The Academy Award for Best Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. For 33 consecutive years, 1981 to 2013, every Best Picture winner had also been nominated for the Film Editing Oscar, and only 38 of the 98 Best Picture winners have also won for Film Editing. In 1980, Ordinary People won as Best Picture, but its editor Jeff Kanew was not nominated for Best Editing. Interviews with prominent film editors exploring the correlation between the Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and for Best Film. Only the principal, "above the line" editor(s) as listed in the film's credits are named on the award; additional editors, supervising editors, etc. are not currently eligible.
The nominations for this Academy Award are determined by a ballot of the voting members of the Editing Branch of the academy; there were 220 members of the Editing Branch in 2012. The members may vote for up to five of the eligible films in the order of their preference; the five films with the largest vote totals are selected as nominees. Rules are published for each year's awards. In earlier years, different rules applied; thus Robert Parrish was nominated for All the King's Men (1949) with a credit as an "editorial consultant". The Academy Award itself is selected from the nominated films by a subsequent ballot of all active and life members of the academy. This process is essentially the reverse of that of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA); nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Editing are done by a general ballot of academy voters, and the winner is selected by members of the editing chapter.
History This award was first given for films released in 1934. The name of this award is occasionally changed; in 2008, it was listed as the Academy Award for Achievement in Film Editing.
Four film editors have won this award three times in their career:
Ralph Dawson won for A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Daniel Mandell won for The Pride of the Yankees (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and The Apartment (1960). Michael Kahn won for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Schindler's List (1993), and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Thelma Schoonmaker won for Raging Bull (1980), The Aviator (2004), and The Departed (2006).
To date, three film directors have won this award: James Cameron, Alfonso Cuarón, and Sean Baker, for the films Titanic, Gravity, and Anora, respectively. Directors David Lean, Steve James, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (under the alias "Roderick Jaynes"), Michel Hazanavicius, Jean-Marc Vallée (under the alias "John Mac McMurphy"), Chloé Zhao, and Josh Safdie have been nominated for editing their own films as well, with Cameron, Cuarón, and the Coens each being nominated for the award twice. Also, Best Film Editing winner, Walter Murch, although known for film editing and sound, directed the Oscar nominated Return to Oz, and is, to date, the only person with Oscars for both sound engineering and film editing—winning them in the same year for his work on The English Patient.
Additionally, former film editors Robert Wise (nominee for Citizen Kane), Hal Ashby (winner for In the Heat of the Night), and Francis D. Lyon (co-winner for Body and Soul) became directors whose films were subsequently nominated for Best Film Editing themselves. These films include Somebody Up There Likes Me, I Want to Live!, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, The Sand Pebbles, and The Andromeda Strain for Wise; Bound for Glory and Coming Home for Ashby; and Crazylegs for Lyon.
Superlatives Category Name Superlative Year Notes Most awards Thelma Schoonmaker 3 awards 2006 Awards resulted from 9 nominations Michael Kahn 1998 Awards resulted from 8 nominations Daniel Mandell 1960 Awards resulted from 5 nominations Ralph Dawson 1938 Awards resulted from 4 nominations Most nominations Thelma Schoonmaker 9 nominations 2023 Nominations resulted in 3 awards Most nominations without a win Frederic Knudtson 6 nominations 1963 Nominations resulted in no awards Gerry Hambling 1996 Oldest winner Michael Kahn Age 68 1998 Oldest nominee Thelma Schoonmaker Age 84 2023 Youngest winner David Brenner Age 27 1989 Co-edited with Joe Hutshing
Superlatives taken from a document published by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Winners and nominees These listings are based on the Awards Database maintained by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Select all "film editing" awards.
