To celebrate the 86th Academy Awards that are taking place this Sunday, we are asking film lovers across the UK to make their own predictions about the outcomes across 12 top categories. To enter the competition, entrants simply need to submit their Oscar winner predictions via Rafflecopter below. Three of the highest-scoring entrants will win an array of prizes related to the BFI. Available prizes include BFI memberships and tickets to shows at the BFI, including exclusive entries to ‘Screen Epiphanies’, run in partnership with credit cards provider American Express. Participants can also earn smaller prizes by tweeting about the competition and sharing it on Facebook.
What’s on offer
1st Prize: 2x Champion BFI Memberships
2nd Prize: 2x Standard BFI Memberships
3rd Prize: Sets of 2x Tickets to see film of choice at the BFI
It will be interesting to see how the Oscars play out in light of what happened recently at the BAFTAs, where the biggest awards were divided fairly evenly between some of 2013’s biggest hitters. A few months ago it seemed nailed on that Chiwetel Ejiofor would collect the Oscar for leading actor, but the momentum – in the US at least – now seems to be with Matthew McConaughey for his performance as Ron Woodroof, a man diagnosed with AIDS, in Dallas Buyers Club. He wasn’t nominated for the BAFTA equivalent. Similarly his co-star in that film, Jared Leto, who also wasn’t nominated at the BAFTAs, looks a good bet for the supporting actor award.
The general consensus regarding the ‘big two’ seems to be that 12 Years a Slave will win the best film award, and that space thriller Gravity will win best director, for Alfonso Cuaron. Anything other than that would constitute a bit of a surprise. As far as best actress is concerned, if Cate Blanchett doesn’t win it, there will be a few jaws hitting the floor in Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre come the weekend. Supporting actress will be more interesting – the US adores Jennifer Lawrence, and she won the award at the BAFTAs, but newcomer Lupita Nyong’o won a lot of hearts for her impressive performance in 12 Years a Slave. There was a feeling of mild surprise at the BAFTAs when Lawrence’s name was read out in that category.
It seems likely that American Hustle will miss out on the ‘biggest’ awards, but an Oscar for best original screenplay seems destined to head in that direction for Eric Warren Singer and director David O Russell. Best adapted screenplay will be more interesting: there are plenty of prime contenders, while BAFTA winner Philomena isn’t in contention. I would love to see Before Midnight win here, but 12 Years and The Wolf of Wall Street may well be the prime contenders. Here are some of our predictions for the ceremony to come:
Best Film: 12 Years a Slave
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity)
Best Animated Feature: Frozen
Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty
Best Visual Effects: Gravity
The competition will close on March 1, the day before the Oscar ceremony, and the winners will be notified on March 4. Any questions and requests for general information can be sent to: oscarspredictions2014@gmail.com