American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards 2026 Winners List

“Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” took home the live action feature awards at the 76th ACE Eddie Awards.

“Sinners” editor Michael Shawver said, “Ryan Coogler took a big risk and I think he gave the audience something they may not have known they were hungry for something new, different, fun and total experience.”

“KPop Demon Hunters” took home the award for best edited animated film.

The awards were presented Friday evening at UCLA’s Royce Hall, and Oscar viewers got insight into the Oscars race for best editing. The winners for best film drama editing and best film comedy/music editing have matched the Oscar for best editing 17 times over the past 26 years.

“The Perfect Neighbor” took home the prize for best edited documentary. The Netflix documentary has also been nominated for an Oscar in the best documentary category.

Damian Rodriguez, who won best edited documentary series for “Pee-wee as Himself” – Part One, dedicated his win to the team and Paul Reuben. Rodriguez said, “Without him we wouldn’t be here. He was such a great artist and he influenced so many people, including myself. I wish he was here.”

On the TV side, “The Studio” and “The Pitt” won in their respective categories for best edited comedy and best edited drama.

The ACE Eddies recognize editing excellence in film, television, documentaries, short films and digital content. Ang Lee received the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award. Kim Larson and YouTube Will were honored with the ACE Visionary Award, and film editors Arthur Forney, ACE and Robert Leighton received the ACE Career Achievement Awards.

Lee dedicated his award to his favorite editor Tim Squyres. “If you give me this award, you are actually giving it to Tim Squyres.” Lee talked about how Squyres had cut all his films except “Brokeback Mountain.” “He missed that one because I told him after ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, ‘I’m retiring,’ I said, ‘I’ve had enough.’ So he took another movie. Lee said he stayed with Squyres for more than 35 years.

Speaking about what editing means to Lee, he said: “It’s very difficult to say, but let me put it this way, my wife said, I can only do two things, make films and cook. So let me use cooking as a metaphor. Shooting is like grocery shopping, and the real cooking is done on the editing table. That’s how I think about editing. I feel like I have this editing machine in my head when I’m making films, every section, every setup, editing is at the center of my consciousness. Every working day I have to answer, hundreds of questions about what I want. The only reason I can give directions and put the whole movie together is because I have that editing table in my head. Lee added: “We are at a particularly difficult and challenging time in our film lives. But I do believe that there will be editors as long as there are moving pictures.”

Erin Casper, who won best short film for “All The Empty Rooms,” which enters the bedrooms of children killed in U.S. school shootings, dedicated her win to the victims and the families “who opened their doors to us and welcomed us into their sacred spaces of their child’s bedroom, just as it had been since the last day they saw their child alive.” She continued, “The word gun is never mentioned in our film, and this was intentional on our part because we have all become so numb to this epidemic.”

She said their goal was to center humanity and “the life that was in these rooms.”

The Twisted Christian episode of South Park won best edited animated series. During his acceptance speech, editor David List said, “Working on the final ten episodes was especially satisfying because Trey and Matt really went for it. They challenged the limits of censorship and the extent to which we can all exercise our First Amendment rights, whether it’s political commentary, celebrity mocking, or that expertly timed fart joke.” He added: “Our freedom of expression must ultimately be protected and celebrated, regardless of political party affiliation.”

Full list of winners below.

EDITED feature film (drama, theatre)
“Sinners”
Michael P. Shawver

BEST PART FEATURE FILM (Comedy, Theatrical)
“One battle after another”
Andy Jurgensen

BEST PART ANIMATION FEATURE FILM
“KPop Demon Hunters”
Nathan Schauf

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The perfect neighbor”
Viridiana Lieberman

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
“Pee-wee as Herself – Part One”
Damian Rodriguez

BEST PART MULTI-CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
“Frasier” (Murder of the Most Finch)
Russel Griffin, ACE

BEST PART SINGLE CAMERA COMEDY SERIES
“The Studio” (the promotion)
Eric Kissack, A.C.E

BEST EDIT DRAMA SERIES
“The Pitt” (6 p.m.)
Mark Strand, ACE

BEST PART FEATURE FILM (NON-THEATRICAL)
“A winter song”
Yvette M. Amirian, ACE

BEST EDITED LIMITED SERIES
‘The penguin’ (a big or small thing)
Henk van Eeghen, ACE

BEST PART REALITY SERIES
“Conan O’Brien Must Go” (Austria)
Matthew Shaw, A.C.E
Brad Roelandt

BEST PART VARIETY TALK/SKETCH SHOW OR SPECIAL
“Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special”
Paul Del Gesso
Christopher Salerno
Ryan Spears
Sean McIlraith, ACE
Ryan McIlraith
Daniel Garcia

BEST PART ANIMATED SERIES
“South Park” (Twisted Christian)
David List
Nate Pellettieri

BEST SECTION SHORT
“All empty rooms”
Erin Casper, A.C.E
Stephen Maing
Jeremy Medoff

ANNE V. COATES PRIZE FOR STUDENT EDITORIAL
Luis Barragan – California State University, Fullerton