We are certainly a bit more rusty in predicting the British Academy Awards, but that doesn’t stop us from trying. Every year, the BAFTA presentation ends up becoming more Oscar-portentous each time out. So, we look to these awards to act as a sort of mirror for what might be on Oscar voters minds. They still throw us curve balls, but their accuracy is improving. Here we present our predictions for this grand old awards fest.

BRITISH ACADEMY OF FILM & TELEVISION ARTS AWARDS

Best Film

The Artist (Wesley / Peter)
The Descendants
Drive
The Help
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (RU:Wesley / RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: Of the three Oscar Best Picture nominees on this list, The Artist is easily ahead of the pack. Yet, with all of the nominations for Tinker, the film could pull a surprise victory, but I’m doubtful that’s going to happen.

Best Animated Film

The Adventures of Tintin (Peter)
Arthur Christmas (RU:Wesley)
Rango (Wesley / RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: After its dominance of both the Annie Awards and Visual Effects Society, Rango has to be considered a winner-in-waiting. Of course the quintessential British animated comedy Arthur Christmas could pique BAFTA voters’ interests more readily and Tintin could still be a possible spoiler.

Best Director

Tomas Alfredson – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (RU:Wesley)
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist (Wesley / Peter)
Lynne Ramsay – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive (RU:Peter)
Martin Scorsese – Hugo

Wesley Lovell: Hand-in-hand go Best Film and Best Director. I don’t know how Hazanavicius could lose this award considering all he’s won beforehand. Scorsese needs this award to have any hope of an Oscar, otherwise, his chances dwindle further. BAFTA could also go out on a limb and pick Tomas Alfredson for Tinker which would be a most interesting choice.

Best Actor

George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist (RU:Wesley / RU:Peter)
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Wesley / Peter)
Brad Pitt – Moneyball

Wesley Lovell: If anyone gets Gary Oldman’s performance, it’s BAFTA. Although he may not have a shot at the Oscars, he has to be considered a prime contender at the BAFTA awards. I don’t see these voters going overboard for Clooney or Pitt, so my bet for runner-up is Jean Dujardin who earned a surprise victory at the SAG awards.

Best Actress

Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Viola Davis – The Help (Wesley)
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady (RU:Wesley / Peter)
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn (RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: Viola Davis has been on a roll and I don’t see BAFTA stopping there. The film is a Best Film nominee, which seems surprising when you consider the director isn’t nominated, but Lynne Ramsay is. Could Swinton pull an upset and win a category she isn’t nominated in at the Oscars? It’s possible, but I think Meryl Streep playing a quintessential British figure (even if not well liked) could be an easy choice for many of them. Michelle Williams could benefit from a lot of split decisions among voters, resulting in her first essential win of the season. If she can’t win for Marilyn in a group that longlisted it frequently, then Oscar glory seems out of reach.

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn (Wesley / RU:Peter)
Jim Broadbent – The Iron Lady
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Ides of March
Christopher Plummer – Beginners (RU:Wesley / Peter)

Wesley Lovell: The only thing hurting Christopher Plummer here is being Canadian when fellow nominee and British national Kenneth Branagh is in the race. Branagh could well represent the best chance BAFTA has of recognizing My Week with Marilyn and they do like him as an actor. Add to the fact that he’s gotten solid reviews for playing a legendary British Shakespearean master and you have a recipe for an upset.

Best Supporting Actress

Jessica Chastain – The Help (Peter)
Judi Dench – My Week with Marilyn
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan – Drive (RU:Wesley)
Octavia Spencer – The Help (Wesley / RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: This is where Oscar gets its first jolt if there’s to be one. This was the first place that really gave credence to a sure challenger to Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone. I had been searching for a contender to displace the frontrunner at the Oscars feeling in my soul that they wouldn’t recognize Ryan and when Tilda Swinton took home the trophy, I knew I had the ultimate winner. So, if Octavia Spencer doesn’t take this prize, then there’s trouble in the water for her. If she does win, her future Oscar fortunes seem certain. As for who could displace? I’m giving the edge to Carey Mulligan. The British thespian could follow a long line of Brits to take the BAFTA acting prizes even when the Oscars wouldn’t follow suit.

Best Original Screenplay

The Artist (Wesley / Peter)
Bridesmaids
The Guard (RU:Peter)
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris (RU:Wesley)

Wesley Lovell: This prize could really go only one of two ways. Best Picture frontrunner The Artist takes the prize adding to its total for the evening; or Woody Allen gets a welcome home pat on the back for Midnight in Paris. I don’t really see BAFTA as the sentimental types, especially when it comes to a director that, for so long, has found his greatest muses in America and, to an extent, still does.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Descendants
The Help (RU:Peter)
The Ides of March
Moneyball (RU:Wesley)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Wesley / Peter)

Wesley Lovell: I can’t really see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy losing this prize. It’s the perfect companion category to the film’s Best Picture nomination. However, both Moneyball and The Descendants have precursor wins to support them triumphing as well. If anything but Tinker wins, you may have a firm indication of which screenplay is most likely to triumph at the Oscars.

