‘Avatar,’ ‘An Education’ and ‘The Hurt Locker’ lead BAFTA nominations

“Avatar,” “An Education” and “The Hurt Locker” dominated the nominations Thursday for the Orange British Academy Film Awards, receiving eight each.

“Avatar,” which won Golden Globes on Sunday for best dramatic film and director James Cameron, earned nominations from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for best film, director, cinematography, editing, music, production design, sound and special visual effects.

“An Education,” about a British teenage girl’s affair with an older man, received nominations for best film, outstanding British film, adapted screenplay (Nick Hornby), director (Lone Scherfig), Carey Mulligan for lead actress, Alfred Molina for supporting actor, costume design, hair and makeup.

“The Hurt Locker,” which has received the lion’s share of critics’ awards this season, was nominated for best film, lead actor for Jeremy Renner, director (Kathryn Bigelow), original screenplay (Mark Boal), cinematography, editing, sound and special visual effects.

Rounding out the best picture nominees are “Up in the Air” and “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

Competing for lead actor with Renner are Globe winner Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart,” George Clooney for “Up in the Air,” Colin Firth for “A Single Man” and Andy Serkis for “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.”

Besides Mulligan, the lead actress nominees are Saoirse Ronan for “The Lovely Bones,” Gabourey Sidibe for “Precious,” Globe winner Meryl Streep for “Julie & Julia” and Audrey Tautou for “Coco Before Chanel.”

Joining Molina for supporting actor: Alec Baldwin for “It’s Complicated,” Christian McKay for “Me and Orson Welles,” Stanley Tucci for “The Lovely Bones” and Globe recipient Christoph Waltz for “Inglourious Basterds.”

Vying for supporting actress are Anne-Marie Duff for “Nowhere Boy,” Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick for “Up in the Air,” Globe winner Mo’Nique for “Precious” and Kristin Scott Thomas for “Nowhere Boy.”

Other director nominees are Neill Blomkamp for “District 9” and Quentin Tarantino for “Inglourious Basterds.”

Besides Boal, original screenplay nominees are Jon Lucas and Scott Moore for “The Hangover,” Tarantino for “Inglourious Basterds,” Joel and Ethan Coen for “A Serious Man” and Bob Peterson and Pete Docter for “Up.”

Vying for adapted screenplay with Hornby are Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell for “District 9”; Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche for “In the Loop”; Geoffrey Fletcher for “Precious”; and Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner for “Up in the Air.”

Animated film nominees are “Coraline,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Up.”

Vying for best film not in the English language are “Broken Embraces,” “Coco Before Chanel,” “Let the Right One In,” “A Prophet” and Golden Globe winner “The White Ribbon.”

The winners will be announced Feb. 21 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

For the full list of nominees, go to www.theenvelope.com.

susan.king@latimes.com