The 71st ACE Eddie Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 17th, 2021.

As I have been doing for a few years, as we get into the awards season, I’ll post the fictional ballots for some of the guild awards, showing what my vote would be if I had one. I will, as a rule, abstain from my fictional vote if I haven’t seen at least half of the nominees. And to be perfectly clear, I’m not a member of any of these guilds and organizations.

The list of nominees can be seen here.

Here it goes:

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic): Alan Baumgarten, for The Trial of Chicago 7

Alan Baumgarten has to navigate through a complicated story, filled with a lot of characters, groups, and a healthy dose of exposition. The end result is a film that flows quite well without any loss to the story told. (Not seen: Minari, Nomadland.)

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Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy): Frédéric Thoraval, for Promising Young Woman

The film offers a slow trickle of information that defines the protagonist and explains her actions. Such editing creates a curiosity for what’s coming. Thoraval did all that without sacrificing any pace. (Not seen: Palm Springs.)

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Best Edited Animated Feature Film: Kevin Nolting, for Soul

Kevin Nolting’s work in Soul is not flashy, but it keeps the story moving at a nice pace, giving time for the emotional moments to play out while also the opportunity for many jokes to play out in a well-timed manner. (Not seen: The Croods: A New Age.)

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Best Edited Documentary (Feature): Pippa Ehrlich and Dan Schwalm, for My Octopus Teacher

The editors, using great-looking images and beautiful music, ably create a narrative that is emotional, thrilling (it has the best chase sequence of the year, bar none), and informative.