Lee Smith (film editor)

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Lee Smith, ACE, (born June 10, 1960) is an Australian film editor who has worked in the film industry since the 1980s. He began his film career as a sound editor before establishing himself as an editor. His breakthrough came when he began collaborating with director Peter Weir. Smith is best known for his work on several of Christopher Nolan's films, including Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Interstellar (2014) and Dunkirk (2017), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.

Contents

Life and career

Smith was born in Harefield, Middlesex. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2004) and The Dark Knight (2008). He was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Editing for The Dark Knight and for Inception (2010). He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Sound for The Piano (1993). He began his career as a sound editor/sound designer for films such as Dead Calm (1989), The Piano (1993) (for which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Sound ), The Portrait of a Lady (1996) and Holy Smoke! (1999). Smith was also editing films during this interval; he was one of the editors for RoboCop 2 (1990).

He began his notable collaboration with director Peter Weir on the 1982 film The Year of Living Dangerously , on which he was an associate editor working with Weir's longtime editor William M. Anderson. He was credited as a co-editor with Anderson for Fearless (1993) and for The Truman Show (1998). [1] He was the sole editor for Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), for which Smith was nominated for the Academy Award for Film Editing and for an "Eddie Award" from the American Cinema Editors.

More recently, Smith has edited seven films with director Christopher Nolan. He was nominated for a second Academy Award and American Cinema Editors Award for The Dark Knight (2008). In 2010, he received another nomination for the American Cinema Editors Award for his editing work on Inception ; Inception was listed as the 35th best-edited film of all time in a 2012 survey of members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild. [2] In 2018, he received an Academy Award for his work on Nolan's Dunkirk .

Filmography

Editor

YearTitleDirector
1986 Dead End Drive-In Brian Trenchard-Smith
1987 Howling III Philippe Mora
1989 Communion
1990 RoboCop 2 Irvin Kershner
1992 Turtle Beach Stephen Wallace
Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala Yoram Gross
1993 Fearless Peter Weir
1996 Lilian's Story Jerzy Domaradzki
1997 Joey Ian Barry
1998 The Truman Show Peter Weir
1999 Two Hands Gregor Jordan
2000 Risk Alan White
2001 Buffalo Soldiers Gregor Jordan
2002 Black and White Craig Lahiff
2003 The Rage in Placid Lake Tony McNamara
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Peter Weir
2005 Batman Begins Christopher Nolan
2006 The Prestige
2008 The Dark Knight
2010 The Way Back Peter Weir
Inception Christopher Nolan
2011 X-Men: First Class Matthew Vaughn
2012 The Dark Knight Rises Christopher Nolan
2013 Elysium Neill Blomkamp
Ender's Game Gavin Hood
2014 Interstellar Christopher Nolan
2015 Spectre Sam Mendes
2017 Dunkirk Christopher Nolan
2019 Dark Phoenix Simon Kinberg
1917 Sam Mendes
2022 Empire of Light
2024 Argylle Matthew Vaughn

Other credits

YearTitleDirectorNotes
1978 Little Boy Lost Terry Bourke Assistant sound editor
1980 The Chain Reaction Ian Barry Additional sound
1981 Puberty Blues Bruce Beresford Editing assistant
1982 Turkey Shoot Brian Trenchard-Smith Dubbing editor
The Year of Living Dangerously Peter Weir Associate editor
1985 Burke & Wills Graeme Clifford Sound effects editor
1988 The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey Vincent Ward Sound effects editor / Sound effects supervisor
Barracuda Pino Amenta Television film

Sound editor

1989 Dead Calm Phillip Noyce Sound designer
Dead Poets Society Peter WeirAdditional film editor
1990 Green Card
1992 Lorenzo's Oil George Miller Additional picture editor
1993 The Piano Jane Campion Sound designer
1994 Little Women Gillian Armstrong Sound designer
1995 Tunnel Vision Clive FleuryFoley walker
1996 The Portrait of a Lady Jane CampionSound designer
1999 Holy Smoke!

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

YearCategoryTitleResult
2003Master and Commander:
The Far Side of the World
Best Film Editing Nominated
2008The Dark KnightNominated
2017DunkirkWon

BAFTA Awards

YearCategoryTitleResult
2008The Dark Knight Best Editing Nominated
2010InceptionNominated
2017DunkirkNominated

Other awards

YearTitleAward/Nomination
1998The Truman ShowNominated- Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing
1999Two Hands AACTA Award for Best Editing
2003Master and Commander:
The Far Side of the World
Nominated- Satellite Award for Best Editing
Nominated- American Cinema Editors for Best Editing
Nominated- International Online Cinema Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing
2008The Dark Knight Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Editing
International Online Cinema Awards for Best Editing
Gold Derby Awards for Best Editing
Hollywood Post Alliance for Best Editing
Nominated- ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic
Nominated- Satellite Award for Best Editing
Nominated- International Cinephile Society Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- American Cinema Editors for Best Editing
Nominated- Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing
Nominated-Italian Online Movie Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Editing of the Decade
2010Inception Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Editing
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards for Best Editing
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing
CinEuphoria Awards for Best Editing
Hollywood Post Alliance for Best Editing
Gold Derby Awards for Best Editing
Online Film & Television Association for Best Editing
Italian Online Movie Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic
Nominated- Satellite Award for Best Editing
Nominated- Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Best Editing
Nominated- Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Boston Society of Film Critics Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- International Cinephile Society Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- International Online Cinema Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- American Cinema Editors for Best Editing
2011X-Men: First ClassNominated- Hollywood Post Alliance for Best Editing
2012The Dark Knight RisesNominated- Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing
Nominated- Hollywood Post Alliance for Best Editing
2014InterstellarNominated- Saturn Award for Best Editing
Nominated- Hollywood Post Alliance for Best Editing
Nominated- Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Editing
Nominated- Gold Derby Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best Editing
Nominated- Cinema Bloggers Awards for Best Editing
2017 Dunkirk Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Editing
Gold Derby Awards for Best Editing
Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Best Editing
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing
ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic
Boston Online Film Critics Association for Best Editing
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for Best Editing
Online Film Critics Society for Best Editing
Hollywood Professional Association for Best Editing
Hawaii Film Critics Society for Best Editing
Hollywood Post Alliance for Best Editing
Seattle Film Critics Awards for Best Editing
American Cinema Editors for Best Editing
International Online Cinema Awards for Best Editing
Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Satellite Award for Best Editing
Nominated- Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association for Best Editing
Nominated- San Francisco Film Critics Circle for Best Editing
Nominated- San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing
Nominated- Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Editing
Nominated- St. Louis Film Critics Association
Nominated- Chicago Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Editing
Nominated- Chicago Indie Critics Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- International Cinephile Society Awards for Best Editing
20191917 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for Best Editing
Music City Film Critics' Association Awards for Best Editing
Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Hollywood Critics Association for Best Editing
Nominated- San Francisco Film Critics Circle for Best Editing
Nominated- Satellite Award for Best Editing
Nominated- Seattle Film Critics Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- St. Louis Film Critics Association for Best Editing
Nominated- Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards for Best Editing
Nominated- Alliance of Women Film Journalists for Best Editing
Nominated- Austin Film Critics Association for Best Editing
Nominated- Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Editing
Nominated- Online Film Critics Society Awards for Best Editing

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References

  1. Hollyn, Norman (November–December 2003). "Lee Smith on Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World". The Editors Guild Magazine. 24 (6). Archived from the original on 21 May 2011.
  2. "The 75 Best Edited Films". Editors Guild Magazine. 1 (3). May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 March 2015.