King's Speech leads British indy film nominations

Rush and Firth are nominated for best supporting actor and best actor respectively

The King's Speech is leading the nominations for the 13th British Independent Film Awards, recognised in eight categories.

The film, starring Colin Firth as the stammering King George VI as he prepares for war, recently won top prize at the Toronto Film Festival.

Its nominations include best film, best director for Tom Hooper and best actor for Firth.

The winners will be announced in London on 5 December.

The event will be hosted by James Nesbitt.

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Geoffrey Rush is nominated for best supporting actor for his role as the king's speech therapist, as is Guy Pearce, who plays King Edward VIII.

Helena Bonham Carter is up for best supporting actress for playing Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.

Gareth Edwards' sci-fi film Monsters received six nominations, as did Never Let Me Go, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's 2005 novel.

The Arbor, a documentary on the life of Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar and her troubled relationship with her daughter Lorraine, was also recognised in six categories, including best actress for Manjinder Virk.

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Virk is also nominated as most promising newcomer, along with Brighton Rock's Andrea Risborough, who is also up for best actress.

Chris Morris's debut film Four Lions, about a group of British jihadists, has five nominations including best film and best debut director.

Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn got a nomination for best screenplay for Kick-Ass.

Best foreign film nominees are Dogteeth, I Am Love, A Prophet, The Secret in Their Eyes and Winter's Bone.

The winners are chosen by an independent jury, this year including actor Sean Pertwee and film critic Jason Solomons.

The pre-selection committee whittled the nominations down from nearly 200 films.

Another Year, Made in Dagenham and Brighton Rock all got four nominations.