The Baftas 2014: Predicting Best Film, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Supporting Categories

Award season has been grumbling away like Smaug inside Erebor for the last few months; but dragon is slowly awakening. Since the Gotham awards last year, the perennial question of ‘who’ll win what?’ has echoed around the Internet, and the recently announced BAFTA nominations promise to shed some light on the eventual academy recipients.

Gravity is leading the way with 11 Bafta nominations

With that in mind, and with some tightly contested categories to work through, it’s time to start predicting who’ll take home the golden masks, before we start predicting who’ll take home the golden statuettes, you see.

Best Film

Fighting it out for Best Film are Gravity, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, Captain Phillips and American Hustle. A lot has been said of Chiwetel Ejiofor’s performance in 12 Years a Slave – Steve McQueen’s follow up to shame and most realistic shot at an Oscar.

And he should kick off an already impressive award season with the Bafta for best film. It’s difficult to look past the true story of Soloman Northrup for this category.

Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave

Best Supporting Actress

Bet you thought you’d see Best Actor here, or Best Director. No you sexist pig it’s Best Supporting Actress so just deal with it. In this category, Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Roberts, Lupita Nyong’o, Oprah Winfrey and Sally Hawkins are all nominated.

We fully expect Jennifer Lawrence to follow up a glorious 2013 with an emphatic start to 2014, and that kicks off with picking up the Bafta for her tenacious role as Rosalyn Rosenfeld in American Hustle.

Jennifer Lawrence [R] Turns In Another Oscar-worthy Performance in 'American Hustle'

Best Director

In line for the Best Director award are: Steve McQueen, David O Russell, Paul Greengrass, Alfonso Cuaron and Martin Scorsese.

Everyone expects a 12 Years a Slave win here, and our last two predictions have been pretty obvious, so we’re going to plump for Paul Greengrass for his efforts on Captain Phillips. He and lead actor Tom Hanks managed to make a well-known story exciting and vivid - a perfect example of how to make a thriller; a directorial masterclass.

Paul Greengrass conveyed terror and confusion in Captain Phillips

Best Actor

While most would attest that Best Film is the biggest category, celebrity culture dictates the acting awards attract just as much attention. In line for said attention are Bruce Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks.

While Tom Hanks and Bruce Dern throw in career best performances – we mean it, better than Gump – this award has to go to Ejiofor. 12 Years a Slave is brutal and hard to watch at times, but no amount of uncomfortable subject matter can draw attention away from the British actor’s supreme portrayal of Northrup and his horrific ordeals.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is favourite for both Bafta and Oscar wins

Best Actress

Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench and Sandra Bullock are all nominated for this category, exemplifying in perfect form the sheer amount of talent on show for this year’s award season.

And we expect the legendary actress Judi Dench to take the prize for her titular role in Philomena. She, alongside Steve Coogan, portrays an emotive, heart-breaking story with both respect and levity, treating the subject matter with such delicacy and tenderness. Plus, she’s British and Bafta love her.