Alfonso Cuaron Weighs In On His Chances to Win at the Oscars

Alfonso Cuaron is keeping his cards close to the vest as to whether he thinks he's a lock to win big at this year's Academy Awards ... but he's (somewhat) prepared if he does.

We got the renowned filmmaker at the Independent Spirit Awards Saturday in Santa Monica and asked him if how much we should put down on odds that he cleans up during Sunday's award show. Alfonso is up for Best Director, and his film, "Roma," is expected to take home a lot of prizes -- including, potentially, Best Picture. Needless to say, he could easily sweep.

Alfonso won't tell us one way or another if $100 would be a good bet, but he does play the hypothetical game here. He also tells us how he'll celebrate if he does take home some statuettes this year ... even if he doesn't have an acceptance speech prepared quite yet.

BTW ... we also spoke with Rosanna Arquette -- and lots of other stars -- at the Spirit Awards Saturday, and she told us that award show was much more progressive than the Oscars, based on which directors were nominated for each respective ceremony.

This ain't a shot a shot at Cuaron by any stretch of the imagination -- he wasn't nominated for Best Director at the Spirit Awards, FWIW -- but it's an interesting commentary on gender parity in the biz.