LOS ANGELES, Jan 5: The actors of gay romance ‘Brokeback Mountain’ earned four nominations for Screen Actors Guild awards on Thursday, more than any other film, further cementing the film’s position as a front-runner for Oscars.

The movie that has drawn wide critical acclaim was nominated for best cast in a film, the Screen Actors Guild’s top honour, alongside race relations film ‘Crash’, political movie ‘Good Night, and Good Luck’, ‘Capote’, about the author Truman Capote, and in a surprise, the drama ‘Hustle & Flow’.

The Screen Actors Guild represents film and television actors, and because actors make up a large voting group for Oscars, the US film industry’s top awards, the SAG honours are considered a key indicator of which actors may win Oscars.

This year’s list of nominees for best movie cast featured five low-budget movies, continuing a trend this year in which many major motion pictures have been shunned by award voters.

Moreover, several films that had been expected to compete for awards were shut out of SAG nominations, including director Steven Spielberg’s ‘Munich’ and effects-filled ‘King Kong’.

“We’ve had some really phenomenal performances this year,” said SAG President Alan Rosenberg. “The bigger films rely on special effects, whereas these smaller films are all about the performances.”

Along with best cast, ‘Brokeback’ earned a nomination for lead actor in a film for Heath Ledger and one for supporting actor for Jake Gyllenhaal. Their co-star, Michelle Williams, was nominated for best supporting actress in a film. —Reuters