"Django," "Beasts of Southern Wild" up for Image Award

Director Quentin Tarantino (C) poses with (L-R) U.S actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Jamie Foxx and Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, during the launch of their film ''Django Unchained'' in Cancun April 15, 2012.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director Quentin Tarantino's slavery era Western "Django Unchained" and mythological indie film "Beasts of the Southern Wild," were among the top film nominees on Tuesday for the annual NAACP Image Awards.

The NAACP also nominated "Flight," starring Denzel Washington as an alcoholic airline pilot, African-American wartime pilots film "Red Tails," and Tyler Perry's "Good Deeds" for a best movie Image Award, which honor achievements by people of color in film, television, music and literature

Washington and Perry were nominated best actor, along with Jaime Foxx for "Django Unchained," while the NAACP also recognized the amateur stars of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" - nine year-old Quvenzhane Wallis and Dwight Henry - in the acting categories.

In television, best comedy nods went to "Glee," "Modern Family," "The Mindy Project," "The Game" and "Soul Man". In the drama category, the NAACP picked "Boardwalk Empire," "Grey's Anatomy," "Scandal," "Treme," and "True Blood."

Bruno Mars and Alicia Keys won multiple nominations in music categories, while late pop greats Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston were nominated respectively for the 25th anniversary edition of album "Bad," and greatest hits compilation "I Will Always Love You; The Best of Whitney Houston."

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909, is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the United States.

The 44th Image Awards will be handed out a ceremony in Los Angeles on February 1.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bernard Orr)