Slumdog Protests

Hopes are high for a night of British triumphs at the 81st Academy Awards. Slumdog Millionaire leads the way with ten nominations, including best director for Danny Boyle. The rags-to-riches tale, which has already bagged seven Baftas and four Golden Globes is vying with The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader for the coveted Best Picture award. Rubina Ali and Mohammad Azharuddin Ismail - two of the child actors taken from the streets of Bombay to star in the film - are attending the ceremony at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. Slumdog fans will be hoping the movie can repeat the success of 90s British films The English Patient and Shakespeare in Love, which swept all before them at the Oscars, winning nine and six awards respectively. And Reading-born Kate Winslet is hoping to add an Oscar to the Bafta and pair of Golden Globes she has already won this year. The 33-year-old is up for best actress for her performance as a former concentration camp guard in The Reader. She has been nominated for Oscars five times in the past - three times for best actress and twice for best actress in a supporting role - but never won. She faces stiff competition in the form of Meryl Streep, who is nominated for a record 15th time for Doubt, Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married, Melissa Leo for Frozen River and Angelina Jolie for The Changeling. It could be a night of double triumph for Hollywood's favourite couple, as Jolie's partner Brad Pitt is nominated for best actor for his performance as a man who ages in reverse in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button. The film has the most nominations this year, with 13. Veteran hell-raiser Mickey Rourke is favourite to take the best actor gong for The Wrestler, for which he has already scooped a Bafta and a Golden Globe. Also vying for the acting award are Sean Penn for his portrayal of gay rights activist Harvey Milk in Milk, Frank Langella, who played disgraced US president Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon and Richard Jenkins for The Visitor. Heath Ledger, who died of a suspected drugs overdose last January, is nominated for best supporting actor for Batman movie The Dark Knight.

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ITN | February 22, 2009

Tags:. .frost. .azharuddin. .swept. .stiff. .changeling