Forum Oscar Poll Results: May 2016 – Silence is Golden, Loving Rises

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

There’s a new #1 in Best Picture from the AwardsWatch forums and it’s Martin Scorsese’s Silence. It jumps ahead of last month’s champ, The Birth of a Nation, which drops to a 3rd place tie with Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk. Jeff Nichols’s Loving makes a big move from #5 to #2 on the strength of its capturing a slot at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is the month’s highest debut at #6.

Best Director’s top 4 remains the same but with Scorsese dramatically increasing his lead over 2nd place Ang Lee. The big debut this month comes from Denis Villeneuve (Story of Your Life) at #5. His space drama starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner was well received at CinemaCon last month and could put him in the top tier for months to come. Silence continued its dominance by also getting Andrew Garfield into the pole position for Best Actor. He replaces last month’s leader Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea), who drops to #3. Loving‘s Joel Edgerton edges up to the #2 spot. Viola Davis (Fences) increases her lead in Best Actress over Loving‘s Ruth Negga just a bit from last month. In the race for Supporting Actor the field continues to be wide open and last month’s vote total for ‘Other’ (meaning, a vote for a performance that didn’t appear on the monthly poll) actually increased this month. Possible entries floated around were Garrett Hedlund (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk), Andre Holland (Moonlight), one of the three supporting roles in Fences and Warren Beatty for his still untitled Howard Hughes film. Michelle Williams remains the strongest hold for Manchester by the Sea. Her vote totals in Best Supporting Actress are nearly double her nearest competitor (Laura Dern in Wilson). As predicted last month, Moonlight‘s Naomie Harris makes a big showing this month, debuting at #5.

With the new polls up you can make your predictions and vote in the top six categories right here.

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
BEST PICTURE

01. Silence (77 votes)
02. Loving (75 votes)
03. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (72 votes)
03. The Birth of a Nation (72 votes)
05. Manchester by the Sea (61 votes)
06. La La Land (48 votes)
07. Fences (43 votes)
08. Story of Your Life (34 votes)
09. Sully (26 votes)
10. Lion (25 votes)

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

BEST DIRECTOR

01. Martin Scorsese — Silence (62 votes)
02. Ang Lee — Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (56 votes)
03. Jeff Nichols — Loving (52 votes)
04. Nate Parker — The Birth of a Nation (44 votes)
05. Denis Villenueve — Story of Your Life (22 votes)

06. Damien Chazelle — La La Land (18 votes)
07. Kenneth Lonergan — Manchester by the Sea (16 votes)
08. Clint Eastwood — Sully (8 votes)
09. Woody Allen — Café Society (7 votes)
09. Robert Zemeckis — Allied (7 votes)

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

BEST ACTOR

01. Andrew Garfield — Silence (63 votes)
02. Joel Edgerton — Loving (59 votes)
03. Casey Affleck — Manchester by the Sea (56 votes)
04. Nate Parker — The Birth of a Nation (54 votes)
05. Denzel Washington — Fences (48 votes)

06. Woody Harrelson — Wilson (23 votes)
07. Colin Firth — Deep Water (15 votes)
07. Michael Keaton — The Founder (15 votes)
09. Ryan Gosling — La La Land (12 votes)
10. Tom Hanks — Sully (11 votes)

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

BEST ACTRESS

01. Viola Davis — Fences (130 votes)
02. Ruth Negga — Loving (115 votes)
03. Emma Stone — La La Land (72 votes)
04. Amy Adams — Story of Your Life (67 votes)
05. Emily Blunt — The Girl on the Train (54 votes)

06. Jessica Chastain — The Zookeeper’s Wife (36 votes)
07. Meryl Streep — Florence Foster Jenkins (31 votes)
08. Annette Bening — 20th Century Women (29 votes)
09. Jennifer Lawrence — Passengers (20 votes)
10. Marion Cotillard — Allied (18 votes)
10. Michelle Pfeiffer — Beat-up Little Seagull (18 votes)

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

01. Liam Neeson — Silence (66 votes)
02. Armie Hammer — The Birth of a Nation (35 votes)
02. Steve Martin — Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (35 votes)
04. Adam Driver — Silence ( 22 votes)
05. Other (20 votes)

06. Oscar Isaac — The Promise (16 votes)
07. Steve Carell — Café Society (15 votes)
08. Aaron Eckhart — Sully (13 votes)
08. Michael Shannon — Loving (13 votes)
08. Michael Shannon — Nocturnal Animals (13 votes)

[divider style=”solid” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

01. Michelle Williams — Manchester by the Sea (84 votes)
02. Laura Dern — Wilson (48 votes)
03. Rachel Weisz — The Light Between Oceans (46 votes)
04. Annette Bening — 20th Century Women (43 votes)
05. Naomie Harris — Moonlight (35 votes)

06. Kristen Stewart — Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (28 votes)
07. Aja Naomi King — The Birth of a Nation (26 votes)
08. Nicole Kidman — Lion (25 votes)
09. Katey Sagal — Bleed for This (24 votes)
10. Rachel Weisz — Deep Water (17 votes)

• Author
• Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

Latest posts by Erik Anderson (see all)

• 2026 Tribeca Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary with World Premieres of ‘Hadestown: The Musical,’ ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ Doc - April 16, 2026
• ‘Beef’ Season 2 Review: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton Sink Their Teeth Into Lee Sung Jin’s Meaty Morality Tale [A-] - April 16, 2026
• George Clooney to be Honored at 51st Chaplin Award Gala by Stephen Colbert, Sam Rockwell and More - April 15, 2026