“Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” Dominate 76th ACE Eddie Awards

The 76th American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Awards were presented on Friday night at UCLA’s Royce Hall, recognizing outstanding achievement in film, television and documentary editing. “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” took home the top honors in the feature film categories, signaling potential momentum as the awards season continues.

Feature Film Winners

“Sinners” editor Michael P. Shawver received the ACE Award for best-edited theatrical drama. “One Battle After Another” earned Andy Jurgensen the award for best-edited theatrical comedy. AwardsWatch notes that both Shawver and Jurgensen are also nominated for Oscars for their work, alongside Stephen Mirrione (“F1”), Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie (“Marty Supreme”), and Olivier Bugge Coutté (“Sentimental Value”). “One Battle After Another” recently won a BAFTA award, while “F1” previously won a Critics Choice award.

Documentary and Animated Film Awards

Viridiana Lieberman won the award for best-edited documentary feature for “The Perfect Neighbor,” which is also nominated for an Oscar in the best documentary category. Variety reports that Nathan Schauf took home the award for best-edited animated feature film for “KPop Demon Hunters.”

Television and Other Categories

On the television side, “The Pitt” won best-edited drama series, and “The Studio” won best-edited comedy series. Other winners included “The Penguin” for best-edited limited series, “Conan O’Brien Must Go” for best-edited reality series, and “Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special” for best-edited variety talk/sketch show or special. “South Park’s” “Twisted Christian” episode won best-edited animated series, with editor David List praising the show’s willingness to push boundaries. Erin Casper won best-edited short for “All The Empty Rooms,” a film focusing on the bedrooms of children killed in US school shootings, dedicating her win to the victims and their families.

Lifetime Achievement and Special Awards

Ang Lee received the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, dedicating the honor to his long-time editor, Tim Squyres. 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 described editing as the “real cooking” in filmmaking, comparing shooting to “buying groceries.”

ACE Eddie Awards and Oscar Correlation

The ACE Eddie Awards are often seen as a bellwether for the Oscars’ best editing category. Over the past 26 years, the winners in best film drama editing and best film comedy/musical editing have gone on to win the best editing Oscar 17 times. AwardsWatch highlights that in recent years, the ACE winners haven’t always aligned with the Oscar results, but the awards still provide valuable insight into the potential Oscar contenders.