Best Film Editing Oscars Predictions (December)

Falling back on the notion of the film with the most obvious editing generally wins this prize, Alan Baumgarten moves into the top spot this month. His work on The Trial of the Chicago 7 constantly splices between two different time periods and it’s the kind of showy editing the Academy often swoon over.

With that in mind, the real dark-horse contender could be Yorgos Lamprinos for The Father. The dementia-based narrative consistently manipulates reality to echo the fractured mind of our protagonist, which Lamprinos handles in terrific style.

While Nomadland is leading the pack in other major categories, there’s still somewhat of a question mark over whether the Academy will also acknowledge Chloé Zhao’s editing work. It seems unfathomable she’d be snubbed, but we said the same of Alfonso Cuarón in 2018 for Roma, and look how that turned out.

Keep an eye on Sound of Metal. While most originally assumed the film’s best nomination chance lay solely with Riz Ahmed, it has been overperforming with the critics groups and Amazon Studios are launching a huge campaign for nominations across the board. It could easily sneak in here as a surprise nominee.

BEST FILM EDITING PREDICTIONS:
1. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Alan Baumgarten
2. Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Chloé Zhao
3. Mank (Netflix)
Kirk Baxter
4. The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Yorgos Lamprinos
5. Minari (A24)
Harry Yoon

MAJOR CONTENDERS:
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
The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Stephen Mirrione
News of the World (Universal Pictures)
William Goldenberg
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Tariq Anwar
Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Frédéric Thoraval
Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Jennifer Lame