War Horse movie filmed on Dartmoor is nominated for an Oscar

Steven Spielberg's War Horse is among nine films up for best picture at this year's Oscar nominations.

Inspired by Westcountry author Michael Morpurgo's tale of a Devon farm boy and his horse, Joey, and set against the horrors of the First World War, the film is up for six awards.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Major Stewart leads the charge on a German encampment in a scene from Steven Spielberg's epic film War Horse, based on the book by Westcountry author Michael Morpurgo

It is pitted against The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight In Paris, Moneyball and The Tree Of Life.

War Horse, which used the stunning scenery of Dartmoor for much of its setting, is nominated in the categories for Best Picture, Art direction, Cinematography, Music (original score), Sound editing and Sound Mixing.

Meanwhile, Meryl Streep's turn as Margaret Thatcher has secured the actress her 17th Oscar nomination, while Gary Oldman clinched his first nomination, for his performance as a spymaster in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Streep, 62, is favourite to win best actress for her role as the former British prime minister in The Iron Lady.

British actor Oldman, 53, who has never been nominated before despite some acclaimed performances, is in the running for best actor for his role as George Smiley.

Silent black and white film The Artist has 10 nominations, including best film, director, actor for French star Jean Dujardin and supporting actress for Berenice Bejo. The last silent film to be nominated for best picture was 1928 movie The Patriot.

Only one film – Hugo, Martin Scorsese's 3D ode to early cinema – has more nominations but many of its nods are in technical categories.