'Slumdog' with more Oscar nominations

Washington, Jan 8 (IANS) The "Slumdog Millionaire" saga continues with the British director Danny Boyle's Mumbai-set film picking up more key award nominations in the run up to next month's Academy Awards.

While the Writers Guild of America nominated it for best Adapted Screenplay for screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, the American Society of Cinematographers picked it up for Best Cinematography nomination for Anthony Dod Mantle Wednesday.

Most of those nominated by the WGA and ASC go on to earn Academy Award nominations as well. The WGA will announce its winners Feb 7 while the ASC will unveil its award recipient Feb 15.

Last year, the two WGA winners, "Juno for Original Screenplay and "No Country For Old Men for Adapted Screenplay" and the ASC winner, "There Will Be Blood" later won Oscars in those very categories.

The NAACP Image Awards, given by America's oldest and largest civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, also recognized the film with two nominations - Best Independent Feature and Best Supporting Actor for British Indian actor Dev Patel.

Patel plays the protagonist in the heart warming story of an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who goes on to win a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" game show.

Earlier this week "Slumdog Millionaire" earned a Best Picture nomination from the Producers Guild of America just a day after the film jumped back into the North American Top 10 with total gross earnings of $28.78 million in eight weeks.

In addition to its many accolades, "Slumdog Millionaire"also won the Best Cinematography award from the National Society of Film Critics as well as nominations for Best Film and Best Director from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.

Noted Indian music director A.R. Rahman has won a Golden Globe nomination from Hollywood Foreign Press Association and a Satellite Award by the International Press Academy for Best Original Score for his music in the film.

The film has also earned three other nominations for Best Picture-Drama, Best Director for Boyle and Best Screenplay for Simon Beaufoy for 2008 Golden Globe Awards besides two more annual Satellite Awards for Best Picture-Drama and Best Director for Boyle.

Patel has also won a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a male actor in a supporting role from the Screen Actors Guild Awards along with nominations for Outstanding Performance by a cast in a motion picture.

"Slumdog Millionaire" has also tied with "WALL.E", a computer-animated-science fiction-romance film, for the Best Picture award from the Boston Society of Film Critics, besides winning the Best Editing prize.

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