The (U.S.) Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has just announced its nominations for this year's Oscar awards -- set for broadcast on March 24th.

Nominations for Best Picture are psychological drama "A Beautiful Mind," musical revival "Moulin Rouge," family drama "In the Bedroom," murder mystery "Gosford Park" and fantasy epic "The Lord of the Rings."

"The Lord of the Rings," based on the classic books by author J-R-R Tolkien, leads Oscar contenders with 13 nominations.

Potential front-runners to win the foreign language film Oscar are the French romance "Amelie" and the Bosnian war film "No Man's Land."

Australian Russell Crowe is favored to win Best Actor, while fellow countrywoman Nicole Kidman was nominated for Best Actress.

Other Best Actor nominees are Sean Penn for "I am Sam," Will Smith in "Muhammad Ali," Denzel Washington in "Training Day" and Tom Wilkinson for "In The Bedroom."

The Best Actress field is rounded out by Halle Berry in "Monster's Ball," Judi Dench for "Iris," Sissy Spacek in "In the Bedroom" and Renee Zellweger for "Bridget Jones's Diary."

The nominees are chosen by nearly six thousand members of the Academy, including actors, directors and writers.

(CNN-Monitored, AFP, AP, DPA)

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