed by Roman Polanski
produced by RP Productions, Heritage Films, Studio Babelsberg, Runteam Ltd

EUROPEAN DIRECTOR 2002
Pedro Almodovar for Talk To Her (Hable Con Ella)
Marco Bellocchio for My Mother's Smile (L'Ora di Religione)
Andreas Dresen for Grill Point (Halbe Treppe)
Aki Kaurismaki for The Man Without A Past (Mies Vailla Menneisyytta)
Mike Leigh for All Or Nothing
Ken Loach for Sweet Sixteen
Roman Polanski for The Pianist
Alexander Sokurov for Russian Ark (Russkij Kovcheg)

EUROPEAN ACTOR 2002
Javier Bardem in Mondays In The Sun (Los Lunes Al Sol)
Javier Camara in Talk To Her (Hable Con Ella)
Sergio Castellitto in Bella Martha (Mostly Martha) & My Mother's Smile (L'Ora di Religione)
Martin Compston in Sweet Sixteen
Olivier Gourmet in The Son (Le Fils)
Markku Peltola in The Man Without A Past (Mies Vailla Menneisyytta)
Timothy Spall in All Or Nothing

EUROPEAN ACTRESS 2002
Oksana Akinshina in Lilja 4-Ever
Emmanuelle Devos in Read My Lips (Sur mes Levres)
Martina Gedeck in Mostly Martha (Bella Martha)
Laura Morante in A Journey Called Love (Un Viaggio Chiamato Amore)
Samantha Morton in Morvern Callar
Kati Outinen in The Man Without A Past (Mies Vailla Menneisyytta)
The ensemble cast of 8 Femmes: (Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart, Fanny Ardant, Virginie Ledoyen, Danielle Darrieux, Ludivine Sagnier, Firmine Richard)

EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2002
Pedro Almodovar for Talk To Her (Hable Con Ella)
Tonino Benacquista & Jacques Audiard for Read My Lips (Sur Mes Levres)
Paul Greengrass for Bloody Sunday
Aki Kaurismaki for The Man Without A Past (Mies Vailla Menneisyytta)
Krzysztof Kieslowski & Krzysztof Piesiewicz for Heaven
Paul Laverty for Sweet Sixteen
Francois Ozon for 8 Femmes

EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER 2002
Javier Aguirresarobe for Talk To Her (Hable Con Ella)
Tilman Büttner for Russian Ark (Russkij Kovcheg)
Pawel Edelman for The Pianist
Frank Griebe for Heaven
Alwin Küchler for Morvern Callar
Timo Salminen for The Man Without A Past (Mies Vailla Menneisyytta)
Ivan Strasburg for Bloody Sunday

SCREEN INTERNATIONAL AWARD 2002 - for a non-European Film
8 Mile, by Curtis Hanson, US
City Of God (Cidade De Deus), by Fernando Meirelles, Brazil
Far From Heaven, by Todd Haynes, US
Divine Intervention, by Elia Suleiman, Palestine
Minority Report, by Steven Spielberg, US
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, by Joel Zwick, US
Spirited Away (Sen To Chihiro No Kamikakushi), by Hayao Miyazaki, Japan
Spider, by David Cronenberg, Canada

EUROPEAN DISCOVERY 2002 - Fassbinder Award
Two Friends (Due Amici), by Spiro Scimone & Francesco Sframeli, Italy
Hukkle, by Gyorgy Palfi, Hungary
No Regrets (Nichts Bereuen), by Benjamin Quabeck, Germany
Gracia's Island (Respiro), by Emanuele Crialese, Italy
Minor Mishaps (Sma Ulykker), by Anette K. Olesen
Smoking Room, by Julio Wallovitz & Roger Gual, Spain
Pleasant Days (Szep Napok), by Kornel Mundruczo, Hungary
The Warrior, by Asif Kapadia, UK
Guardian Of The Frontier (Varuh Meje), by Maja Weiss, Slovenia
What's Going On' (Wesh... Wesh..., Qu'est-Ce Qui Se Passe') by Rabah Ameur-Zaimeche, France
The Kite (Zmej), by Alexei Muradov, Russia

EUROPEAN SHORT FILM 2002 - Prix UIP (previously announced)
Muno, by Bouli Lanners, Belgium
News From L Project (Nouvelle De La Tour L), by Samuel Benchetrit, France
Wedding Night (Nuit De Noces), by Olga Baillif, Belgium/France
Relativity, by Virginia Heath, UK
The Reflector (Kuvastin), by Tatu Pohjavirta, Finland
Part-Time (Mi-Temps), by Mathias Gokalp, France
Brother Of Mine (Bror Min), by Jens Jonsson, Sweden
10 Minutes (10 Minuta), by Ahmed Imamovic, Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Procter by Joachim Trier, Norway/UK
Lover Of Pirates (Kalozok Szeretoje) by Zsofia Peterffy, Hungary
That Old Dream That Moves (Ce Vieux Reve Qui Bouge), by Alain Guiraudie, France

EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY AWARD 2002 - Prix Arte (previously announced)
All About My Father (Alt Om Min Far), by Even Benestad, Norway/Denmark
Clown In'kabul, by Enzo Balestrieri & Stefano Moser, Italy
To Be And To Have (Etre Et Avoir), by Nicolas Philibert, France
I'm A Born Liar (Federico Fellini - Sono Un Gran Bugiardo), by Damian Pettigrew, France/Italy/UK
Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary (Im Toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekretarin), by Andre Heller & Othmar Schmiderer, Austria
Winged Migration (Le Peuple Migrateur), by Jacques Perrin & Jacques Cluzaud & Michel Debats,
France/Germany/Switzerland/Spain/Italy
Lost In La Mancha, by Keith Fulton & Louis Pepe, UK
Missing Allen - The Man Who Became A Camera, by Christian Bauer, Germany/France
The Bricklayer (Muraren), by Stefan Jarl, Sweden