2021 Oscar Predictions: FILM EDITING (October)

Erik Anderson October 19, 2020

Not to beat a dead horse but, two top contenders – Warner Bros Dune and MGM/UA’s No Time to Die have vacated 2020/2021 eligibility, which is going to open a door, even if just a creak, to some new contenders.

Jumping up into the top 5 from last month is The Father, from Sony Pictures Classics and edited by Yorgos Lamprinos. Although the entirety of the film takes place in one location, the film’s editing is absolutely crucial in understand the perspective and point of view of Anthony Hopkins’ dementia that both puts us in his head and still allows us as a viewer to understand what’s happening. It’s quite a feat.

New this month is Nine Days (also from SPC). The work by Jeff Betancourt and Michael Taylor as they piece together parts of the lives of multiple people for Winston Duke to survey and overlook in his soul-searching mission is not exactly the type of work that the film editing branch recognizes but definitely should.

I think there’s a place for Jennifer Lame’s work in Tenet, which does an enormous amount of heavy lifting in terms of storytelling for the time-bending film and I’m also keeping an eye on Sound of Metal (Mikkel E.G. Nielsen) because there is a path for that film to earn Whiplash-style nominations.

Here are my ranked 2021 Oscar predictions in Film Editing for October.

Green – moves up; Red – moves down; Blue – new entry this month

1. Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Chloé Zhao

2. Mank (Netflix)
 Kirk Baxter

3. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
 Alan Baumgarten

4. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
 William Goldenberg

5. The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
 Yorgos Lamprinos

Other Contenders (alphabetical)

Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Adam Gough

Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
James Wilcox

Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)
 Kristan Sprague

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Andrew Mondshein

Minari (A24)
Harry Yoon

Nine Days (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jeff Betancourt and Michael Taylor

One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Tariq Anwar

Palm Springs (Hulu/Neon)
Andrew Dickler and Matt Friedman

Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Frédéric Thoraval

Respect (MGM/UA)
 Avril Beukes

Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
 Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

Tenet (Warner Bros)
Jennifer Lame

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Paramount Pictures)
Jay Rabinowitz

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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), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) 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.