Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” topped the dramatic feature editing category at the American Cinema Editors’ 74th ACE Eddie Awards, while “The Holdovers” won the category for best edited comedic feature during Sunday’s ceremony at UCLA’s Royce Hall.
Jennifer Lame edited “Oppenheimer,” which also took top honors at last week’s SAG Awards and Producers Guild Awards. The recent honor further cements the film’s position to take top prize at the Oscars next weekend. But she faces competition from Kevin Tent, who won here for “The Holdovers.”
Should Lame go on to win the Oscar, it will mark nine years since a woman has won. Margaret Sixel won in 2015 for “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Tent, also president of ACE, kicked off the ceremony addressing last year’s labor strikes, saying, “It’s great to look out and see so many rock star editors…Last year was an extraordinarily difficult year for our entire industry. Editors and post-production are not immune at all. 2023 hurt badly and 2024 is off to a tepid start. It feels like there’s an industry that desires to avoid repeating 2023 and get back to doing what we do best.”
With over six decades in the industry and titles including “The Godfather Part,” “Apocalypse Now” and “Ghost,” Walter Murch received the career achievement award. Murch shared the evolution of the montage and splice through cinema. He talked about how cinema had embraced those advancements. Bringing his speech to the present day, Murch also took a moment to address AI. He said, “Just as editing transformed motion picture and cinema, I hope, we the present and rising generations of film editors and directors can find a way to use AI to expand and transform the potentials of cinema in ways that at the moment can only be leveraged through a glass darkly with equal amounts of excitement and nerves.”
Ricki Lake, “Expats” star Sarayu Blue, Max Greenfield and George Lucas were among the presenters. John Waters was presented with the ACE Golden Eddie Award, which recognizes an artist for their distinguished achievement in film. Thelma Schoonmaker was on hand to present the Anne V. Coates Student Editing Award to Ariel Emma Martin of Chapman University.
A full list of winners is below.
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (Drama, Theatrical)
“Anatomy of a Fall”- Laurent Sénéchal
“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Thelma Schoonmaker, ACE
“Maestro”- Michelle Tesoro, ACE
“Oppenheimer” – Jennifer Lame, ACE (WINNER)
“Past Lives” – Keith Fraase
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (Comedy, Theatrical)
“Air” – William Goldenberg, ACE
“American Fiction” – Hilda Rasula, ACE
“Barbie” – Nick Houy, ACE
“The Holdovers” – Kevin Tent, ACE (WINNER)
“Poor Things” – Yorgos Mavropsaridis, ACE
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Elemental” – Stephen Schaffer, ACE
“Nimona” – Randy Trager, ACE and Erin Crackel
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”- Michael Andrews, ACE (WINNER)
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” – Eric Osmond
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” – Greg Levitan, ACE
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (Theatrical)
“20 Days in Mariupol” – Michelle Mizner
“American Symphony” – Sammy Dane, Matthew Heineman, Jim Hessiona and Fernando Villegas
“Joan Baez I Am a Noise” – Maeve O’Boyle
“Little Richard: I Am Everything” – Nyneve Minnear and Jake Hostetter
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” – Michael Harte, ACE (WINNER)
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (Non-Theatrical)
“100 Foot Wave: Jaws” – Alex Bayer, Alex Keipper and Quin O’Brien
“Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” – Bob Joyce
“Beckham: The Kick” – Michael Harte, ACE
“Being Mary Tyler Moore” – Mariah Rehmet
“Escaping Twin Flames: Up in Flames” – Martin Biehn, Kevin Hibbard, Inbal B. Lessner, ACE, Troy Takaki, ACE and Mimi Wilcox (WINNER)
BEST EDITED MULTI-CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
“Frasier: Blind Date” – Joseph Fulton
“How I Met Your Father: Daddy” – Russell Griffin, ACE (WINNER)
“The Upshaws: Off Beat”- Angel Gamboa Bryant
BEST EDITED SINGLE CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
“Barry: Wow” – Ali Greer, ACE and Franky Guttman, ACE
“The Bear: Fishes” Joanna Naugle, ACE (WINNER)
“The Bear: Forks” – Adam Epstein, ACE
“Only Murders in the Building: Sitzprobe” Shelly Westerman, ACE and Payton Koch
“Ted Lasso: So Long, Farewell”- Melissa McCoy, ACE
BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES
“Ahsoka: Fallen Jedi”- Dana E. Glauberman, ACE
“The Last of Us: Long, Long Time”- Timothy A. Good, ACE (WINNER)
“Slow Horses: Strange Games”- Sam Williams
“Succession: Conner’s Wedding” – Bill Henry, ACE
“Succession: With Open Eyes”- Ken Eluto, ACE
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (NON-THEATRICAL)
“Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea”- Jon Harris
“Flamin’ Hot” – Kayla M. Emter and Liza D. Espinas
“Reality” – Jennifer Vecchiarello and Ron Dulin
BEST EDITED LIMITED SERIES
“Beef: The Birds Don’t Sing, They Screech in Pain”- Harry Yoon, ACE and Laura Zempel, ACE (WINNER)
“Beef: The Great Fabricator”- Nat Fuller
“Fargo: The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions” – Christopher Nelson, ACE
“Fargo: The Tragedy of the Commons”- Regis Kimble
“Lessons in Chemistry: Introduction to Chemistry” – Géraud Brisson, ACE and Daniel Martens
BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES
“Couples Therapy: Episode 310” – Delaney Lynch, Helen Kearns, ACE and Katrina Taylor (WINNER)
“Dancing with the Stars: S32.E5” – Laurens Van Charante, Ben Bulatao, ACE, Fernanda Cardos, Jessie Sock, Jon Oliver, Neal Acosta, Raiko Siems, Joe Headrick and Mike Bennaton
“Deadliest Catch: Pain Level Ten”- Rob Butler, ACE, Isaiah Camp, ACE, Alexander Rubinow, ACE and Josh Stockero
BEST EDITED VARIETY TALK/SKETCH SHOW OR SPECIAL EVENT
“A Black Lady Sketch Show: My Love Language is Words of Defamation” – Stephanie Filo, ACE, Malinda Zehner Guerra, Taylor Joy Mason, ACE
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Dollar Stores” – Anthony Miale, ACE
“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” – Dom Whitworth, Guy Harding, Hamish Lyons, Rupa Rathod. Ben Wainwright-Pearce and Reg Wrench (WINNER)
BEST EDITED ANIMATED SERIES
“Blue Eye Samurai: The Tale of the Ronin and The Bride” – Yuka Shirasuna (WINNER)
“Bob’s Burgers: Amelia” – Jeremy Reuben, ACE and Stephanie Earley
“Scott Pilgrim Takes Off: – Ramona Rents a Video” – Keisuke Yanagi
ANNE V. COATES AWARD FOR STUDENT EDITING
Isaiah Clarke – Spanish Springs High School
Jamie Diaz – California State University Los Angeles
Ariel Emma Martin – Chapman University (WINNER)