In the past the Oscar for Best Film Editing often would go to the movies with the most editing and movies that were faster-paced, with past winners including Mel Gibson‘s war film “Hacksaw Ridge,” the rock biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” and James Mangold‘s racing movie, “Ford v Ferrari.” The craft is so important that there was a time when it was thought that a movie didn’t stand a chance to win Best Picture without at least being nominated in this category, though that has mostly changed. In 2021 “CODA” won Best Picture without being nominated for its editing … or its direction. Before that 2014’s “Birdman” was the last Best Picture without an editing nomination. All that being said, this year’s nominees are a good sample of slower-moving dramas for which the editing is crucial in keeping the pace from feeling absolutely glacial.
All five of this year’s Oscar nominees for Film Editing have also been nominated by the American Cinema Editors (ACE), which separate their awards into two categories: Drama and Comedy.
“Anatomy of a Fall”
Laurent Sénéchal
There are three undeniable highlights of Justine Triet‘s award-winning drama, which has taken the world by storm since it debuted at Cannes in 2023, that being the performance by Sandra Hüller; Triet’s original screenplay, which won the Golden Globe last month; and the way the film is edited by Laurent Sénéchal. The French editor is a first-time Oscar nominee who has mostly worked on films in his home country, but the work he does to maintain the pace of a film that involves so much dialogue, both in the courtroom and out, is partially why Triet’s film has captured the attention of so many people in Hollywood, leading to five Oscar nominations.
“The Holdovers”
Kevin Tent
Tent was previously nominated in this category for editing Alexander Payne‘s “The Descendants” in 2012, although his nomination for this one was seen as a bit of a surprise, even if his work cutting the dramedy is as crucial to his film working as the other nominees. As with Paul Giamatti‘s well-deserved acting nomination, this could be seen as the editing branch making up for not nominating Tent for his work on “Sideways,” which was nominated for Best Picture and other categories almost 20 years ago. In most cases, a slower character-driven film like this wouldn’t gain the attention of the editing branch, but clearly they realized the importance of Tent’s work here.
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
Thelma Schoonmaker
Is there anything that needs to be said about the woman tied as the most awarded film editor of all time, who has been working with Martin Scorsese for over 50 years, going back to their days editing the concert film “Woodstock”? Schoonmaker receive her first Oscar nomination for that and then received eight more nominations, winning for “Raging Bull,” “The Aviator,” and “The Departed,” all with Marty. Schoonmaker’s nomination is one of ten for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a movie that in any other year would be a major below-the-line favorite, were it not for …
“Oppenheimer”
Jennifer Lame
Lame is another first-time nominee in this category, having previously cut “Tenet” for Nolan. The irony of this nomination is that Lame had actually edited many of the films made by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach before “Barbie,” which surprisingly was not nominated for its editing. Lame has worked with Baumbach going back to “Frances Ha” (co-written and starring Gerwig) right up until Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” in 2019.
“Poor Things”
Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Yorgos Lanthimos‘s absurdist comedy reunited him with most of the team of his “The Favourite” from 2018, including his editor whom he has been working with since his feature film debut, “My Best Friend,” in 2001. In other words, Mavropsaridis has played a crucial part in the pacing and comic timing of everything Lanthimos has done as he’s grown more and more popular as a filmmaker, first for his Greek films and then for his English-language studio releases.
Considering the close connection between Best Picture and this category — all five of these films are nominated for the top prize as well — there’s a good chance that both categories will go to the same film, and there’s just as good a chance that that will be “Oppenheimer.”
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