1930s Year Film Nominees1934(7th) Eskimo Conrad A. Nervig Cleopatra Anne Bauchens One Night of Love Gene Milford1935(8th) A Midsummer Night's Dream Ralph Dawson David Copperfield Robert J. Kern The Informer George Hively Les Misérables Barbara McLean The Lives of a Bengal Lancer Ellsworth Hoagland Mutiny on the Bounty Margaret Booth1936(9th) Anthony Adverse Ralph Dawson Come and Get It Edward Curtiss The Great Ziegfeld William S. Gray Lloyd's of London Barbara McLean A Tale of Two Cities Conrad A. Nervig Theodora Goes Wild Otto Meyer1937(10th) Lost Horizon Gene Havlick and Gene Milford The Awful Truth Al Clark Captains Courageous Elmo Veron The Good Earth Basil Wrangell One Hundred Men and a Girl Bernard W. Burton1938(11th) The Adventures of Robin Hood Ralph Dawson Alexander's Ragtime Band Barbara McLean The Great Waltz Tom Held Test Pilot You Can't Take It with You Gene Havlick1939(12th) Gone with the Wind Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom Goodbye, Mr. Chips Charles Frend Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Gene Havlick and Al Clark The Rains Came Barbara McLean Stagecoach Otho Lovering and Dorothy Spencer
1940s Year Film Nominees1940(13th) North West Mounted Police Anne Bauchens The Grapes of Wrath Robert L. Simpson The Letter Warren Low The Long Voyage Home Sherman Todd Rebecca Hal C. Kern1941(14th) Sergeant York William Holmes Citizen Kane Robert Wise Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Harold F. Kress How Green Was My Valley James B. Clark The Little Foxes Daniel Mandell1942(15th) The Pride of the Yankees Daniel Mandell Mrs. Miniver Harold F. Kress The Talk of the Town Otto Meyer This Above All Walter Thompson Yankee Doodle Dandy George Amy1943(16th) Air Force George Amy Casablanca Owen Marks Five Graves to Cairo Doane Harrison For Whom the Bell Tolls Sherman Todd and John F. Link Sr. The Song of Bernadette Barbara McLean1944(17th) Wilson Barbara McLean Going My Way LeRoy Stone Janie Owen Marks None but the Lonely Heart Roland Gross Since You Went Away Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom1945(18th) National Velvet Robert J. Kern The Bells of St. Mary's Harry Marker The Lost Weekend Doane Harrison Objective, Burma! George Amy A Song to Remember Charles Nelson1946(19th) The Best Years of Our Lives Daniel Mandell It's a Wonderful Life William Hornbeck The Jolson Story William A. Lyon The Killers Arthur Hilton The Yearling Harold F. Kress1947(20th) Body and Soul Francis Lyon and Robert Parrish The Bishop's Wife Monica Collingwood Gentleman's Agreement Harmon Jones Green Dolphin Street George White Odd Man Out Fergus McDonell1948(21st) The Naked City Paul Weatherwax Joan of Arc Frank Sullivan Johnny Belinda David Weisbart Red River Christian Nyby The Red Shoes Reginald Mills1949(22nd) Champion Harry W. Gerstad All the King's Men Robert Parrish and Al Clark Battleground John Dunning Sands of Iwo Jima Richard L. Van Enger The Window Frederic Knudtson
1950s Year Film Nominees1950(23rd) King Solomon's Mines Ralph E. Winters and Conrad A. Nervig All About Eve Barbara McLean Annie Get Your Gun James E. Newcom Sunset Boulevard Arthur P. Schmidt and Doane Harrison The Third Man Oswald Hafenrichter1951(24th) A Place in the Sun William Hornbeck An American in Paris Adrienne Fazan Decision Before Dawn Dorothy Spencer Quo Vadis Ralph E. Winters The Well Chester Schaeffer1952(25th) High Noon Elmo Williams and Harry W. Gerstad Come Back, Little Sheba Warren Low Flat Top William Austin The Greatest Show on Earth Anne Bauchens Moulin Rouge Ralph Kemplen1953(26th) From Here to