Carol leads Independent Spirit Award nominations

Both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara received best actress nominations for their roles in Carol

Cate Blanchett romance Carol leads the way at next year's Independent Spirit Awards with six nominations.

Blanchett, who plays a housewife in 1950s New York who falls for a younger woman, is up for best actress, as is her co-star, Rooney Mara.

The film is also nominated for best feature, screenplay, cinematography and best director for Todd Haynes.

African civil war drama Beasts of No Nation and real life journalism drama Spotlight received five nods each.

British star Idris Elba is nominated for best supporting actor for his role as the ruthless commandant in Beasts of No Nation, which is also up for best feature along with Spotlight, animated film Anomalisa and micro-budget film Tangerine.

Bel Powley is the only other British nominee, recognised in the best actress category for her role in The Diary of a Teenage Girl.

Also in the best actress category is Brie Larson for Room - the big screen version of Emma Donoghue's hit book - and Tangerine's Kitana Kiki Rodriguez.

Idris Elba stars as a brutal commandant who forces his soldiers to commit violent acts in Beasts of No Nation

The best actor prize will be a battle between Abraham Attah for Beasts of No Nation, Jason Segel for The End of the Tour, Christopher Abbott for James White, Koudous Seihon for Mediterranea and Ben Mendelsohn for Mississippi Grind.

Competing with Elba for best supporting actor are Richard Jenkins for Bone Tomahawk, Paul Dano for Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy, Kevin Corrigan for Results and Michael Shannon for 99 Homes.

Former Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon is up for best supporting actress for James White, along with Jennifer Jason Leigh for Anomalisa, Marin Ireland for Glass Chin, Robin Bartlett for H and Mya Taylor for Tangerine.

The Robert Altman Award for best ensemble will be presented to Spotlight, which stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery and Stanley Tucci.

The film tells the true story of how the Boston Globe newspaper uncovered a scandal of child abuse within the local Catholic church.

The winners will be announced on 27 February - the day before the Oscars - in a ceremony in a tent on Santa Monica Beach in California.