John Madden's romantic comedy, Shakespeare in Love, which screens in competition on Sunday 14 February, received the most nominations: 13 in total, one short of Titanic and All About Eve's record 14. Except for "actor in a leading role", Shakespeare in Love was nominated in every major category with nominations for Gwyneth Paltrow (actress); Geoffrey Rush (supporting actor); Judi Dench (supporting actress); John Madden (director); Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard (best screenplay written directly for the screen); and best picture.

Other best picture nominations went to Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, which screens in competition on Friday 12 February; Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth; Roberto Benigni's Life is Beautiful; and Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. Ryan was the second most lauded film of the year, with 11 nominations in total, while The Thin Red Line, Elizabeth and Life is Beautiful each received seven.

Spielberg, who is scheduled to arrive in Berlin today, was not only nominated for the fifth time for his work as a director, but saw James Moll's The Last Days (which he executive produced) nominated for best achievement in a documentary feature. The Last Days receives a special screening tomorrow.

Meryl Streep, who stars as Kate Gulden in Carl Franklin's One True Thing, which screens out of competition on Saturday 13 February, received her eleventh nomination, and her ninth as an actress in a leading role. Her haul ties her in number with Jack Nicholson, leaving her just one behind all time record holder Katherine Hepburn.

Brenda Blethyn, nominated for her leading role in Secrets and Lies in 1996, is nominated again this year for her supporting role in Marc Herman's Little Voice which screens on Saturday 13 February in Panorama. Blethyn, in something of a surprise, picked up the film's only nomination.

While Central Station had been heavily tipped for an Academy nomination ever since its screening in Berlin last year; and Life Is Beautiful had emerged as a crowd pleaser in Cannes; the other nominations in the foreign language category were also somewhat surprising. With Tango, Spain's Carlos Saura picked up his third nomination, but his first for representing Argentina, while his countryman, José Luis Garci, picked up his fourth with the nomination of The Grandfather, a film that had surprised many by even being selected by Spain. The Grandfather screens in the market at Berlin on Saturday 13 February. The fifth nomination for best foreign-language film went to Majid Majidi's Children of Heaven, Iran's first Academy Award nomination.