Eternity William A. Lyon Crazylegs Irvine "Cotton" Warburton The Moon Is Blue Otto Ludwig Roman Holiday Robert Swink The War of the Worlds Everett Douglas1954(27th) On the Waterfront Gene Milford 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Elmo Williams The Caine Mutiny William A. Lyon and Henry Batista The High and the Mighty Ralph Dawson Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Ralph E. Winters1955(28th) Picnic Charles Nelson and William A. Lyon Blackboard Jungle Ferris Webster The Bridges at Toko-Ri Alma Macrorie Oklahoma! Gene Ruggiero and George Boemler The Rose Tattoo Warren Low1956(29th) Around the World in 80 Days Gene Ruggiero and Paul Weatherwax The Brave One Merrill G. White Giant William Hornbeck, Philip W. Anderson and Fred Bohanan Somebody Up There Likes Me Albert Akst The Ten Commandments Anne Bauchens1957(30th) The Bridge on the River Kwai Peter Taylor Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Warren Low Pal Joey Viola Lawrence and Jerome Thoms Sayonara Arthur P. Schmidt and Philip W. Anderson Witness for the Prosecution Daniel Mandell1958(31st) Gigi Adrienne Fazan Auntie Mame William H. Ziegler Cowboy William A. Lyon and Al Clark The Defiant Ones Frederic Knudtson I Want to Live! William Hornbeck1959(32nd) Ben-Hur Ralph E. Winters and John D. Dunning Anatomy of a Murder Louis R. Loeffler North by Northwest George Tomasini The Nun's Story Walter Thompson On the Beach Frederic Knudtson
1960s Year Film Nominees1960(33rd) The Apartment Daniel Mandell The Alamo Stuart Gilmore Inherit the Wind Frederic Knudtson Pepe Viola Lawrence and Al Clark Spartacus Robert Lawrence1961(34th) West Side Story Thomas Stanford Fanny William H. Reynolds The Guns of Navarone Alan Osbiston Judgment at Nuremberg Frederic Knudtson The Parent Trap Philip W. Anderson1962(35th) Lawrence of Arabia Anne V. Coates The Longest Day Samuel E. Beetley The Manchurian Candidate Ferris Webster The Music Man William H. Ziegler Mutiny on the Bounty John McSweeney Jr.1963(36th) How the West Was Won Harold F. Kress The Cardinal Louis R. Loeffler Cleopatra Dorothy Spencer The Great Escape Ferris Webster It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Frederic Knudtson , Robert C. Jones and Gene Fowler Jr.1964(37th) Mary Poppins Cotton Warburton Becket Anne V. Coates Father Goose Ted J. Kent Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Michael Luciano My Fair Lady William H. Ziegler1965(38th) The Sound of Music William H. Reynolds Cat Ballou Charles Nelson Doctor Zhivago Norman Savage The Flight of the Phoenix Michael Luciano The Great Race Ralph E. Winters1966(39th) Grand Prix Fredric Steinkamp, Henry Berman, Stewart Linder and Frank Santillo Fantastic Voyage William B. Murphy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming Hal Ashby and J. Terry Williams The Sand Pebbles William H. Reynolds Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Sam O'Steen1967(40th) In the Heat of the Night Hal Ashby Beach Red Frank P. Keller The Dirty Dozen Michael Luciano Doctor Dolittle Samuel E. Beetley and Marjorie Fowler Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Robert C. Jones1968(41st) Bullitt Frank P. Keller Funny Girl Robert Swink, Maury Winetrobe and William Sands The Odd Couple Frank Bracht Oliver! Ralph Kemplen Wild in the Streets Fred R. Feitshans Jr. and Eve Newman1969(42nd) Z Françoise Bonnot Hello, Dolly! William H. Reynolds Midnight Cowboy Hugh A. Robertson The Secret of Santa Vittoria William A. Lyon and Earle Herdan They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Fredric Steinkamp
1970s