Edinburgh joins the king in race for Oscar

The Illusionist, which opened the 2010 Edinburgh International Film Festival, has been nominated for best animated film, against Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon.

The King's Speech led this year's Academy Award nominations with 12, including best film and best actor for Colin Firth.

The Coen Brothers' western True Grit, a remake of the classic John Wayne movie, this time starring Jeff Bridges, earned ten nominations, while The Social Network, about the creation of Facebook, and the sci-fi film Inception each received eight.

The Illusionist, by French director Sylvain Chomet, is about a French magician who finds himself out of work and travels to Edinburgh, where he meets a young woman. It was based on a script by the famous French mime Jacques Tati.

But the biggest nomination success was The King's Speech. Helena Bonham Carter is in the running for best supporting actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth, while filmmaker Tom Hooper has been nominated as best director. Firth, nominated for his role as George VI, is favourite to win the best actor Oscar after losing the previous year for his role in A Single Man.

This year, his rivals are Spanish-born Javier Bardem for Biutiful, former Oscar-winner Bridges for True Grit, Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network and James Franco for 127 Hours.

Among the other British nominees are Christian Bale, who is up for best supporting actor for his role as a boxer turned crack addict in boxing movie The Fighter, director Mike Leigh, who has a nomination for best original screenplay for Another Year, and Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, who are up for best adapted screenplay for 127 Hours.

In the best actress category, Natalie Portman is considered a shoo-in to win after landing a nomination for her performance as a troubled ballerina in Black Swan. She is up against Nicole Kidman for her role as a grieving mother in Rabbit Hole, Annette Bening for comedy drama The Kids Are All Right, Jennifer Lawrence for thriller Winter's Bone and Michelle Williams for the drama Blue Valentine.

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Geoffrey Rush, a best supporting actor nominee for The King's Speech, said: "This story has struck such a rich resonant chord with audiences of all ages, which is very exciting - to have your work honoured by your industry peers is even better."

Leigh said of his nomination: "I'm thrilled to bits."

In other categories, graffiti artist Banksy is up for best documentary feature for his debut Exit Through The Gift Shop.

British filmmaker Christopher Nolan has a nomination for best original screenplay - for which The King's Speech is also nominated - for box office blockbuster Inception.

The list of nominations represents the biggest British success at the Oscars since Slumdog Millionaire landed eight prizes, including best film, in 2009.

The UK Film Council, which has been axed by the coalition government, was in justifiably self-congratulatory mood following The King's Speech's performance.

Tanya Seghatchian, head of the UK Film Council's Film Fund, said: "With almost 20 million in 17 days, The King's Speech is now the UK Film Council's highest grossing film at the UK box office - another clear example of lottery money supporting a great British film, which, in turn, has captured the imagination of British audiences and further strengthened the global reputation of our home-grown film talent."Mark Cousins, a former artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, said he was delighted that The Illusionist had been nominated. "It would have been ridiculous if it hadn't been, as it was the best animated film of last year that I saw - more heartfelt and lasting," he said.

"As for the main categories, it's hard not to see group-think, and strong-arm marketing in them. There are some very good films nominated, but equally good ones have again been turned away at the door of the out-of-touch Academy."