BAFTA Preview: Best Film and Full List of Predictions

In a battle of two much-admired films, the sheer amount of love for The Artist will carry the day

The Oscars have a list of nine films for Best Picture. BAFTA has five films in its list for Best Film. BAFTA’s list is better, for BAFTA includes The Artist and The Descendants, two of the finest films you’d wish to see, the worthy The Help, which was surprisingly nominated ahead of Hugo, and it includes Drive, one of the most brilliantly well-executed films of the year, and, of course, it is the only major awards body to have given a nomination to the best film of 2011, namely Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

So, who will win?


Well, The Help hasn’t got a hope. It is very surprising that it has been nominated for Best Film. It is a solid and perfectly watchable piece of light drama about civil rights in Mississippi in the 1960s, but it is unremarkable, and won’t have the same resonance with British voters as it has done with Americans.

Unfortunately, I think The Descendants, a wonderful, masterpiece of a film, will have a tough night and will struggle to win any awards. It certainly has no chance of winning Best Film, which is a shame, but it is a year of tough competition. Drive has a slightly better chance because a number of people absolutely love it. However, many people are miffed by it. I think it is a very fine film, but I don’t get the unflinching admiration some people have for it. That division somewhat nullifies its chances.

So, it really is a straight head-to-head fight between Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Artist. The former is very well-admired and was an unexpected box office hit, and its eleven nominations show that BAFTA does like the spy-thriller an awful lot. The latter is adored by all, and leads the field with twelve nominations. It is a tight call, but I do not think that Tinker Tailor will quite be able to stop The Artist. In a battle of two very good films, The Artist is better loved and that will give it the edge.

Take a look at my full predictions for every BAFTA category (other than the Short Film categories) below. Reel 6 will be tweeting along with the BBC broadcast of the awards ceremony.

The BAFTA Film Awards are held tonight and edited highlights will be broadcast on BBC One from 9pm

BAFTA Predictions

Best Film: The Artist

Outstanding British Film: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist

Best Actor: Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Actress: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants

Best Cinematography: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Editing: Senna

Best Production Design: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Best Costume Design: My Week with Marilyn

Best Music: The Artist

Best Make Up and Hair: The Iron Lady

Best Sound: War Horse

Best Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Best Animated Film: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Best Documentary: Senna

Rising Star Award: Eddie Redmayne

Outstanding British Debut: Tyrannosaur