Best Original Music

The Artist (Wesley / Peter)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (RU:Wesley / RU:Peter)
War Horse

Wesley Lovell: The Artist should find this category its easiest win of the night, like at the Oscars. But sometimes BAFTA goes a strange direction, which could result in Tinker winning. John Williams or Howard Shore could also pick up the prize.

Best Editing

The Artist
Drive (RU:Wesley / Peter)
Hugo (RU:Peter)
Senna
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Wesley)

Wesley Lovell: Of these, Tinker seems the most likely honoree simply because people seem to like the film at the BAFTA’s, but it may be a bit too slow for some, prompting fellow Best Picture nominee Drive to pick up the prize. Of course, I could also see The Artist or Hugo winning.

Best Cinematography

The Artist (Wesley / Peter)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo (RU:Wesley)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (RU:Peter)
War Horse

Wesley Lovell: With no The Tree of Life in the running, we’re looking at what the Oscar race might look like if no one votes for Malick’s film. Of these, all but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo have a shot, but the rare opportunity to recognize the black-and-white style of The Artist should prove irresistible.

Best Production Design

The Artist (Peter)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (RU:Wesley)
Hugo (Wesley / RU:Peter)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Wesley Lovell: I don’t think Hugo will go home empty-handed and this is the best chance the film has of winning any prizes at the BAFTA’s. But beware the British productions in the list and a last hurrah award to Harry Potter could be in the offing.

Best Costume Design

The Artist (Peter)
Hugo (RU:Wesley)
Jane Eyre (Wesley)
My Week with Marilyn (RU:Peter)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Wesley Lovell: It’s the lead contender for the Oscars, so it should win here, but Hugo has a lot of nominations to go home empty handed and costumes were one of the most important aspects of this film.

Best Makeup & Hair

The Artist (Peter)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (RU:Peter)
Hugo (RU:Wesley)
The Iron Lady (Wesley)
My Week with Marilyn

Wesley Lovell: For making Meryl Streep look so eerily like Margaret Thatcher, a figure BAFTA voters are intimately familiar with, should net the film the prize without difficulty. However, they could be so repulsed by the uncanniness of it that they go somewhere else, like the more expressive and flashy work in Hugo.

Best Sound

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo (RU:Wesley)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Peter)
War Horse (Wesley / RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: The loudest of these is War Horse. The most inventive is Tinker, but both could make way for the big, but small Hugo or the minimalist approach of The Artist. Then again, they could go with the other British production on the list, Harry Potter.

Best Special Visual Effects

The Adventures of Tintin (RU:Peter)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo (RU:Wesley)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Wesley / Peter)
War Horse

Wesley Lovell: It has the momentum and I don’t see an issue with Planet of the Apes winning. Yet, the BAFTA voters are a curious lot and they could easily go with any of the other choices.

Best Film Not in the English Language

Incendies
Pina (RU:Wesley)
Potiche
A Separation (Wesley / Peter)
The Skin I Live In (RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: With no In Darkness to act as spoiler as in the case of this year’s Oscars, A Separation should sail to a smooth victory. If anything else wins, you might consider changing your Oscar predictions immediately.

Best Documentary

George Harrison: Living in the Material World (RU:Wesley / Peter)
Project Nim (Wesley / RU:Peter)
Senna

Wesley Lovell: Project Nim has proven popular with awards voters, but either of the other two documentaries could win this inaugural award.

Best Short Animation

Abuelas (RU:Wesley)
Bobby Yeah (RU:Peter)
A Morning Stroll (Wesley / Peter)

Wesley Lovell: I’m picking the only Oscar nominee of the bunch.

Best Short Film

Chalk (RU:Peter)
Mwansa the Great
Only Sound Remains (RU:Wesley / Peter)
Pitch Black Heist (Wesley)
Two and Two

Wesley Lovell: I don’t know much about these titles, so I’m going for the one that sounds most interesting by title.

Best British Film

My Week with Marilyn (RU:Wesley)
Senna
Shame
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Wesley / Peter)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: It’s the only film also nominated for Best Film. It’s also the most nominated of the bunch. In an effort to recognize the film, BAFTA voters will give Tinker the prize here so they won’t feel bad not giving it the evening’s top prize.

Best Rising Star

Adam Deacon
Chris Hemsworth (Wesley / Peter)
Chris O’Dowd (RU:Wesley)
Eddie Redmayne (RU:Peter)
Tom Hiddleston

Wesley Lovell: Not a single woman in the mix and few of these starts are recognizable names. Of course, this is an award voted on by the public, which means the person in the most popular film may win. Yet who could remember Chris O’Dowd in Bridesmaids. Normally, I would go with Eddie Redmayne if this were voted on solely by BAFTA voters, but it isn’t. As the star of Thor, Chris Hemsworth seems like a valid selection. But I’m not sure how this will pan out this year.

Best Debut of a British Writer, Director or Producer

Attack the Block – Joe Cornish (RU:Wesley / RU:Peter)
Black Pond – Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley, Sarah Brocklehurst
Coriolanus – Ralph Fiennes
Submarine – Richard Ayoade
Tyrannosaur – Paddy Considine, Diarmid Scrimshaw (Wesley / Peter)

Wesley Lovell: I am a bit clueless in this category. While recognizing Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus might seem within BAFTA’s thought processes, I think the more critically acclaimed films Tyrannosaur, Submarine and Attack the Block may be better bets.