From left, French actors Adel Bencherif, Leila Bekhti and Niels Arestrup, director Jacques Audiard and actors Tahar Rahim, Hichem Yacoubi and Reda Kateb, pose during a photo call for the film A Prophet during the 62nd Cannes film festival in May. The film has nabbed six nominations at the European Film Awards, including best picture and directing. (Lionel Cironneau/Associated Press)

The French prison thriller A Prophet has topped nominations for this year's European Film Awards, garnering six nods including one for best picture.

Directed by Jacques Audiard, the movie is also in line for:

• Best director.
• Actor, Tahar Rahim.
• Screenwriting, Audiard and Thomas Bidegain.
• Cinematography, Stephane Fontaine.

The gritty story of an illiterate young Arab-Corsican man jailed for six years and secretly planning his future, is France's Oscar entry and was also winner of the Cannes film festival's Grand Prix prize earlier this year.

The awards are the equivalent of Europe's Oscars and are supported by the European Film Academy.

Nipping at A Prophet's heels is the global box-office hit from Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire, which has five nominations including best picture, directing, actor (Dev Patel), screenwriter (Simon Beaufoy) and cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle).

Also nailing multiple nominations is Austrian Michael Haneke's Cannes Palme d'Or winner, pre-war drama The White Ribbon, which is in competition for best movie, screenwriting (Haneke) and cinematography (Christian Berger).

Other films in the running for best picture are:

• Fish Tank, directed by Andrea Arnold (U.K).
• Let the Right One In, directed by Tomas Alfredson (Sweden).
• The Reader, helmed by Stephen Daldry (U.K.)

The 22th European Film Awards ceremony takes place Dec. 12 in Bochum, Germany.