Streep and Williams to battle for Bafta

Meryl Streep's portrayal of Margaret Thatcher and Michelle Williams's role as Marilyn Monroe have put them head-to-head at this year's Baftas.

US actress Streep is up for best actress for her portrayal of the former UK prime minister.

British actress Tilda Swinton is also up for the award for her part in 'We Need To Talk About Kevin', alongside Viola Davis for 'The Help', Berenice Bejo for top-nominated film 'The Artist', and Williams for her role in 'My Week With Marilyn'.

Streep has already won a Golden Globe for her role in 'The Iron Lady', and is tipped for an Oscar.

Silent film 'The Artist' has scooped the largest number of nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards, with 12.

Cold War thriller 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' follows with 11, including a leading actor nod for Gary Oldman.

His rivals at the awards, the biggest event in the British film calendar, include Brad Pitt for 'Moneyball' and George Clooney for 'The Descendants'.

Irish star Michael Fassbender is also up for leading actor for 'Shame', the movie about sex addiction, and French actor Jean Dujardin is nominated for 'The Artist'.

'Hugo', Martin Scorsese's first children's film, has nine nominations, including best director.

'My Week With Marilyn' has six nominations and The Help and War Horse are each nominated five times.

The shortlist was announced at Bafta in Piccadilly by Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, 'Great Expectations' actress Holliday Grainger and Bafta chairman Tim Corrie.

The five names competing for the top prize of best film are 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', 'The Artist', 'The Help' - set in the racially-segregated American South of the early 1960s - comedy 'The Descendants' and crime thriller 'Drive'.

'Drive' star Carey Mulligan is up for supporting actress, competing with Dame Judi Dench for 'My Week With Marilyn'.

US stars Melissa McCarthy ('Bridesmaids'), Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, who are both in 'The Help', are also nominated.

In the supporting actor category, Jim Broadbent is up for his role as Denis Thatcher in 'The Iron Lady'.

Kenneth Branagh is also in the running for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier in 'My Week With Marilyn'.

Philip Seymour Hoffman ('The Ides Of March'), Jonah Hill ('Moneyball') and Christopher Plummer ('Beginners') are also nominated.

Scottish film-maker Lynne Ramsay is the British name up for best director, for 'We Need To Talk About Kevin', adapted from Lionel Shriver's best-selling novel about the mother of a boy who goes on a high-school killing-spree.

As well as Scorsese, 'The Artist' star Michel Hazanavicius, 'Drive' actor Nicolas Winding Refn, and 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' star Tomas Alfredson are up for the award.

'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows - Part 2' has four nominations, along with 'Drive' and 'The Iron Lady'.

'The Descendants', 'Moneyball', 'Senna' and 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' have three apiece and 'Shame', 'The Ides of March', 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', 'Bridesmaids', and 'The Adventures Of Tintin: Secret Of The Unicorn' each have two.

Hosted by Stephen Fry, the awards take place on Sunday February 12 at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

Full List of Nominees for the BAFTA Awards:

Best Film:

'The Artist'

'The Descendants'

'Drive'

'The Help'

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'

Outstanding British Film:

'My Week With Marilyn'

'Senna'

'Shame'

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'

'We Need To Talk About Kevin'

Outstanding Debut By a British Writer, Director of Producer:

'Attack The Block' - Joe Cornish (Director/Writer)

'Black Pond' - Will Sharpe (Director/Writer), Tom Kingsley (Director), Sarah Brocklehurst (Producer)

'Coriolanus' - Ralph Fiennes (Director)

'Submarine' = Richard Ayoade (Director/Writer)

'Tyrannosaur' - Paddy Considine (Director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (Producer)

Film Not in the English Language:

'Incendines'

'Pina'

'Potiche'

'A Separation'

'The Skin I Live In'

Documentary :

'George Harrison: Living in the Material World' -

Martin Scorsese

'Project Nim' - James Marsh, Simon Chinn

'Senna' - Asif Kapadia

Animated Film:

'The Adventures of TinTin'

'Arthur Christmas'

'Rango'

Director:

