Un Proph

The signs all point to Un Prophète (A Prophet) at next month's European film awards. Jacques Audiard's prison-set crime saga leads the field with six nominations, including best film and director. Newcomer Tahar Rahim was also nominated in the best actor category for his breakthrough role as a callow Arab inmate recruited by the Corsican mob.

Un Prophète won the jury prize at this year's Cannes film festival and last week scooped the inaugural best film award at the London film festival. It is released in the UK in January.

But the film faces stiff competition from Danny Boyle's Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, which bagged a total of five nominations, including best film and best director. Joining the two frontrunners in the race for the crowning best picture award are Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank, Stephen Daldry's The Reader, the Swedish vampire drama Let the Right One In and Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or-winning The White Ribbon.

Conceived as a corrective to the Oscars, the 22nd annual European film awards take place in Bochum, Germany on 12 December. Last year's ceremony was dominated by Matteo Garrone's mafia epic Gomorrah, which took home five statuettes.