Oscars season is upon us, and with it the speculation on who will be victorious out of the recently announced nominees. I’m no awards Nostradamus, but I try to give the predictions a try each year – and I certainly have my personal opinions on who should win gold (subject to change as the season progresses).

Best Motion Picture

A fascinating mixture of films make up the motley crew of Best Picture this year, from Hollywood musicals and gross out horror movies to epic-length musings on architectural history. Although the controversial Emiila Pérez has dominated the nominations this year with 13, the highest number for a non-English language film ever, it’s easy to see something like The Brutalist snatching victory – but right now, I’m rooting for the camper end of the nominees, either The Substance or Conclave, to snatch the win.

Best Actor

Another eclectic category here, particularly given the presence of two welcome surprises: Colman Domingo as a wrongly convicted prisoner in Sing Sing, my personal pick, and Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump in The Apprentice, a bold nomination given the turbulent political climate and Stan’s unflinchingly harsh depiction. Nonetheless, Adrien Brody appears to be the favourite here, potentially grabbing his second Best Actor award since The Pianist over two decades ago.

Best Actress

A few days ago, it was easy to believe that Karla Sofia Gascon would secure the victory here and become the first trans woman to win in the category – but since the resurfacing of some awful, bigoted tweets, it will (hopefully) be an unlikely win. Demi Moore has a good chance here following her Golden Globes win - surprising given the Academy’s usual treatment of standout performances in horror films (Toni Colette in Hereditary…), but maybe this will mark the end of their blood and gore prejudice.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Seeing this category announced was a joy for me, mainly because the poignant and truly unique Sing Sing was finally getting some love this awards season. Between that and Peter Straughan’s wry adaptation of Conclave, it’s hard to know what to root for, and Nickel Boys would certainly be a welcome upset, too.

Best Director

This award tends to mirror some of the more highly nominated from the Best Picture selection, and this year is no different. As usual, we only have one female nominee here – Coralie Fargeat for The Substance – and it’s easy to her how her bold directorial vision landed her in a category that seems to have retained a glass ceiling. Most likely will be a win for Brady Corbet here though, with The Brutalist standing not just as a solid film, but as the kind of grand-scale movie rewarded by Academy voters.

Best International Feature

It’s always a strange one when you have a Best Picture nominee show up in Best International Feature – especially when the film is as nominated as Emilia Pérez. While the gorgeous All we Imagine as Light would have been a favourite in this category, there’s still plenty here to root for, particularly Germany’s powerful entry The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which blends fiction with real footage of violently suppressed protests in Iran.

Best Animated Feature

Interestingly, this year we had not just a Best Picture nominee in for Best International Feature, but a Best Animated Feature nominee – Flow, a Latvian-French-Belgian film that contains no spoken dialogue. Having unexpectedly nabbed the Golden Globe for the same category over Dreamworks’ WALL-E meets Ghibli The Wild Robot, there’s a good chance it could seize victory here too – though with Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl in the running, it’s hard not to let my Northern patriotism take over.