LONDON:-  Iranian horror ‘Under the Shadow’ leads the nominations at the National Film Awards UK with eight nods, while ‘Our Kind of Traitor’ and ‘Adult Life Skills’ have six each. The 1980s-set Persian-language tale has earned first time filmmaker Babak Anvari nods for Best Director and Best Screenplay, while its star Narges Rashidi is in the running for Best Actress, and Avin Manshadi who plays her onscreen daughter is up for Best Breakthrough Performance in a Film, Best Newcomer, and Best Supporting Actress. Its nominations also include Best Thriller and Best Independent Feature.

 Following close behind are ‘Our Kind of Traitor’ and ‘Adult Life Skills’ with six nods each. The two movies both in the running for Best British film and Best Director for Susanna White and Rachel Tunnard respectively , while ‘Our Kind of Traitor’ is also in the running for Best Independent Feature and Best Drama, and ‘Adult Life Skills’ is up for Best International Film and Best Screenplay. In the acting categories, ‘Our Kind of Traitor’ stars Ewan McGregor and Naomie Harris are up for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively, while Jodie Whittaker’s performance in ‘Adult Life Skills’ has earned her nominations in the Best Actress and Best Breakthrough Performance in a Film. A number of stars have been nominated for the Global Contribution to Motion Picture accolade, with the National Film Academy’s shortlist including Dame Joan Collins, Kelsey Grammer, Hugh Grant, Julie Andrews, Pierce Brosnan, Simon Pegg, John Cleese, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta Jones and James Nesbit. ‘Only Fools and Horses’ stars Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst will be honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award, but fans can vote for the winners of the other categories at www.nationalfilmawards.org Voting is open from now until 23 March, and the winners will be announced at the National Film Awards 2017, which takes place on 29 March and will be broadcast on Sky Showcase. Meanwhile, The National Film Academy are running a competition for the public to register and submit a Short Film for a chance to win the Best Short Film 2017 prestigious award and a publicity/marketing prize worth over fifty thousand pounds.