A visual history · Oscars

The winners who defined Film Editing.

91 ceremonies, 1935–2025. 81 different winners. The longest run belongs to Ralph Dawson, with 2 straight wins.

Who won most recently?
Sean Baker in 2025 for Anora.
Who has won the most?
Daniel Mandell, Michael Kahn, Ralph Dawson and Thelma Schoonmaker, tied on 3 wins each.
  1. AnoraSean Baker
  2. OppenheimerJennifer Lame
  3. Everything Everywhere All at OncePaul Rogers
  4. DuneJoe Walker
  5. Sound of MetalMikkel E. G. Nielsen
  6. Ford v FerrariMichael McCusker & Andrew Buckland
Years explored
1935–2025
Different winners
81
Category leader
Daniel Mandell · 3
About this record

Best Film Editing was first awarded in 1935, so it does not run the full 1929–2025 window.

20002025

26 ceremonies

19352025

01 / The reigns

25 winners shaped this category.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited distributor.

  1. 01
    Thelma Schoonmaker2 wins
One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by distributor; scroll sideways for the full run.
Zach Staenberg'00
Stephen Mirrione'01
Pietro Scalia'02
Martin Walsh'03
Jamie Selkirk'04
Thelma Schoonmaker'05
Hughes Winborne'06
Thelma Schoonmaker'07
Christopher Rouse'08
Chris Dickens'09
Bob Murawski & Chris Innis'10
Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter'11
Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall'12
William Goldenberg'13
Alfonso Cuarón & Mark Sanger'14
Tom Cross'15
Margaret Sixel'16
John Gilbert'17
Lee Smith'18
John Ottman'19
Michael McCusker & Andrew Buckland'20
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen'21
Joe Walker'22
Paul Rogers'23
Jennifer Lame'24
Sean Baker'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Warner Bros. leads the recorded distributor credits with 8 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Warner Bros.8 wins
Sony4 wins
20th Century2 wins
Miramax2 wins
Summit Entertainment2 wins
Universal2 wins
Wins by distributor
  1. Warner Bros.831%
  2. Sony415%
  3. 20th Century28%
  4. Miramax28%
  5. Summit Entertainment28%
  6. Universal28%
  7. Other623%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won this award

