“Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” took home the live action feature awards at the 76th ACE Eddie Awards.
“Sinners” editor Michael Shawver said, “Ryan Coogler took a big risk, and I think gave audiences something that maybe they didn’t even know they were hungry for something new, different, fun, and total experience.”
“KPop Demon Hunters” took home the award for best edited animated feature film.
The awards were handed out Friday night at UCLA’s Royce Hall, and to Oscar watchers provided insight into the Oscars race for best editing. The winners in best film drama editing and best film comedy/musical editing has gone on to match the best editing Oscar 17 times in the past 26 years.
“The Perfect Neighbor” took home the award for best edited documentary. The Netflix documentary is also nominated for an Oscar in the best documentary category.
Damian Rodriguez who won best edited documentary series for “Pee-wee as Himself” – Part One dedicated his win to team and Paul Reuben. Rodriguez said, “We wouldn’t be here without him. He was such an amazing artist, and he influenced so many people, including myself. I wish he was here.”
On the TV side, “The Studio” and “The Pitt” won in their respective categories for best edited comedy and best edited drama.
The ACE Eddies recognize outstanding editing in film, television, documentaries, shorts and digital content. Ang Lee received the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award. Kim Larson & YouTube Will were honored with the ACE Visionary Award, and Film Editors Arthur Forney, ACE, and Robert Leighton were given ACE Career Achievement Awards.
Lee dedicated his award to his go-to editor Tim Squyres. “When you give me this award, you actually give me it to Tim Squyres.” Lee shared how Squyres had cut all his movies except “Brokeback Mountain.” “He missed that one because I told him, after ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,’ I’m retiring, I said ‘I had enough.’ So he took another movie.” Lee said he had stuck with Squyres for over 35 years.
Speaking about what editing means to Lee, he said, “It’s very hard to say, but let me put this way, my wife said, I can only do two things, right, making movies and cooking. So let me use cooking as a metaphor. Shooting is like buying groceries, and the real cooking is on the editing table. That’s how I feel about editing. I’ve feel I have this editing machine in my head when I’m making movies, every section, every setup, editing is at the center of my consciousness. Every working day I have to answer, hundreds of questions about what I want. The only reason I can give directions and put the whole movie together is because I have that editing table in my head.” Lee added, “We’re in a particularly difficult moment, challenging moment, in our life of cinema. But I do believe, as long as there is as long as there are moving images, there will be editors.”
Erin Casper who won best edited short for “All The Empty Rooms” that goes into the bedrooms of children killed in US school shootings, dedicated her win to the victims and the families “who opened their doors to us and welcomed us into their sacred spaces of their child’s bedroom preserved just as it was since the last day they saw their child alive.” She went on to say, “The word gun is never mentioned in our film, and this was intentional on our part, because we’ve all grown so numb to this epidemic.”
She said their goal was to center the humanity and “the life that was in these rooms.”
“South Park’s” Twisted Christian episode won best edited animated series. During his acceptance speech, editor David List said, “It was especially gratifying to work on these last 10 episodes because Trey and Matt really, really went for it. They challenged the boundaries of censorship and how far all of us can exercise our First Amendment rights, whether it’s political commentary, mocking celebrity or that expertly timed fart joke.” He added, “Our freedom of speech should ultimately be protected and celebrated regardless of political party affiliation.”
Full list of winners below.
EDITED FEATURE FILM (Drama, Theatrical)
“Sinners”
Michael P. Shawver
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (Comedy, Theatrical)
“One Battle After Another”
Andy Jurgensen
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“KPop Demon Hunters”
Nathan Schauf
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Perfect Neighbor”
Viridiana Lieberman
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
“Pee-wee as Himself – Part One”
Damian Rodriguez
BEST EDITED MULTI-CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
“Frasier” (Murder Most Finch)
Russell Griffin, ACE
BEST EDITED SINGLE CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
“The Studio” (The Promotion)
Eric Kissack, ACE
BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES
“The Pitt” (6pm)
Mark Strand, ACE
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (NON-THEATRICAL)
“A Winter’s Song”
Yvette M. Amirian, ACE
BEST EDITED LIMITED SERIES
“The Penguin” (A Great or Little Thing)
Henk van Eeghen, ACE
BEST EDITED REALITY SERIES
“Conan O’Brien Must Go” (Austria)
Matthew Shaw, ACE
Brad Roelandt
BEST EDITED VARIETY TALK/SKETCH SHOW OR SPECIAL
“Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special”
Paul Del Gesso
Christopher Salerno
Ryan Spears
Sean Mcilraith, ACE
Ryan Mcilraith
Daniel Garcia
BEST EDITED ANIMATED SERIES
“South Park” (Twisted Christian)
David List
Nate Pellettieri
BEST EDITED SHORT
“All The Empty Rooms”
Erin Casper, ACE
Stephen Maing
Jeremy Medoff
ANNE V. COATES AWARD FOR STUDENT EDITING
Luis Barragan – California State University, Fullerton
