Best Film Editing Oscars Predictions (January)

The clear film editing favourite amongst the critics’ groups has been Chloé Zhao and Nomadland. Zhao has collected eight prizes so far, but keep in mind several critics awards do not acknowledge editing. A nomination for Zhao still remains slightly shakey, purely due to Alfonso Cuarón’s surprise snub in 2018 for editing his own film, Roma.

The showy editing of The Trial of the Chicago 7 remains as the frontrunner this month. Whether you love the film or not, you can’t deny it’s the kind of elaborate editing the Academy generally laps up. One could make the same argument for something as chaotic as Tenet. If Jennifer Lame nabs a nomination, we could see a surprise upset à la The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2011.

Keep an eye on News of the World. If the Academy fall for the film and it ultimately “overperforms,” a film editing nomination wouldn’t be a huge surprise. It’s edited by five-time nominee William Goldenberg, who won in 2012 for Argo when he was also nominated for Zero Dark Thirty, so the pedigree is certainly there.

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. Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Jennifer Lame

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
Minari (A24)
Harry Yoon
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