Oscars 2016: 8 Awards Contenders To Look Out For At The London Film Festival

2. Suffragette

What Could It Win? Best Picture, Best Director (Sarah Gavron), Best Actress (Carey Mulligan), Best Supporting Actress (Meryl Streep) Biggest Hope: Best Supporting Actress Suffragette tells a historical story about fighting oppression (a femenist one no less), stars a beloved previous nominee and features Meryl Streep in a focal supporting role. Yup, we've got a lot of Oscar potential here. In fact, if anything, ticking so many boxes may work against Sarah Gavron's film. "Typical" Oscar-fare has been pushed aside somewhat in recent years in favour of edgier, more boundary pushing films (just look at how The Imitation Game, which would have swept the board a couple of decades ago, went home almost empty-handed earlier this year). Suffragette, whose story should be obvious from the title, needs to offer something fresh and new to be in with a chance of success. Streep is guaranteed a nod because, well, the Academy loves her no matter who she's playing, how little screentime she has (minimal here) or how lazy the film in question is (she genuinely got nominated for Into The Woods). Everything else? Well, that'll depends on how good it really is, which we'll find out at it's premiere when it opens the festival.