LOS ANGELES, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The monochromatic drama film "Roma" and the historical period comedy "The Favourite" led the race for the 91th Academy Awards, or the Oscars, with 10 nominations each, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Tuesday.

Netflix's "Roma" made history by earning first Oscar best picture nod for the streaming platform. The Spanish language drama picked up 10 nominations over all, including Best picture, Best director for Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, Best actress, Best supporting actress, Best foreign language film and Best cinematography. Written and directed by Cuaron, the critically lauded autobiographical drama follows the life of a live-in housekeeper to an upper middle-class family in Colonia Roma, a neighborhood in the City of Mexico, in 1970s.

"Roma" tied with "The Favourite" for the most nominations. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, "The Favourite" follows two cousins vying to be court favourites of Queen Anne of Great Britain in the early 18th century.

"Roma" and "The Favourite" will compete for best picture against six other films -- "Black Panther," "BlacKkKlansman,""Bohemian Rhapsody," "Green Book," "A Star Is Born," and "Vice." The organizer allows the best picture category to have as many as 10 or as few as five nominees.

Cuaron, Lanthimos, Spike Lee ("BlacKkKlansman"), Pawel Pawlikowski ("Cold War") and Adam McKay ("Vice") were nominated for the Best director award.

"The Favourite" made history with three of its leading actresses nominated, with Olivia Colman for Best actress for her performance as Queen Anne and Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz for Best supporting actress.

Colman will compete against Yalitza Aparicio ("Roma"), Glenn Close ("The Wife"), Lady Gaga ("A Star Is Born") and Melissa McCarthy ("Can You Ever Forgive Me?") for Best actress. Stone and Weisz will compete against Marina de Tavira ("Roma"), Amy Adams ("Vice") and Regina King ("If Beale Street Could Talk") for Best supporting actress.

The Best actor contest is also competitive. Christian Bale received his fourth Oscar nomination for his portrayal of former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in "Vice." He will face challenge from Bradley Cooper ("A Star Is Born"), Willem Dafoe ("At Eternity's Gate"), Rami Malek ("Bohemian Rhapsody") and Viggo Mortensen ("Green Book").

Battle for best supporting actor will be among Mahershala Ali ("Green Book"), Adam Driver ("BlacKkKlansman"), Sam Elliott ("A Star Is Born"), Richard E. Grant ("Can You Ever Forgive Me?") and Sam Rockwell ("Vice").

The nominees for Best animated feature film are "Incredibles 2", "Isle of Dogs", "Mirai", "Ralph Breaks the Internet" and "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." Sony's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is the front runner, earning plenty of accolades this awards season. It won the 30th annual Producers Guild of America Awards animated film award, following its victory at the 76th Golden Globe Awards and the 24th Critics' Choice Awards.

Much to the delight of Chinese moviegoers, Chinese-centric "Bao," a Pixar short directed by China-born, Canadian director Domee Shi, was nominated for Best animated short film together with "Animal Behaviour," "Late Afternoon," "One Small Step" and "Weekends."

"Bao" explores the life of a Chinese immigrant mom living in Toronto with her inattentive husband who is struggling to cope with loneliness after her beloved son flies the nest. Remarkably, the mom's deep, empty-nester angst turns to joy when a cute, leftover dumpling (a bao) comes alive in true Pinocchio fashion. Shi is the first woman and first Chinese writer/director of a Pixar short.

"Roma," "Capernaum"(Lebanon), "Cold War" (Poland),"Never Look Away" (Germany) and "Shoplifters" (Japan) are on the list in the Best foreign film competition.

Rounding out the rest of its nominations were for cinematography, screenplay, costume design, film editing, original score, production design, visual effects, sound editing and sound mixing.

The Oscar ceremony will be held on Feb. 24 at Hollywood's Dolby Theater in the western U.S. city of Los Angeles. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. Enditem

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