Netflix’s Aaron Sorkin drama The Trial Of The Chicago 7 won the marquee Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) honour Saturday to cap the American Cinema Editors’ 71st annual ACE Eddie Awards.
The Trial Of The Chicago 7
Alan Baumgarten ACE, edited the pic, about the unrest around the 1968 Democratic National Convention. It puts him and the film in frontrunner status in the Best Film Editing Oscar race, where it is competing against fellow ACE nominees Nomadland and Sound of Metal along with Promising Young Woman and The Father.
Baumgarten in his virtual acceptance speech thanked Sorkin for his “enthusiasm for editing — it was a pleasure to collaborate with you.” He also thanks his wife, with a nod to the pandemic: “I think myself, and as everybody understands, I brought the work home literally — thank you for your patience and understanding.”
Chicago 7 is up for six Oscars this year including Best Picture. It follows last year’s marquee ACE Eddie winner Parasite, which went on to win the Best Picture Oscar (Ford v Ferrari took the Oscar editing Oscar prize in 2020). A total of 22 of the past 30 ACE winners for best edited dramatic film and 11 of the past 16 have gone on to take that year’s Oscar in the category.
Other top film winners in today’s virtual ceremony hosted by the cast of NBC’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist included Hulu and Neon’s Palm Springs, whose editors Matthew Friedman and Andrew Dickler won for Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy). Disney/Pixar’s Soul continued its strong run through awards season, taking the Animation prize for editor Kevin Nolting. Netflix’s My Octopus Teacher won for documentary.
Palm Springs
TV winners today included the editors behind Pop TV’s Schitt’s Creek (for the series finale), Apple’s Ted Lasso on the comedy side and AMC’s Better Call Saul and Netflix’s Ozark on the drama side. Rick And Morty and Cheer also picked up prizes.
Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit won for Best Edited Limited Series or Motion Picture, while ESPN’s The Last Dance took the non-theatrical documentary honor.
The well-constructed virtual ceremony included honoring Spike Lee with the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, while Lynzee Klingman ACE, and Sidney Wolinsky ACE, received Career Achievement Awards for their contributions to film editing.
Klingman was introduced by longtime collaborator Jodie Foster; the pair teamed on Little Man Tate, Home For The Holidays and The Beaver. Wolinsky was introduced by David Chase, who teamed with the editor on 33 episodes of The Sopranos. Lee was feted with virtual tributes from Leslie Odom Jr., Foster, longtime editing collaborators Barry Alexander Brown, ACE, Adam Gough, ACE, Nancy Novack, Sam Pollard and others. Satchel Lee, Lee’s daughter, spoke briefly on the filmmaker’s behalf.
Here’s the complete winners list:
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC)
The Trial Of The Chicago 7 – Alan Baumgarten ACE
BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY)
Palm Springs – Matthew Friedman ACE and Andrew Dickler
BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Soul – Kevin Nolting ACE
BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION
Ozark, “Wartime” – Cindy Mollo ACE
BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION
Better Call Saul, “Bad Choice Road” – Chris McCaleb ACE, Joey Liew
BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION
Ted Lasso, “Make Rebecca Great Again”
BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION
Schitt’s Creek, “Happy Ending” – Trevor Ambrose CCE
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
My Octopus Teacher – Pippa Ehrlich, Dan Schwalm
BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (NON-THEATRICAL)
The Last Dance, “Episode I” – Chad Beck ACE, Devin Concannon, Abhay Sofsky, Ben Sozanski ACE
BEST EDITED ANIMATION (NON-THEATRICAL)
Rick And Morty, “Rattlestar Ricklactica” – Lee Harting
BEST EDITED VARIETY TALK/SKETCH SHOW OR SPECIAL
David Byrne’s American Utopia – Adam Gough ACE
BEST EDITED LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE
The Queen’s Gambit, “Exchanges” – Michelle Tesoro ACE
BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES
Cheer, “God Blessed Texas” – Kate Hackett, Arielle Kilker, Daniel McDonald, Mark Morgan, David Nordstrom, Sharon Weaver, Ted Woerner
ANNE V. COATES AWARD FOR STUDENT EDITING
Samuel Bailey – University of North Carolina School of the Arts
ACE GOLDEN EDDIE FILMMAKER AWARD
Spike Lee
ACE CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Lynzee Klingman ACE
Sidney Wolinsky ACE
