# Lee Smith (film editor)

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 Prestige (2006), 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.

## 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). 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. In 2018, he received an Academy Award for his work on Nolan's Dunkirk.

## Filmography

Editor
| Year | Title | Director |
| 1986 | Dead End Drive-In | Brian Trenchard-Smith |
| 1987 | Howling III | Philippe Mora |
| 1989 | Communion | Philippe Mora |
| 1990 | RoboCop 2 | Irvin Kershner |
| 1992 | Turtle Beach | Stephen Wallace |
| 1992 | 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 |
| 2003 | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | Peter Weir |
| 2005 | Batman Begins | Christopher Nolan |
| 2006 | The Prestige | Christopher Nolan |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Christopher Nolan |
| 2010 | The Way Back | Peter Weir |
| 2010 | Inception | Christopher Nolan |
| 2011 | X-Men: First Class | Matthew Vaughn |
| 2012 | The Dark Knight Rises | Christopher Nolan |
| 2013 | Elysium | Neill Blomkamp |
| 2013 | Ender's Game | Gavin Hood |
| 2014 | Interstellar | Christopher Nolan |
| 2015 | Spectre | Sam Mendes |
| 2017 | Dunkirk | Christopher Nolan |
| 2019 | Dark Phoenix | Simon Kinberg |
| 2019 | 1917 | Sam Mendes |
| 2022 | Empire of Light | Sam Mendes |
| 2024 | Argylle | Matthew Vaughn |
| 2024 | Better Man | Michael Gracey |
Other credits
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
| 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 |
| 1982 | 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 |
| 1988 | Barracuda | Pino Amenta | Television film Sound editor |
| 1989 | Dead Calm | Phillip Noyce | Sound designer |
| 1989 | Dead Poets Society | Peter Weir | Additional film editor |
| 1990 | Green Card | Peter Weir | Additional film editor |
| 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 Fleury | Foley walker |
| 1996 | The Portrait of a Lady | Jane Campion | Sound designer |
| 1999 | Holy Smoke! | Jane Campion | Sound designer |

## Awards and nominations

Academy Awards
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
| 2003 | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | Best Film Editing | Nominated |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Best Film Editing | Nominated |
| 2017 | Dunkirk | Best Film Editing | Won |
BAFTA Awards
| Year | Category | Title | Result |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | Best Editing | Nominated |
| 2010 | Inception | Best Editing | Nominated |
| 2017 | Dunkirk | Best Editing | Nominated |
Other awards
| Year | Title | Award/Nomination |
| 1998 | The Truman Show | Nominated- Awards Circuit Community Awards for Best Editing Nominated- Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing |
| 1999 | Two Hands | AACTA Award for Best Editing |
| 2003 | Master 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 |
| 2008 | The 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 |
| 2010 | Inception | 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 |
| 2011 | X-Men: First Class | Nominated- Hollywood Post Alliance for Best Editing |
| 2012 | The Dark Knight Rises | Nominated- Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Editing Nominated- Hollywood Post Alliance for Best Editing |
| 2014 | Interstellar | Nominated- 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 |
| 2019 | 1917 | 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 |