Joker leads Oscars pack with 11 nominations

The nominations for this year's Academy Awards have been announced, with Joker leading the pack with 11 nods.

The comic book villain origin story is up for best picture, best director and best actor for Joaquin Phoenix, plus eight other awards.

The Irishman, 1917 and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood follow with 10 nominations each.

Britain's Cynthia Erivo, Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce and Florence Pugh are all up for acting prizes.

Pugh, up for best supporting actress for Little Women, put her first Oscar nomination down to "hard work" and persistence.

"You've got to keep on going and hopefully you'll see something at the end of the tunnel," the 24-year-old told BBC News.

Joker's 11 nominations equals its tally at the British Academy Film Awards, whose nominations were announced last week.

At the Oscars, though, at least one acting contender - Harriet star Erivo - will be from a BAME background.

Erivo said Harriet's two nominations were "beyond anything I could have ever imagined" and were "more than a dream come true".

The film's other nomination, for best song, comes for Stand Up, which the Tony-winning actress both sang and co-wrote.

Yet the Oscars are sure to receive some censure for announcing another all-male line-up in its best director category.

Greta Gerwig, nominated for best director in 2018 for Lady Bird, did not make the cut again with Little Women.