All the best-picture contenders will figure here again, and the shortlist could well have an international look to it, featuring an American, Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan); an Australian, Peter Weir (The Truman Show); an Englishman, John Madden (Shakespeare in Love); and an Italian, Roberto Benigni (La Vita e Bella). The contenders also include Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth), Sam Raimi (A Simple Plan), Paul Schrader (Affliction) and Warren Beatty (Bulworth), but in the final reckoning, John Boorman, Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line) and Benigni will be fighting it out for the last two slots.
Prediction: Steven Spielberg, Peter Weir, John Madden, Terrence Malick, John Boorman