Last year was quite an eventful year for entertainment and 2016’s movies are the ultimate example of that. The films ultimately reflected the changes our world has gone through, hitting hard topics and bringing their own artistic twists to make them stand out. From women’s equality — in films such as “Ghostbusters” and “Hidden Figures” — to questionable politics in films such as “Zootopia” and, most predominantly, racial prejudice and equality in films such as “Birth of a Nation,” “Race,” “Fences” and “13th.”

This doesn’t even begin to describe how 2016 was also an important year for revitalizing genres such as musicals, like “Moana” and “La La Land,” and for taking risks with genres mostly associated with family films, such as the R-rated superhero film “Deadpool” and the R-rated animated film “Sausage Party.”

Now, with the award ceremony scheduled for this Sunday at 8 p.m. (broadcast live on ABC), it’s time for us to look at which films will likely walk away with that coveted golden statue for Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress and Best Picture — and which ones may be overlooked.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea”

Andrew Garfield in “Hacksaw Ridge”

Ryan Gosling in “La La Land”

Viggo Mortensen in “Captain Fantastic”

Denzel Washington in “Fences”

This year has proven to be one full of spectacular acting chops. From Casey Affleck’s surprisingly subdued delivery in “Manchester” to Denzel Washington’s unpredictably complex performance in “Fences,” this has been a year full of talent. In this category, I would have to say that the main underdog here would have to be Mortensen in “Captain Fantastic.” Despite his realistic delivery, the performances from the other actors have been praised much more from critics, giving them an edge in this category. Gosling also did a fantastic job giving life to this very passionate role; however, my money would have to go to Andrew Garfield or Casey Affleck, given the massive acclaim their films have been given based on their performances alone.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Isabelle Huppert in “Elle”

Ruth Negga in “Loving”

Natalie Portman in “Jackie”

Emma Stone in “La La Land”

Meryl Streep in “Florence Foster Jenkins”

The category for Best Actress is, again, a very hard category to choose from, given the strong performances pulled off by all these women and the massive collection of accolades received for their work. Huppert, in particular, has really been garnering quite the number of accolades from all over the map. Similarly, Natalie Portman has also had quite the strong year with her performance in “Jackie,” as did Ruth Negga in “Loving.” Despite Streep’s well-executed performance in “Florence,” this award season has seemed less kind to her in terms of award wins. I see this award going to either Portman, Negga or Stone.

Best Picture

“Arrival”

“Fences”

“Hacksaw Ridge”

“Hell or High Water”

“Hidden Figures”

“La La Land”

“Lion”

“Manchester by the Sea”

“Moonlight”

The biggest award of the night has quite the competition this year. Right from the start, this year’s selections seems slightly more skewed in terms of likely winners. Some of these films, such as “Arrival,” “Hell or High Water” and “Lion” have received very little this award season in terms of Best Film awards, and it is unlikely that the Academy would ultimately vote for a sci-fi film such as “Arrival” to be the big winner.

“Fences” and “Hidden Figures” have each won Best Film from other award ceremonies, and it can be argued that the Academy may have added them to make up for the criticism they received last year for their lack of diversity. While “Hacksaw” and “Manchester” have garnered an equal number of Best Film awards from other ceremonies, the true rivalry seems like it’s going to be between “La La Land” and “Moonlight.” The two films have literally received dozens of awards in the Best Film category at other ceremonies, and with these two having the most Oscar nominations among all other films from this year, it looks like the competition will be quite heated.

Other Categories

In the category of Best Supporting Actor, I expect to see Jeff Bridges from “Hell or High Water” take home the gold. On the other end, Viola Davis from “Fences” has been killing the award season in the Supporting Actress category and is likely to take the award in this category from the Academy.

Damien Chazelle, who already received massive acclaim for his work on 2014’s “Whiplash,” is likely to get the award for Best Director this year for his refreshing direction on “La La Land.”

In the Best Animated Feature category, it is a tough toss up between “Zootopia” and “Kubo and the Two Strings,” given that “Kubo” has received more Best Animated Feature awards than any other this year, yet animation fans know the Academy almost always chooses Disney movies regardless (and the fact that both “Zootopia” and “Moana” have been nominated for this category make the odds stacked up against “Kubo” even more).

This Year’s Oscar Snubs

While this year seems to have had its fair share of surprises, there have also been a good number of snubs. Here are some of them — and the awards they should have been nominated for:

• “Nice Guys” — Best Original Screenplay, Best Director (Shane Black), Best Supporting Actor (Russell Crowe)
• “The Birth of a Nation” — Best Director (Nate Parker), Best Actor (Nate Parker), Best Cinematography
• “Silence” — Best Director (Martin Scorsese), Best Picture
• “Deadpool” — Best Actor (Ryan Reynolds), Best Adapted Screenplay
• “Hidden Figures” — Best Supporting Actress (Janelle Monae)
• “Arrival” — Best Actress (Amy Adams)
• “Finding Dory” — Best Animated Feature

Mikael, 18, is a freshman at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta where he majors in animation. Mikael has made a host of stop-motion and claymation short films, including his award-winning short film “The Tree That Refused To Fall,” and all of them can be found on his YouTube channel, Cyclops Studios.

Related: Mikael reviews this year’s Oscar-nominated short films. Worth a read!