2026 Oscar Predictions: FILM EDITING and CINEMATOGRAPHY (November)
Critics Choice has announced its shortlists of contenders in 11 categories, including Makeup and Hairstyling and Visual Effects. There is a caveat with the list however, which allows for two write-ins for films that were not screened in time for the below the line committee to vote that goes right to the end of Critics Choice voting on December 2. Avatar: Fire and Ash screens on December 1 and could make the cut for cinematography, a category the first film won an Oscar for. The last sequel, The Way of Water, failed to earn a nomination so I’m not counting on it to place high.
My top 10 for film editing last month is 7/10 with the CCA shortlists and cinematography lines up 9/10 in terms of how predictive Critics Choice tends to (wants to) be. The only major change in either category for me this month is the addition of Train Dreams in the lower half of the film editing predictions.
Critics Choice Awards nominations will be announced December 5. Oscar shortlists come out on December 16. American Society of Cinematographers nominations will be revealed on January 8. American Cinema Editors nominations will be on January 27, five days after Oscar nominations are announced.
Here are my 2026 Oscar predictions for Film Editing and Cinematography for November.
FILM EDITING
| 1. One Battle After Another — Andy Jurgensen (Warner Bros) | CCA shortlist |
| 2. Sinners — Michael P. Shawver (Warner Bros) | CCA shortlist |
| 3. Hamnet — Chloé Zhao and Affonso Gonçalves (Focus Features) | CCA shortlist |
| 4. F1: The Movie — Stephen Mirrione (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros) | CCA shortlist |
| 5. Marty Supreme — Ronald Bronstein (A24) | CCA shortlist |
| 6. Sentimental Value — Olivier Bugge Coutté (NEON) | |
| 7. A House of Dynamite — Kirk Baxter (Netflix) | CCA shortlist |
| 8. It Was Just an Accident — Amir Etminan (NEON) | CCA shortlist |
| 9. Bugonia — Yorgos Mavropsaridis (Focus Features) | |
| 10. Frankenstein — Evan Schiff (Netflix) |
| 11. No Other Choice — Kim Sang-bum (NEON) | CCA shortlist |
| 12. Wake Up Dead Man — Bob Ducsay (Netflix) | CCA shortlist |
| 13. Weapons — Joe Murphy (Warner Bros/New Line) | CCA shortlist |
| 14. Avatar: Fire and Ash — James Cameron, Nicolas De Toth, John Refoua, David Brenner, Stephen E. Rivkin (20th Century Studios) | |
| 15. Jay Kelly — Valerio Bonelli (Netflix) | |
| 16. Wicked: For Good — Myron Kerstein (Universal Pictures) | |
| 17. The Secret Agent — Matheus Farias and Eduardo Serrano (NEON) | |
| 18. The Smashing Machine — Benny Safdie (A24) | |
| 19. The Testament of Ann Lee — Sofía Subercaseaux (Searchlight Pictures) | |
| 20. Train Dreams — Parker Laramie (Netflix) NEW |
Other contenders: 28 Years Later — Jon Harris (Sony Pictures/Columbia), Is This Thing On? — Charlie Greene (Searchlight Pictures), Rental Family — Alan Baumgarten and Thomas A. Krueger (Searchlight Pictures), Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere — Pamela Martin (20th Century Studios) ↓
CINEMATOGRAPHY (shortlist of 10)
| 1. One Battle After Another — Michael Bauman (Warner Bros) | CCA shortlist |
| 2. Sinners — Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Warner Bros) | CCA shortlist |
| 3. Hamnet — Łukasz Żal (Focus Features) | CCA shortlist |
| 4. Frankenstein — Dan Laustsen (Netflix) | CCA shortlist |
| 5. F1: The Movie — Claudio Miranda (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros) | CCA shortlist |
| 6. Marty Supreme — Darius Khondji (A24) | CCA shortlist |
| 7. Train Dreams — Adolfo Veloso (Netflix) | CCA shortlist |
| 8. Novelle Vague — David Chambille (Netflix) | CCA shortlist |
| 9. Bugonia — Robbie Ryan (Focus Features) | |
| 10. Jay Kelly — Linus Sandgren (Netflix) | CCA shortlist |
| 11. Avatar: Fire and Ash — Russell Carpenter (20th Century Studios) | |
| 12. Wicked: For Good — Alice Brooks (Universal Pictures) | |
| 13. A House of Dynamite — Barry Ackroyd (Netflix) | |
| 14. It Was Just an Accident — Amin Jafari (NEON) | |
| 15. Sentimental Value — Kasper Tuxen (NEON) | |
| 16. 28 Years Later – Anthony Dod Mantle (Sony Pictures/Columbia) | CCA shortlist |
| 17. No Other Choice — Kim Woo-hyung (NEON) | |
| 18. The Testament of Ann Lee — William Rexer (Searchlight Pictures) | |
| 19. The Secret Agent — Evgenia Alexandrova (NEON) | |
| 20. Hedda – Sean Bobbit (Amazon MGM) |
Other contenders: Anemone – Ben Fordesman (Focus Features), Die My Love — Seamus McGarvey (MUBI), The History of Sound — Alexander Dynan (MUBI), Is This Thing On? — Matthew Libatique (Searchlight Pictures), Kiss of the Spider Woman — Tobias Schliessler (Roadside Attractions), The Plague — Steven Breckon (IFC) – CCA shortlist Weapons — Larkin Seiple (Warner Bros/New Line)
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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