Oppenheimer and The Holdovers Win Top Editing Awards at ACE Eddie Awards
The 74th ACE Eddie Awards took place on Sunday, with Oppenheimer and The Holdovers emerging as the winners in the top editing categories. Hosted by Nina West, the ceremony was held at UCLA’s Royce Hall and featured live announcements of the winners.
Oppenheimer, edited by Jennifer Lame, claimed the Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) award. The film has been a standout during this awards season, having already won accolades at the SAG Awards, PGA, DGA (for director Christopher Nolan), BAFTA, and more. With this latest honor, Oppenheimer solidifies its frontrunner status in the Best Film Editing Oscar race. The Holdovers, edited by Kevin Tent, took home the top prize for Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy). Both films are also nominated for the Best Film Editing Oscar, alongside Anatomy of a Fall, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Poor Things.
It is worth noting that the winner of the Eddie award for theatrical drama has gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Editing 13 out of 23 times since the turn of the 21st century. However, in recent years, this trend has been broken, with the Oscar going to a comedy winner instead. Last year, Everything Everywhere All at Once won the Eddie for comedy and ended up scooping the Oscar. In 2023, Top Gun: Maverick took home the ACE’s top drama prize.
In addition to the feature films, other notable winners at the ACE Eddie Awards included Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse for Best Edited Animated Feature Film and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie for Best Edited Documentary (Theatrical).
The television categories saw FX’s The Bear and CBS’ How I Met Your Father winning on the comedy side, while HBO’s The Last of Us took home the prize for Best Edited Drama Series. Blue Eye Samurai won for Best Edited Animated Series, and Couples Therapy was recognized as the Best Edited Non-Scripted Series.
Netflix’s Beef won the award for Best Edited Limited Series, and Reality took home the honor for Best Edited Non-Theatrical Documentary. The editors behind Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour were recognized with the award for Best Edited Variety Talk/Sketch or Special.
The ACE Eddie Awards also honored several individuals with career awards. John Waters, the ever-quirky writer-director, received the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award. Walter Murch, a three-time Oscar winner, and Kate Amend, an Emmy nominee, were named the 2024 Career Achievement recipients. Stephen Lovejoy, a veteran TV editor, received the society’s Heritage Award. George Lucas introduced Murch, praising him as a “renaissance man” and the most intellectually curious person he has ever met.
The American Cinema Editors has been presenting the Eddie Awards annually since 1951, celebrating the art and science of the editing profession. This year’s winners showcase the exceptional talent and skill within the industry, setting the stage for an exciting awards season ahead.
