If only Colin Welland had stopped at thank you.

Ever since the Chariots of Fire screenwriter told the world that “the British are coming” from the Oscars podium in 1982, it has taken a brave or shameless pundit to predict a serious home-grown challenge to Hollywood. But yesterday’s nominations for the British Academy film awards reinforced the idea that our film-makers can at least temporarily claim more than their share of bragging rights.

Slumdog Millionaire continued its assault on the film awards season with 11 nominations, the same number as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which cost ten times Slumdog’s £10 million budget and is its most likely Oscar challenger.

Danny Boyle, director of Slumdog Millionaire, said that public sector funding was vital for the future health of British film-making. Slumdog owed its existence to Film4, he said, adding: “They are really up against it right now, facing very difficult times, but they have been absolutely pivotal to my career ever since Shallow Grave and Trainspotting.”

Film4 amassed 20 Bafta nominations for films including Slumdog Millionaire and Hunger, while the BBC claimed nine.

Jonathan Ross will present the Bafta ceremony at the Royal Opera House on February 8, a fortnight after the BBC lifts his suspension for making a lewd phone call to the actor Andrew Sachs.

The nominations provided ample evidence of the breadth of British success, with recognition for block-busters ( Mamma Mia! The Movie and The Dark Knight were both substantially British in terms of the talent involved) and purist arthouse fare. Notable among the latter were Hunger, an uncompromising meditation on the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, and Man On Wire, a front-runner for the Best Documentary Oscar.

British actors enjoyed more limited success. Kate Winslet, with a double nomination in the Best Actress category, will be anxious to avoid a repeat of her embarrassing victory speech at the Golden Globes on Sunday, when she tried to thank her fellow nominees and briefly forgot Angelina Jolie’s name. She has three weeks to memorise the words: “Angelina, Kristin (Scott Thomas) and Meryl (Streep)” just in case.

Scott Thomas, Tilda Swinton and Dev Patel, the young star of Slumdog Millionaire, were the other Britons nominated in the acting categories. That means that there is no prospect of Sally Hawkins, the bubbly lead of Mike Leigh’s Happy Go Lucky, adding to her Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

Nor has Michael Sheen been nominated for his debonair David Frost in Frost/Nixon. The Academy’s 6,000 voters preferred Frank Langella’s tortured Nixon. Ron Howard, the director of Frost/Nixon, said that he was “disappointed and very surprised”.

Industry executives were in Utah last night for the opening of the Sundance Film Festival. British films are among the most strongly tipped selections this year at Robert Redford’s annual celebration of independent films – notably An Education, from Lynn Barber’s memoir, and Armando Iannucci’s comedy In The Loop.

According to Mike Gubbins, editor of the magazine Screen International, British film is enjoying a purple patch because of an outstanding generation of talent, tax breaks for domestic film-makers and the cushion of public sector funding. He believes, however, that complacency must be avoided.

“Just like in football we need to look after the grass roots,” he said. “These nominated films are like a successful England team, but are we doing enough to ensure that there will be another generation coming through?”

Bafta film awards, 2009: the shortlist

Best Film
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Frost/Nixon; Milk; The Reader; Slumdog Millionaire

Outstanding British Film
Hunger; In Bruges; Mamma Mia!; Man On Wire; Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon; Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire; Sean Penn, Milk; Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Actress
Angelina Jolie, Changeling; Kristin Scott Thomas, I’ve Loved You So Long; Meryl Streep, Doubt; Kate Winslet, The Reader; Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr, Tropic Thunder; Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt; Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight; Brad Pitt, Burn After Reading

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Doubt; Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Freida Pinto, Slumdog Millionaire; Tilda Swinton, Burn After Reading; Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Director
Clint Eastwood, Changeling; Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire; Stephen Daldry, The Reader; David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon

Original Screenplay
J. Michael Straczynski, Changeling; Philippe Claudel, I’ve Loved You So Long; Dustin Lance Black, Milk; Joel and Ethan Coen, Burn After Reading; Martin McDonagh, In Bruges

Film not in the English language
The Baader Meinhof Complex; I’ve Loved You So Long; Gomorrah; Persepolis; Waltz With Bashir

Animated Film
Persepolis; Wall-E; Waltz With Bashir

The Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for Their First Feature Film Simon Chinn (Producer), Man On Wire; Judy Craymer (Producer), Mamma Mia!; Garth Jennings, (Writer), Son of Rambow; Steve McQueen (Director/Writer), Hunger; Solon Papadopoulos/Roy Boulter, (Producers), Of Time and the City

All the nominees and pictures: timesonline.co.uk/film

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