Awards season is officially upon us, and our resident Oscar nerd (and CBC Arts producer) Peter Knegt will be regularly updating his predictions for the main event: the 97th Academy Awards, which will go down on March 2, 2025. He also has offered who he thinks should be nominated in many of the categories, though he is very much prepared for heartbreak in that regard.

The predictions will updated as the season goes along, based on the latest buzz from the awards circuit as viewed through the lens of Knegt's decades-long Oscar fanaticism. You can also check out his monthly column My Favourite Season for all things award season as we count down to the big day.

Click to jump to each category:
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best International Feature
Best Documentary Feature
Best Animated Feature
Best Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Production Design
Best Costume Design
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Sound
Best Makeup & Hairstyling
Best Visual Effects

What will be nominated (in alphabetical order):
Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, Nickel Boys, Sing Sing, The Substance, Wicked

What should be nominated (in alphabetical order):
Anora, Challengers, Flow, Hard Truths, I Saw The TV Glow, Janet Planet, Nickel Boys, The Room Next Door, The Substance, Universal Language

What's going to win:
We appear headed for one of the most unpredictable best picture races in some time. Last year, we were pretty much certain of Oppenheimer's win many months in advance. This year, things feel drastically less clear, with at least five films all with legitimate paths to Oscar's biggest prize: Anora, The Brutalist, Conclave, Emilia Pérez and Wicked. Right now I have a funny feeling about Conclave managing to squeak through as a sort of middle-of-the-road winner that no one hates, but that opinion changes regularly.

Who will be nominated:
Anora (Sean Baker), The Brutalist (Brady Corbet), Conclave (Edward Berger), Emilia Pérez (Jacques Audiard), The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

Who should be nominated:
All We Imagine As Light (Payal Kapadia), Anora (Sean Baker) , I Saw The TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun), Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross), The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

Who's going to win:
Seems down to two budding American auteurs both on their first nomination: Baker and Corbet, who even if their films don't win best picture seemed poised to still be rewarded here.

Who will be nominated:
Karla Sofia Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance), Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here)

Who should be nominated:
Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance), Tilda Swinton (The Room Next Door), Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here)

Who's going to win:
This category is already turning into a legendary battle just for the nomination, with my predictions (which could very well be wrong) leaving off the likes of Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie, among many others. (If it were up to me, I'd expand this category to 10 and then let every single nominee give a 10-minute speech.) As for the winner, Mikey Madison has long been the frontrunner, but truly anyone seems like they could push ahead at this point.

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Who will be nominated:
Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Daniel Craig (Queer), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)

Who should be nominated:
Daniel Craig (Queer), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Justice Smith (I Saw The TV Glow), Sebastian Stan (A Different Man)

Who's going to win:
It seemed like Brody had a second Oscar in the bag for a while there, but Chalamet is surging for his portrayal of Bob Dylan (the Oscars love them a music biopic in acting categories). Fun fact: if Chalamet wins, he'll beat the record for the youngest winner ever in this category held by... Adrien Brody.

Who will be nominated:
Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave), Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)

Who should be nominated:
Michele Austin (Hard Truths), Joan Chen (Didi), Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys), Ariana Grande (Wicked)

Who is going to win:
Probably Saldaña, but Grande is giving her a run for her money.

Who will be nominated:
Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)

Who should be nominated:
Yura Borisov (Anora), Mark Eydelshteyn (Anora), Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing), Josh O'Connor (Challengers), Adam Pearson (A Different Man)

Who is going to win:
Culkin seems to have this in the bag, though he better watch out for Norton.

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Who will be nominated:
All We Imagine As Light (Payal Kapadia), Anora (Sean Baker), The Brutalist (Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold), A Real Pain (Jesse Eisenberg), The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

Who should be nominated:
Anora (Sean Baker), Challengers (Justin Kuritzkes), Hard Truths (Mike Leigh), I Saw The TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun), Universal Language (Ila Firouzabadi, Pirouz Nemati and Matthew Rankin)

Who is going to win:
Anora can be rest assured it's going home with at least one Oscar, and it's this one.

Who will be nominated:
Conclave (Peter Straughan), Emilia Pérez (Jacques Audiard), I'm Still Here (Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega), Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes), Sing Sing (Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence "Maclin, John Whitfield)

Who should be nominated:
I'm Still Here (Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega), Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes), Queer (Justin Kuritzkes), The Room Next Door (Pedro Almodóvar), Sing Sing (Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence "Maclin, John Whitfield)

Who is going to win: Peter Straughan's script for Conclave feels like the safest bet here, though RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes are close behind (and deserve it).

What will be nominated:
Emilia Pérez (France), The Girl With The Needle (Denmark), I'm Still Here (Brazil), The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany), Universal Language (Canada)

What will be nominated:
Black Box Diaries, Daughters, No Other Land, Sugarcane, Will & Harper

What will be nominated:
Flow, Inside Out 2, Memoir of a Snail, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, The Wild Robot

What will be nominated:
Anora, The Brutalist, Challengers, Conclave, Dune: Part Two

What will be nominated:
The Brutalist, Dune: Part Two, Maria, Nickel Boys, Nosferatu

What will be nominated:
The Brutalist, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Nosferatu, Wicked

What will be nominated:
The Brutalist, Gladiator II, Maria, Nosferatu, Wicked

What will be nominated:
The Brutalist, Challengers, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, The Wild Robot

What will be nominated:
"El Mal" (Emilia Perez), "The Journey" (The Six Triple Eight), "Kiss The Sky" (The Wild Robot), "Mi Camino" (Emilia Perez), "Will and Harper Go West" (Will & Harper)

What will be nominated:
A Complete Unknown, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, Gladiator II, Wicked

What will be nominated:
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, A Different Man, Nosferatu, The Substance, Wicked

What will be nominated:
Alien: Romulus, Dune: Part II, Gladiator II, KIngdom of the Planet of the Apes, Wicked