Bafta Film Awards
The iconic Bafta award at the foundry where they've been made ahead of the ceremony. Getty Images

Tonight (18 February) the film industry turns its attention to the British Academy Film Awards: the last major event of awards season before next month's all-important Oscars. Depending on who wins a coveted Bafta, favourites will be cemented and new contenders may emerge.

Britain's most prestigious awards night always attracts big names, from nominees Daniel Day Lewis, Margot Robbie, Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand and Hugh Grant to guests like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and many more.

Who, though, is going to win night's biggest awards? Here are IBTimes UK's picks for the night of glitz, glamour and golden statues.

Let's start with the easiest category: Best Actor. The British Academy tends to favour British stars and British films, but that makes little difference to the overwhelming likelihood that Gary Oldman will be going home with the prize for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.

Only Daniel Day Lewis as a realistic chance of pipping him to the post, and that's only because his turn in Phantom Thread is - he says - his career swansong.

When it comes to Best Actress the Bafta swing towards British-born stars makes Sally Hawkins a contender, but the momentum is undoubtedly with Frances McDormand, whose performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is a career highlight.

Best Supporting Actress is expected to go to Allison Janney in I, Tonya - the safest bet - but because of that British favouritism we're going to go for Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread, whose performance was wonderfully biting and more likely to appeal to Bafta voters.

As much as we'd like to see Best Supporting Actor go to Hugh Grant, who is probably still digesting Paddington 2 scenery, the odds are with Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri.

Best Director is a tight race between awards season favourite Guillermo Del Toro and Christopher Nolan, whose on Dunkirk has earned him an overdue FIRST Oscar nomination and his second Bafta nod. He didn't win for Inception in 2011, we suspect he'll win here.

Del Toro remains the odds-on favourite however, for The Shape of Water.

Finally there's Best Film and Outstanding British Film. Darkest Hour and Three Billboards are nominated in both categories, but winning both awards is unheard of. Strangely Dunkirk was never in the running for the latter prize but is our favourite to win Best Film.

Outstanding British Film we predict will go to Paddington 2, which would certainly win on the criteria of being the MOST British. That will probably be enough to earn it win. If it does, expect one of the loudest applauses of the night.

Our predictions for the night's biggest categories....

Best Film

Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Dunkirk - WINNER

Outstanding British Film

Darkest Hour
The Death of Stalin
God's Own Country
Lady Macbeth
Paddington 2 - OUR PREDICTED WINNER
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best director

Denis Villeneuve, Blade Runner 2049
Luca Guadagnino, Call Me by Your Name
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk - OUR PREDICTED WINNER
Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best actress

Annette Bening, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - OUR PREDICTED WINNER
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Best actor

Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour - OUR PREDICTED WINNER
Jamie Bell, Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name

Best supporting actress

Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Kristin Scott Thomas, Darkest Hour
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread - OUR PREDICTED WINNER
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Best supporting actor

Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Hugh Grant, Paddington 2
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - WINNER
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri