Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” topped the drama editing category at the 74th American Film Editors’ ACE Eddie Awards, while “The Holdovers” won the best edited comedy category during a ceremony Sunday at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
Jennifer Lime edited “Oppenheimer,” which also took top honors at the SAG Awards and Producers Guild Awards last week. This latest honor strengthens the film’s standing to win the top prize at next weekend’s Academy Awards. But she faces competition from Kevin Tenet, who won here for The Holdovers.
If Lammy goes on to win the Oscar, it will mark nine years since a woman has won. Margaret Sexel won the 2015 award for Mad Max: Fury Road.
Tent, who is also president of ACE, kicked off the ceremony by addressing last year’s labor strikes, saying, “It’s great to look forward and see so many rock star editors…Last year was a very difficult year for our entire industry. Editors and post-production are not immune.” Not at all. 2023 hurt like hell and 2024 is off to a tepid start. There seems to be an industry that wants to avoid a repeat of 2023 and get back to doing what we do best.
With more than six decades in the industry and titles including “The Godfather Part,” “Apocalypse Now” and “Ghost,” Walter Murch has received the Career Achievement Award. Murch shared the development of montage and pasting through cinema. He talked about how cinema embraces these developments. Bringing his speech to the present day, Murch took some time to address artificial intelligence. “Just as editing transformed the moving image and cinema,” he said, “I hope that we, the current and rising generations of film editors and directors, can find a way to use artificial intelligence to expand and transform the potential of cinema in ways that are currently only possible through the looking glass dimly with Equal amounts of excitement and nerves.
Presenters included Ricky Lake, Expats star Sarayu Blue, Max Greenfield and George Lucas. John Waters received the ACE Golden Eddie Award, which honors an artist for outstanding achievement in film. Thelma Schoonmaker was on hand to present the Anne V. Coates Student Editorial Award to Ariel Emma Martin of Chapman University.
The full list of winners is below.
Best Feature Film (Drama, Theater)
“Anatomy of a Fall” – Laurent Senechal
“Moonflower Killers” – Thelma Schoonmaker, Ace
“Maestro” – Michele Tesoro, ACE
“Oppenheimer” – Jennifer Lamy, ACE (winner)
“Past Lives” – Keith Fraas
Best Feature Film (Comedy, Play)
“Air” – William Goldenberg, ACE
“American Imagination” – Hilda Rassula, Ace
“Barbie” – Nick Hoey, ACE
“Conservatives” – Kevin Tent, ACE (winner)
“Bad Things” – Giorgos Mavropsaridis, ace
Best Edited Animated Film
“Racist” – Steven Schiffer, ACE
“Nimona” – Randy Trager, Ace and Erin Krakel
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” – Michael Andrews, Ace (winner)
“Super Mario Bros. Movie” – Eric Osmond
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” – Greg Levitan, Ace
Best Edited Documentary (Theatrical)
“20 days in Mariupol” – Michel Mizner
“American Symphony” – Sammy Dane, Matthew Heineman, Jim Hesiona and Fernando Villegas
“Joan Baez I’m Noise” – Maeve O’Boyle
“Little Richard: I’m Everything” – Nynaeve Minear and Jake Hostetter
“Still: The Michael J. Fox Film” – Michael Hart, ACE (winner)
Best Edited Documentary (Non-Theatrical)
“100 Feet Wave: Jaws” – Alex Baer, Alex Kiper, and Quinn O’Brien
“Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” – Bob Joyce
“Beckham: The Kick” – Michael Hart, ACE
“Being Mary Tyler Moore” – Maria Rahmat
“Escape from Twin Flames: Up in Flames” – Martin Bean, Kevin Hibbard, Inbal B. Lesnar, Ace, Troy Takaki, Ace, and Mimi Wilcox (winner)
Best Comedy Series Edited with Multiple Cameras
“Frasier: Blind Date” – Joseph Fulton
“How I Met Your Father: My Dad” – Russell Griffin, ACE (winner)
“The Upshaws: Off Beat” – Angel Gamboa Bryant
Best Single-Camera Edited Comedy Series
“Barry: Wow” – Ali Greer, ACE and Frankie Guttman, ACE
“Bear: Fish” Joanna Nogle, ACE (winner)
“Bear: Thorns” – Adam Epstein, ACE
“Just Murders on the Block: Sitzprobe” by Shelley Westerman, ACE and Payton Koch
“Ted Lasso: The Long Goodbye” – Melissa McCoy, Ace
Best Edited Drama Series
“Ahsoka: Fallen Jedi” – Dana E. Glouberman, Ace
“The Last of Us: A Long, Long Time” – Timothy A. Good, Ace (winner)
“Slow Horses: Strange Games” – Sam Williams
“Succession: Conner’s Wedding” – Bill Henry, ACE
“Succession: With Eyes Open” – Ken Iluto, ACE
Best Edited Feature Film (Non-Theatrical)
“Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea” – John Harris
“Flamin’ Hot” – Kayla M. Emter and Lisa D. Espinas
“Reality” – Jennifer Ficcirillo and Ron Dolin
Best edited limited series
“Beef: Birds Don’t Sing, They Scream in Pain” – Harry Yoon, ACE and Laura Zimbel, ACE (winner)
“Beef: The Great Manufacturer” – Nat Fuller
“Fargo: The Paradox of Intermediary Transactions” – Christopher Nelson, ACE
“Fargo: A Tragedy of Commons” – Regis Kimble
“Chemistry Lessons: An Introduction to Chemistry” – Jerrod Bryson, ACE and Daniel Martens
Best unscripted edited series
“Couples Therapy: Episode 310” – Delaney Lynch, Helen Kearns, Ace, and Katrina Taylor (winner)
“Dancing with the Stars: S32.E5” – Lorenz van Charant, Ben Bulatao, Ace, Fernanda Cardos, Jesse Sook, John Oliver, Neil Acosta, Raiko Sims, Joe Hedrick and Mike Binatone
“Deadliest Catch: Pain Level X” – Rob Butler, ACE, Isaiah Camp, ACE, Alexander Rubino, ACE, and Josh Stockero
Best adapted talk/variety show or special event
“Black Lady Sketch Show: My Love Language is Slander” – Stephanie Filo, ACE, Malinda Zinner Guerra, Taylor Joy Mason, ACE
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Dollar Stores” – Anthony Miale, ACE
“Taylor Swift: Tour for the Ages” – Dom Whitworth, Guy Harding, Hamish Lyons, Rupa Rathod. Ben Wainwright Pearce and Reg Wrench (winner)
Best adapted animated series
“The Blue-Eyed Samurai: A Tale of Ronin and the Bride” – Yuka Shirasuna (winner)
“Bob’s Burgers: Amelia” – Jeremy Rubin, Ace and Stephanie Early
“Scott Pilgrim Takes Off: – Ramona Rents a Video” – Keisuke Yanagi
Anne F. Award Coates for Student Editing
Isaiah Clark – Spanish Springs High School
Jimmy Diaz – California State University, Los Angeles
Ariel Emma Martin – Chapman University (winner)