Two films and three editors took the top honors at last night’s American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Awards, arguably making them the front runners going into next Sunday’s Academy Awards. Kevin Tent, ACE, won the Eddie Award for best editing of a dramatic feature on the strength of his work on The Descendants. And editor Anne-Sophie Bion and director/editor Michel Hazanavicius took the feature-comedy or musical category for The Artist.
Craig Wood, ACE, won for best editing of an animated feature for Rango. And rounding out the feature category winners for the documentary Freedom Riders were editors Lewis Erskine and Aljernon Tunsil.
Also notable on the feature front, Tent and actress Reese Witherspoon presented the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award to Alexander Payne, director of The Descendants.
TV winners
Steven Rasch, ACE, earned the Eddie in the half-hour TV series category for the “Palestinian Chicken” episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Editor Skip MacDonald topped the one-hour series for commercial television on the basis of the “Face Off” episode of Breaking Bad.
Winning the Eddie for best editing of an hourlong series for non-commercial television were Jordan Goldman and David Latham for the “Pilot” episode of Homeland.
Sarah Frank, ACE, and Robert Pulcini earned the top honor in the miniseries or motion picture for TV category for Cinema Verite.
And editor Eric Lasby won the reality series category for the “Haiti” episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
Rounding out the evening’s honorees was Eric Kench for Video Symphony, which won the student competition.
Directing and Editing “Conclave”; Insights From Edward Berger and Nick Emerson
It’s been a bruising election year but this time we’re referring to a ballot box struggle that’s more adult than the one you’d typically first think of in 2024. Rather, on the industry awards front, the election being cited is that of the Pope which takes front and center stage in director Edward Berger’s Conclave (Focus Features), based on the 2016 novel of the same title by Robert Harris. Adapted by screenwriter Peter Straugham, Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes as the cardinal leading the conclave that has convened to select the next Pope. While part political thriller, full of backstabbing and behind-closed-door machinations, Conclave also registers as a thoughtful adult drama dealing with themes such as a crisis of faith, weighing the greater good, and engaging in a struggle that’s as much about spirituality as the attainment of power.
Conclave is Berger’s first feature after his heralded All Quiet on the Western Front, winner of four Oscars in 2023, including for Best International Feature Film. And while Conclave would on the surface seem to be quite a departure from that World War I drama, there’s a shared bond of humanity which courses through both films.
For Berger, the heightened awareness of humanity hit home for him by virtue of where he was--in Rome, primarily at the famed Cinecittà studio--to shoot Conclave, sans any involvement from the Vatican. He recalled waking up in Rome to “soak up” the city. While having his morning espresso, Berger recollected looking out a window and seeing a priest walking about with a cigarette in his mouth, a nun having a cup of coffee, an archbishop carrying a briefcase. It dawned on Berger that these were just people going to... Read More