Bafta winners DiCaprio, 'The Revenant' head Oscars race

The odds for the Hollywood Oscars at the end of the month have narrowed after the British Films Awards.

Known as the Baftas (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), the entrants almost mirror the Oscar nominations.

The lead acting honours now have Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant) and Brie Larson (Room) as hot favourites.

DiCaprio has been the favourite since he won the Golden Globe in January and Larson, in her first major film role, has edged out Irish actress Sairose Ronan (Brooklyn) in the latest predictions.

However, Brooklyn picked up the Bafta for best British film, though half of it was set in the US. New Zealander Finola Dwyer co-produced the film for BBC Films.

The Revenant and its director, Alejandro G Inarritu, completed a trifecta of awards at the Baftas.

Mr Innaritu won last year’s best film Oscar for Birdman but missed out at the 2015 Baftas.

He is the favourite for best director in this year’s Oscars and has already been the first director to win back-to-back at the Directors Guild of America awards.

Back-to-back Oscar winners
Joseph L Mankiewicz and John Ford have won back-to-back Oscars as best directors but no director has achieved this with the best film award.

But the favourite for best Oscar film remains The Big Short, with The Revenant as runner-up.

Mark Rylance picked up best supporting actor for Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies but is shadowed by Sylvester Stallone in Creed, which was not nominated for a Bafta.

Kate Winslet won the best supporting actress Bafta for Steve Jobs but is tipped to be eased out of the Oscar by Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl).

The Big Short and Spotlight are the front-runners for best adapted and best screenplay, respectively.

Challenging The Revenant for best film at the Oscars is Mad Max: Fury Road but its only Bafta wins were for film editing, makeup, production design and costume design, making it a favourite in those categories.

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