What time are the Oscars 2017? La La Land, Trump, #OscarsSoWhite, Brit hopes, more

What time are the Oscars 2017? 

The glittering Oscars ceremony starts at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood at 5.30pm Pacific Time in the US and 1.30am GMT in the UK on Sunday night. 

Sky Cinema will exclusively broadcast the Oscars as well as a special preview show, covering everything from the red carpet arrivals to award predictions, from 11.30pm GMT. 

Sky subscribers can watch the ceremony online using the Sky Go service. The awards will also be streamed on Now TV.

Will La La Land win the most awards ever? 

The love letter to Los Angeles has been nominated for 14 prizes, tying the record set by All About Eve and Titanic, and could become the most decorated film of all time.

The record for the most Academy Award wins is jointly held by Ben Hur, Titanic and Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King, which all scooped 11 statues.

What will the stars say about Donald Trump?

In a break from the traditional pre-Oscars razzmatazz, this year’s pre-show parties have also been hit by growing political unrest, and some have even been dropped and replaced by protests.

Comments about President Donald Trump and his controversial Muslim travel ban are expected to dominate much of the ceremony,

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who will host the show, has said the President will be a target for jibes.

Meryl Streep’s explosive anti-Trump speech at the Golden Globes has been regarded as an opening of the floodgates for political rhetoric from the winners podium.

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose film The Salesman is nominated for best foreign language film, has already announced he will not attend the ceremony in response to Trump’s immigration stance, as has one of the stars of his film, actress Taraneh Alidoosti.

Political anger has also blighted the usual pre-Oscars party circuit, with many replaced by planned protests.

The United Talent Agency in particular cancelled its annual pre-ceremony bash in protest at President Trump’s immigration policy. 

Instead, it will host a United Voices Rally at its headquarters on Civic Center Drive in Beverly Hills with Jodie Foster and Michael J Fox expected to take to the stage.

Other star-studded bashes such as that held by Vanity Fair and The Weinstein Co are still scheduled to go ahead.

Will the Trumps watch the Oscars? 

The Trumps themselves have chosen to host a black tie ball at the White House at the time the ceremony is broadcast.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer pointed out this scheduling conflict when asked by a reporter today if the president planned to watch the Oscars – and respond to any criticism of his administration coming from the starlets on stage. 

Spicer said the president and First Lady Melania Trump will be hosting the Governors’ Ball that night, which is part of the National Governors Association’s winter meeting in Washington. 

“Mrs Trump looks forward to putting on a phenomenal event,” Spicer said. 

“And the first lady’s put a lot of time into this event that’s going to occur, welcoming our nation’s governors to the capital and I have a feeling that that’s where the president and the first lady are going to be focused on, on Sunday night.”

Will the Awards lose its #OscarsSoWhite tag? 

In the wake of the controversy about the lack of black nominees last year, the 2017 ceremony could see African American stars take home three out of the four acting prizes.

Viola Davis is widely expected to lift the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Fences, while Mahershala Ali is the frontrunner to win Best Supporting Actor for Moonlight.

Denzel Washington could also snatch victory in the Best Actor category, also for Fences, nudging former favourite Casey Affleck out of pole position for his performance in Manchester By The Sea.

La La Land star Emma Stone is widely expected to take home the Best Actress prize while the film is the frontrunner to scoop Best Picture.

It will face off against Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell Or High Water, Hidden Figures, Lion, Manchester By The Sea and Moonlight for the biggest prize of the ceremony.

How will Brits do at the Oscars? 

It could be a disappointing night for British nominees, as the UK slumped to its lowest number of Oscar nominations for at least 10 years.

Britain has just 12 nominations at this year’s ceremony, the lowest for at least a decade.

This number excludes films that were co-productions with other countries, and does not double-count people who are credited in the same nomination.

By the same calculation, Britain received 29 nominations in 2016.

Who are the Brit hopefuls at the Oscars? 

Among the hopefuls this year are three actors – Naomie Harris for her supporting role in Moonlight, Best Actor nods for Dev Patel in Lion and Andrew Garfield’s performance in Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge.

The number is down on the six recognised in 2016 and five in 2015.

British hopes also lie with musician Sting, who is up for best original song for The Empty Chair from Jim: The James Foley Story and other categories including costume design, original score, best production design, visual effects, sound mixing and editing.