2021 ACE Eddie Award winners: ‘Trial of the Chicago 7,’ ‘Palm Springs,’ ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ and more

The American Cinema Editors (ACE) have named The Trial of the Chicago 7, Palm Springs and Soul the best edited feature films of 2020. The virtual show was hosted by the cast of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 bested nominees Mank, Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal. In comedy, Palm Springs beat out nominees Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, I Care A Lot, On the Rocks, and Best Picture and Best Editing Oscar nominee Promising Young Woman. Soul won the animated category over The Croods: A New Age, Onward, Over the Moon and Wolfwalkers. The Oscar-nominated My Octopus Teacher picked up the editing award for feature documentary against non-Oscar nominated competition.

In television, The Queen’s Gambit continued its reign, taking the best edited limited series or television movie over Watchmen, Mrs. America and Hamilton.

The event’s presenters included Oscar winner Jodie Foster, recent Critics Choice Awards-winner Seth Meyers (Late Night with Seth Meyers), Emmy nominee Charles Dance (Mank), recent Golden Globe-winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek), actor/producer Jon Huertas (This Is Us), creator/writer/actor Brendan Hunt and actor Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso), Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami), young Minari actors Noel Cho and Alan S. Kim Oscar nominee Riz Ahmed and actor Jeremy Lee Stone (Sound of Metal) and Oscar nominees Carey Mulligan and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman). 

Prolific filmmaker Spike Lee received the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, recognizing a filmmaker who exemplifies distinguished achievement in the art and business of film. Career Achievement Awards went to film editors Lynzee Klingman, ACE (presented by Jodie Foster) and Sidney Wolinsky, ACE (presented by David Chase), for their outstanding contributions to film editing. The Anne V. Coates Student Editing Award went to Samuel Bailey, University of North Carolina School of the Arts

Here is the full list of the 71st ACE Eddie Award nominees and winners.

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):
Mank
Kirk Baxter, ACE

Minari 
Harry Yoon, ACE

Nomadland 
Chloé Zhao

Sound of Metal 
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen

The Trial of Chicago 7 [WINNER]
Alan Baumgarten, ACE

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY):
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
James Thomas, Craig Alpert, ACE, Mike Giambra

I Care a Lot
Mark Eckersley, ACE

On The Rocks
Sarah Flack, ACE

Palm Springs [WINNER]
Matthew Friedman, ACE and Andrew Dickler

Promising Young Woman 
Frédéric Thoraval

BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
The Croods: A New Age
James Ryan, ACE

Onward
Catherine Apple

Over the Moon
Edie Ichioka, ACE

Soul [WINNER]
Kevin Nolting, ACE

Wolfwalkers
Darragh Byrne , Richie Cody, Darren Holmes, ACE

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE):
All In: The Fight for Democracy
Nancy Novack

Dick Johnson is Dead 
Nels Bangerter

The Dissident
Scott D. Hanson, James Leche, Wyatt Rogowski, Avner Shiloah

My Octopus Teacher [WINNER]
Pippa Ehrlich, Dan Schwalm

The Social Dilemma
Davis Coombe

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (NON-THEATRICAL):
Beastie Boys Story
Jeff Buchanan, ACE, Zoe Schack

The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
Derek Boonstra, Robert A. Martinez

The Last Dance – “Episode I” [WINNER]
Chad Beck, ACE, Devin Concannon, Abhay Sofsky, Ben Sozanski, ACE

Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult “Exposed”  
Inbal B. Lessner, ACE, Alex Jablonski, Gillian McCarthy, Matthew Moul, Chris A. Peterson, ACE

BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
The Good Place – “Whenever You’re Ready”
Eric Kissack

Schitt’s Creek – “Happy Ending” [WINNER]
Trevor Ambrose, CCE

What We Do in the Shadows – “On The Run” 
Dane McMaster, Varun Viswanath

What We Do in the Shadows – “Resurrection”
Yana Gorskaya, ACE, Dane McMaster

BEST EDITED COMEDY SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Curb Your Enthusiasm – “Happy New Year” 
Tim Roche

Insecure – “Lowkey Trying” 
Nena Erb, ACE

Ted Lasso – “The Hope That Kills You”
A.J. Catoline

Ted Lasso – “Make Rebecca Great Again” [WINNER]
Melissa McCoy

BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Better Call Saul – “Bad Choice Road” [WINNER]
Joey Liew, Chris McCaleb, ACE

Killing Eve – “Still Got It”
Dan Crinnion, ACE

Mr. Robot – “Method Not Allowed”
Rosanne Tan, ACE

This Is Us – “Forty: Part Two”
Julia Grove, Lai-San Ho

BEST EDITED DRAMA SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:
Bosch – “The Ace Hotel”
Steven Cohen ACE

Euphoria – “Trouble Don’t Last Always”
Julio C. Perez IV, ACE

The Mandalorian – “Sanctuary”
Dana E. Glauberman, ACE

Ozark – “Wartime” [WINNER]
Cindy Mollo, ACE

BEST EDITED LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION:
Hamilton 
Jonah Moran

Mrs. America – “Phyllis”
Robert Komatsu, ACE

The Queen’s Gambit – “Exchanges” [WINNER]
Michelle Tesoro, ACE

Watchmen – “The Extraordinary Being”
Anna Hauger

BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES:
Cheer – “God Blessed Texas” [WINNER]
Kate Hackett, Arielle Kilker, Daniel McDonald, Mark Morgan, David Nordstrom, Sharon Weaver, Ted Woerner

The Circus: Inside The Greatest Political Show on Earth “Who the F**k Are We?”
Barry Blaschke, Michelle Brundige, Charles Divak, Jane Jo, Benji Kast, Stefanie Maridueña, Seth Skundrick, Evan Wise

Deadliest Catch – “Mayday Mayday”
Rob Butler, ACE, Isaiah Camp, ACE, Joe Mikan, ACE, Art O’Leary, Ian Olsen, Josh Stockero

How To With John Wilson – “How To Cook the Perfect Risotto”
Adam Locke-Norton

BEST EDITED VARIETY TALK/SKETCH SHOW OR SPECIAL:
8:46 – Dave Chappelle
Steven Bognar

Dave Chappelle: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor
Jon Alloway, Chester G Contaoi, Brian Forbes, Brad Gilson, Pi Ware

David Byrne’s American Utopia [WINNER]
Adam Gough, ACE

Saturday Night Live – “Tom Hanks” 
Jeremiah Shuff, Sean McIlraith, Ryan McIlraith, Ryan Spears, Yanni Feder, Daniel Garcia, Paul Del Gesso, Chris Salerno, Adam Epstein, Kelly Lyon, Devon Schwab, Jason Watkins, Steven Pierce, Jack Klink, Nahuel Attar, Kristie Ferriso, Whit Conway, Oz Rodriguez

BEST EDITED ANIMATION (NON-THEATRICAL):
Big Mouth – “Nick Starr”
Felipe Salazar

Bob’s Burgers – “Bob Belcher and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Kids”
Jeremy Reuben

BoJack Horseman – “Nice While It Lasted” 
Brian Swanson

Rick and Morty – “Rattlestar Ricklactica” [WINNER]
Lee Harting

Image: NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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