2026 Oscar Predictions: FILM EDITING and CINEMATOGRAPHY (October)
Like many categories above and below the line this season it looks like three films–One Battle After Another, Hamnet and Sinners–are set to dominate and Film Editing and Cinematography are no exception.
If we consider those top tier Best Picture contenders to be as close to locked as possible, the remaining spots are a wild west of car races, sports bios, monster sagas, family dramas, political thrillers and more like F1: The Movie, Marty Supreme, Frankenstein, Sentimental Value and A House of Dynamite all circling those spots in both categories.
New this season, cinematography enters the shortlist competition with 10-20 films making the first cut in December. Eligible cinematographers branch members will vote by secret ballot in order of their preference for not more than ten films to be considered for the Cinematography award. The ten to twenty motion pictures receiving the highest number of votes will then advance to the next round of voting.
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 October.
FILM EDITING
| 1. One Battle After Another — Andy Jurgensen (Warner Bros) |
| 2. Sinners — Michael P. Shawver (Warner Bros) |
| 3. Hamnet — Chloé Zhao and Affonso Gonçalves (Focus Features) |
| 4. F1: The Movie — Stephen Mirrione (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros) |
| 5. Marty Supreme — Ronald Bronstein (A24) |
| 6. Sentimental Value — Olivier Bugge Coutté (NEON) |
| 7. A House of Dynamite — Kirk Baxter (Netflix) |
| 8. It Was Just an Accident — Amir Etminan (NEON) |
| 9. Bugonia — Yorgos Mavropsaridis (Focus Features) |
| 10. Frankenstein — Evan Schiff (Netflix) |
| 11. No Other Choice — Kim Sang-bum (NEON) |
| 12. Jay Kelly — Valerio Bonelli (Netflix) |
| 13. Weapons — Joe Murphy (Warner Bros/New Line) |
| 14. Avatar: Fire and Ash — James Cameron, Nicolas De Toth, John Refoua, David Brenner, Stephen E. Rivkin (20th Century Studios) |
| 15. Wake Up Dead Man — Bob Ducsay (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. Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere — Pamela Martin (20th Century Studios) |
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)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
| 1. One Battle After Another — Michael Bauman (Warner Bros) |
| 2. Sinners — Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Warner Bros) |
| 3. Hamnet — Łukasz Żal (Focus Features) |
| 4. Frankenstein — Dan Laustsen (Netflix) |
| 5. F1: The Movie — Claudio Miranda (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros) |
| 6. Marty Supreme — Darius Khondji (A24) |
| 7. Train Dreams — Adolfo Veloso (Netflix) |
| 8. Novelle Vague — David Chambille (Netflix) |
| 9. Bugonia — Robbie Ryan (Focus Features) |
| 10. Jay Kelly — Linus Sandgren (Netflix) |
| 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. Anemone – Ben Fordesman (Focus Features) |
| 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: 28 Years Later – Anthony Dod Mantle (Sony Pitures/Columbia), 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), 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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