  1. 01
    Hank Corwin
    3 noms
  2. 02
    Juliette Welfling
    2 noms
  3. 03
    Kevin Tent
    2 noms
  4. 04
    Michael Kahn
    2 noms
  5. 05
    Mike Hill & Dan Hanley
    2 noms
  6. 06
    Pamela Martin
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Thelma Schoonmaker
    4L · 2W
  2. 02
    Hank Corwin
    3L · 0W
  3. 03
    Joe Walker
    2L · 1W
  4. 04
    Juliette Welfling
    2L · 0W
  5. 05
    Kevin Tent
    2L · 0W
  6. 06
    Lee Smith
    2L · 1W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerDistributor
2025Sean Baker (Anora)
beat 4 others
  • Dávid Jancsó (The Brutalist)
  • Nick Emerson (Conclave)
  • Juliette Welfling (Emilia Pérez)
  • Myron Kerstein (Wicked)
Neon
2024Jennifer Lame (Oppenheimer)
beat 4 others
  • Laurent Sénéchal (Anatomy of a Fall)
  • Kevin Tent (The Holdovers)
  • Thelma Schoonmaker (Killers of the Flower Moon)
  • Yorgos Mavropsaridis (Poor Things)
Universal Pictures
2023Paul Rogers (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
beat 4 others
  • Mikkel E. G. Nielsen (The Banshees of Inisherin)
  • Matt Villa & Jonathan Redmond (Elvis)
  • Monika Willi (Tár)
  • Eddie Hamilton (Top Gun: Maverick)
A24
2022Joe Walker (Dune)
beat 4 others
  • Hank Corwin (Don't Look Up)
  • Pamela Martin (King Richard)
  • Peter Sciberras (The Power of the Dog)
  • Myron Kerstein & Andrew Weisblum (tick, tick... BOOM!)
Warner Bros.
2021Mikkel E. G. Nielsen (Sound of Metal)
beat 4 others
  • Yorgos Lamprinos (The Father)
  • Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)
  • Frédéric Thoraval (Promising Young Woman)
  • Alan Baumgarten (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Amazon Studios
2020Michael McCusker & Andrew Buckland (Ford v Ferrari)
beat 4 others
  • Thelma Schoonmaker (The Irishman)
  • Tom Eagles (Jojo Rabbit)
  • Jeff Groth (Joker)
  • Yang Jin-mo (Parasite)
20th Century Fox
2019John Ottman (Bohemian Rhapsody)
beat 4 others
  • Barry Alexander Brown (BlacKkKlansman)
  • Yorgos Mavropsaridis (The Favourite)
  • Patrick J. Don Vito (Green Book)
  • Hank Corwin (Vice)
20th Century Fox
2018Lee Smith (Dunkirk)
beat 4 others
  • Paul Machliss & Jonathan Amos (Baby Driver)
  • Tatiana S. Riegel (I, Tonya)
  • Sidney Wolinsky (The Shape of Water)
  • Jon Gregory (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Warner Bros.
2017John Gilbert (Hacksaw Ridge)
beat 4 others
  • Joe Walker (Arrival)
  • Jake Roberts (Hell or High Water)
  • Tom Cross (La La Land)
  • Nat Sanders & Joi McMillon (Moonlight)
Summit Entertainment
2016Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)
beat 4 others
  • Hank Corwin (The Big Short)
  • Stephen Mirrione (The Revenant)
  • Tom McArdle (Spotlight)
  • Maryann Brandon & Mary Jo Markey (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Warner Bros.
2015Tom Cross (Whiplash)
beat 4 others
  • Joel Cox & Gary D. Roach (American Sniper)
  • Sandra Adair (Boyhood)
  • Barney Pilling (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
  • William Goldenberg (The Imitation Game)
Sony Pictures Classics
2014Alfonso Cuarón & Mark Sanger (Gravity)
beat 4 others
  • Joe Walker (12 Years a Slave)
  • Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers & Alan Baumgarten (American Hustle)
  • Christopher Rouse (Captain Phillips)
  • John Mac McMurphy & Martin Pensa (Dallas Buyers Club)
Warner Bros.
2013William Goldenberg (Argo)
beat 4 others
  • Tim Squyres (Life of Pi)
  • Michael Kahn (Lincoln)
  • Jay Cassidy & Crispin Struthers (Silver Linings Playbook)
  • Dylan Tichenor & William Goldenberg (Zero Dark Thirty)
Warner Bros.
2012Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
beat 4 others
  • Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
  • Kevin Tent (The Descendants)
  • Thelma Schoonmaker (Hugo)
  • Christopher Tellefsen (Moneyball)
Columbia Pictures
2011Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter (The Social Network)
beat 4 others
  • Jon Harris (127 Hours)
  • Andrew Weisblum (Black Swan)
  • Pamela Martin (The Fighter)
  • Tariq Anwar (The King's Speech)
Columbia Pictures
2010Bob Murawski & Chris Innis (The Hurt Locker)
beat 4 others
  • Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua & James Cameron (Avatar)
  • Julian Clarke (District 9)
  • Sally Menke (Inglourious Basterds)
  • Joe Klotz (Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire)
Summit Entertainment
2009Chris Dickens (Slumdog Millionaire)
beat 4 others
  • Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
  • Lee Smith (The Dark Knight)
  • Mike Hill & Dan Hanley (Frost/Nixon)
  • Elliot Graham (Milk)
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2008Christopher Rouse (The Bourne Ultimatum)
beat 4 others
  • Juliette Welfling (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
  • Jay Cassidy (Into the Wild)
  • Roderick Jaynes (No Country for Old Men)
  • Dylan Tichenor (There Will Be Blood)
Universal Pictures
2007Thelma Schoonmaker (The Departed)
beat 4 others
  • Stephen Mirrione & Douglas Crise (Babel)
  • Steven Rosenblum (Blood Diamond)
  • Alfonso Cuarón & Alex Rodríguez (Children of Men)
  • Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse & Richard Pearson (United 93)
Warner Bros.
2006Hughes Winborne (Crash)
beat 4 others
  • Mike Hill & Dan Hanley (Cinderella Man)
  • Claire Simpson (The Constant Gardener)
  • Michael Kahn (Munich)
  • Michael McCusker (Walk the Line)
Lionsgate
2005Thelma Schoonmaker (The Aviator)
beat 4 others
  • Jim Miller & Paul Rubell (Collateral)
  • Matt Chessé (Finding Neverland)
  • Joel Cox (Million Dollar Baby)
  • Paul Hirsch (Ray)
Miramax
2004Jamie Selkirk (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
beat 4 others
  • Daniel Rezende (City of God)
  • Walter Murch (Cold Mountain)
  • Lee Smith (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World)
  • William Goldenberg (Seabiscuit)
New Line Cinema
2003Martin Walsh (Chicago)
beat 4 others
  • Thelma Schoonmaker (Gangs of New York)
  • Peter Boyle (The Hours)
  • Michael Horton (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)
  • Hervé de Luze (The Pianist)
Miramax
2002Pietro Scalia (Black Hawk Down)
beat 4 others
  • Mike Hill & Daniel P. Hanley (A Beautiful Mind)
  • John Gilbert (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)
  • Dody Dorn (Memento)
  • Jill Bilcock (Moulin Rouge!)
Columbia Pictures
2001Stephen Mirrione (Traffic)
beat 4 others
  • Joe Hutshing & Saar Klein (Almost Famous)
  • Tim Squyres (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
  • Pietro Scalia (Gladiator)
  • Dede Allen (Wonder Boys)
USA Films
2000Zach Staenberg (The Matrix)
beat 4 others
  • Tariq Anwar & Christopher Greenbury (American Beauty)
  • Lisa Zeno Churgin (The Cider House Rules)
  • William Goldenberg, Paul Rubell & David Rosenbloom (The Insider)
  • Andrew Mondshein (The Sixth Sense)
Warner Bros.