To Victory!

The shortlists for the People's Choice Awards - held as part of the annual European Film Awards - were released this week, with France coming out on top as the most nominated country. Our Gallic chums across the Channel nabbed a total of 11 nominations in the three categories in which members of the public can vote for - Best European Director, Best European Actor and Best European Actress. Britain steps into second place with nine of the coveted places. Our top nomination-winner is Bridget Jones's Diary which scores three nominations for director Sharon Maguire, and stars Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. As it's no less than your national duty to help Britain's actors, actresses and directors to win these categories, you'll be pleased to note that voting for the awards begins on 1 September 2001. Empire Online will be the official UK sponsor for the awards - so you can expect to find all the backstage gossip the day after the awards take place on 1 December in Berlin. In the meantime, click any of the links below to read about the showbiz shenanigans that went on last year.