# Michael Kahn (film editor)

Michael Kahn (born December 8, c. 1930) is an American film editor known for his frequent collaboration with Steven Spielberg. His first collaboration with Spielberg was for his 1977 film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He has edited all of Spielberg's subsequent films except for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), which was edited by Carol Littleton. Kahn has received eight Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editing, and has won three times—for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Schindler's List (1993), and Saving Private Ryan (1998), which were all Spielberg-directed films.

## Early life

Kahn was born to a Jewish family in New York City. While his birth year has been reported as 1935, Kahn said in 2015, when asked if he was 80, that his age at that point was "closer to 85."

## Career

Kahn has edited digitally since at least Twister (1996), though he continued to edit on film with Spielberg long after most editors had stopped doing so. In 2008, Kahn acknowledged that "people find it hard to believe that Steven and I still edit film on a Moviola and a KEM. [But] Steven feels film got us where we are today and he loves the smell of it and feel of it. We started that way and both really enjoy it." George Lucas remarked "Michael Kahn can cut faster on a Moviola than anybody can cut on an Avid." However, since The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011), Kahn has edited Spielberg's films on an Avid machine.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 1969 | The Activist | Art Napoleon | |
| 1970 | Night Slaves | Ted Post | |
| 1971 | Touch Me | Anthony Spinelli | |
| 1972 | Wild in the Sky | William T. Naud | |
| 1972 | Trouble Man | Ivan Dixon | |
| 1972 | Rage | George C. Scott | |
| 1973 | The Spook Who Sat by the Door | Ivan Dixon | |
| 1974 | Black Belt Jones | Robert Clouse | |
| 1974 | Truck Turner | Jonathan Kaplan | |
| 1974 | Golden Needles | Robert Clouse | |
| 1974 | Buster and Billie | Daniel Petrie | |
| 1974 | Buster and Billie | Sidney Sheldon | |
| 1974 | The Savage Is Loose | George C. Scott | |
| 1975 | The Devil's Rain | Robert Fuest | |
| 1975 | The Ultimate Warrior | Robert Clouse | |
| 1976 | The Return of a Man Called Horse | Irvin Kershner | |
| 1977 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing |
| 1978 | Eyes of Laura Mars | Irvin Kershner | |
| 1978 | Ice Castles | Donald Wrye | |
| 1979 | 1941 | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1980 | Used Cars | Robert Zemeckis | |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Steven Spielberg | Academy Award for Best Film Editing ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing |
| 1982 | Poltergeist | Tobe Hooper | |
| 1983 | Table for Five | Robert Lieberman | |
| 1983 | Twilight Zone: The Movie | Steven Spielberg | Segment: "Kick the Can" |
| 1984 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing |
| 1984 | Falling in Love | Ulu Grosbard | |
| 1985 | The Goonies | Richard Donner | |
| 1985 | The Color Purple | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1986 | Wisdom | Emilio Estevez | |
| 1987 | Fatal Attraction | Adrian Lyne | BAFTA Award for Best Editing Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated—ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic |
| 1987 | Empire of the Sun | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing |
| 1988 | Arthur 2: On the Rocks | Bud Yorkin | |
| 1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1989 | Always | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1990 | Arachnophobia | Frank Marshall | |
| 1991 | Toy Soldiers | Daniel Petrie Jr. | |
| 1991 | Hook | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1993 | Alive | Frank Marshall | |
| 1993 | Jurassic Park | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1993 | Schindler's List | Steven Spielberg | Academy Award for Best Film Editing ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic BAFTA Award for Best Editing |
| 1995 | Casper | Brad Silberling | |
| 1996 | Twister | Jan de Bont | |
| 1997 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Steven Spielberg | |
| 1997 | Amistad | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Editing |
| 1998 | Saving Private Ryan | Steven Spielberg | Academy Award for Best Film Editing ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing Satellite Award for Best Editing Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing |
| 1999 | The Haunting | Jan de Bont | |
| 2000 | Reindeer Games | John Frankenheimer | |
| 2001 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2002 | Minority Report | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2002 | Catch Me If You Can | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2003 | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life | Jan de Bont | |
| 2003 | Peter Pan | P. J. Hogan | |
| 2004 | Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events | Brad Silberling | |
| 2004 | The Terminal | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2005 | War of the Worlds | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Editing |
| 2005 | Munich | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated—ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing |
| 2006 | 10 Items or Less | Brad Silberling | |
| 2008 | The Spiderwick Chronicles | Mark Waters | |
| 2008 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Steven Spielberg | |
| 2010 | Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Mike Newell | with Mick Audsley and Martin Walsh |
| 2011 | The Adventures of Tintin | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Editing Nominated— Annie Award for Best Editing in a Feature Production |
| 2011 | War Horse | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Editing Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Editing |
| 2012 | Lincoln | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Film Editing Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Editing |
| 2014 | Seventh Son | Sergei Bodrov | |
| 2015 | Bridge of Spies | Steven Spielberg | Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Editing Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Editing |
| 2016 | The BFG | Steven Spielberg | Saturn Award for Best Editing |
| 2017 | The Post | Steven Spielberg | with Sarah Broshar Nominated—ACE Eddie for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Editing Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing Nominated—San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Editing Nominated—St. Louis Film Critics Association Award for Best Editing |
| 2018 | Ready Player One | Steven Spielberg | with Sarah Broshar |
| 2021 | West Side Story | Steven Spielberg | with Sarah Broshar Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Editing |
| 2022 | The Fabelmans | Steven Spielberg | with Sarah Broshar |

## Awards and nominations

Kahn equaled the record for the most Oscar wins (three) in the Best Film Editing category, shared with Ralph Dawson, Daniel Mandell, and Thelma Schoonmaker. Furthermore, he had eight nominations in that category—a number surpassed only by Schoonmaker. All of Kahn's Oscars came from his work on Spielberg's films, which included Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Schindler's List (1993), and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
He has received six nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Editing, winning for Fatal Attraction (1987) and Schindler's List.
Kahn has been selected for membership in the American Cinema Editors (ACE). In 2011, he received the Career Achievement Award of the American Cinema Editors. At the ceremony, Steven Spielberg said of editing: "this is where filmmaking goes from a craft to an art." In November 2013, Spielberg created the Michael Kahn Endowed Chair in Editing at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts in honor of Kahn. The first to be appointed to the position was Norman Hollyn.