'The Artist' - Michel Hazanavicius

'Drive' - Nicolas Winding Refn

'Hugo' - Martin Scorsese

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' - Tomas Alfredson

'We Need To Talk About Kevin' - Lynne Ramsay

Original Screenplay:

'The Artist' - Michel Hazanavicius

'Bridesmaids' - Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig

'The Guard' - John Michael McDonagh

'The Iron Lady' - Abi Morgan

'Midnight In Paris' - Woody Allen

Adapted Screenplay:

'The Descendants' - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

'The Help' - Tate Taylor

'The Ides of March' - George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon

'Moneyball' - Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' - Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

Leading Actor:

Brad Pitt - 'Moneyball'

Gary Oldman - 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'

George Clooney - 'The Descendants'

Jean Dujardin - 'The Artist'

Michael Fassbender - 'Shame'

Leading Actress:

Berenice Bejo - 'The Artist'

Meryl Streep - 'The Iron Lady'

Michelle Williams - 'My Week with Marilyn'

Tilda Swinton - 'We Need to Talk About Kevin'

Viola Davis - 'The Help'

Supporting Actor:

Christopher Plummer - 'Beginners'

Jim Broadbent - 'The Iron Lady'

Jonah Hill - 'Moneyball'

Kenneth Branagh - 'My Week with Marilyn'

Philip Seymour Hoffman - 'The Ides of March'

Supporting Actress:

Carey Mulligan - 'Drive'

Jessica Chastain - 'The Help'

Dame Judi Dench - 'My Week with Marilyn'

Melissa McCarthy - 'Bridesmaids'

Octavia Spencer - 'The Help'

Original Music:

'The Artist' - Ludovic Bource

'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

'Hugo'- Howard Shore

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' - Alberto Iglesias

'War Horse' - John Williams

Cinematography:

'The Artist' - Guillaume Schiffman

'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' - Jeff Cronenweth

'Hugo' - Robert Richardson

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' - Hoyte van Hoytema

'War Horse' - Janusz Kaminski

Editing:

'The Artist' - Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius

'Drive' - Mat Newman

'Hugo' - Thelma Schoonmaker

'Senna' - Gregers Sall, Chris King

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' - Dino Jonsater

Production Design:

'The Artist' Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan

'Hugo' Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald

'War Horse' Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

Costume Design

'The Artist' - Mark Bridges

'Hugo' - Sandy Powell

'Jane Eyre' - Michael O'Connor

'My Week With Marilyn' - Jill Taylor

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' - Jacqueline Durran

Make Up and Hair:

'The Artist' - Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' - Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin

'Hugo' - Morag Ross, Jan Archibald

'The Iron Lady' - Marese Langan

'My Week with Marilyn' - Jenny Shircore

Sound

'The Artist' - Nadine Muse, Gérard Lamps, Michael Krikorian

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' - James Mather, Stuart Wilson, Stuart Hilliker, Mike Dowson, Adam Scrivener

'Hugo' - Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley

'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' - John Casali, Howard Bargroff, Doug Cooper, Stephen Griffiths, Andy Shelley

'War Horse' - Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Richard Hymns

Special Visual Effects:

'The Adventures of TinTin' - Joe Letteri

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' -Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler, David Vickery

'Hugo' - Rob Legato, Ben Grossman, Joss Williams

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White

'War Horse' - Ben Morris, Neil Corbould

Short Animation:

'Abuelas' - Afarin Eghbal, Kasia Malipan, Francesca Gardiner

'Bobby Yeah' - Robert Morgan

'A Morning Stroll' - Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe

Short Film:

'Chalk' - Martina Amati, Gavin Emerson, James Bolton, Ilaria Bernardini

'Mwansa The Great' - Rungano Nyoni, Gabriel Gauchet

'Only Sound Remains' - Arash Ashtiani, Anshu Poddar

'Pitch Black Heist' - John Maclean, Gerardine O'Flynn

'Two and Two' - Babak Anvari, Kit Fraser, Gavin Cullen

The Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award:

Adam Deacon

Chris Hemsworth

Chris O'Dowd

Eddie Redmayne

Tom Hiddleston