From Birdman to Unbroken, the American Film Institute (AFI) selected an eclectic range of films already gaining momentum in the Hollywood awards race as its top picks for 2014, the organisation said.

Breaking the traditional selection of 10 films for the first time, the annual AFI list compiled 11 picks, including American Sniper, Boyhood, Foxcatcher, The Imitation Game, Interstellar, Into the Woods, Nightcrawler, Selma and Whiplash.

Unbroken, based on the life of Olympian Louis Zamperini and directed by Angelina Jolie, earned its first notable awards mention, as well as Disney’s upcoming musical Into the Woods and Christopher Nolan’s space fantasy Interstellar.

Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, filmed over 12 years and following a boy’s coming-of-age tale, was awarded best picture by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association over the weekend and won best film, director and supporting actress at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards last week.

The AFI selections, made by a jury of AFI members, scholars, TV and film artists and critics, come ahead of the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nominations this week.

The three sets of picks often indicate the front runners for February’s Oscars top categories. The 2015 Oscar nominations will be announced on January15.