We’re counting down the 40 days to NYWIFT’s 40th Anniversary Muse Awards with a look at some of our favorite honorees, all women of vision and achievement who have contributed to the film and television industry. Join us as we look back at #Muse40for40, and buy your tickets for the Muse Awards on Tuesday, December 10th at nywift.org/muse!
#35: Dede Allen
By Mellini Kantayya
Dede Allen was a pioneering film editor with a career spanning over sixty-years. Though she said she went “completely by gut” when editing, she introduced of a number techniques into America cinema—including frequent use of jump-cuts and overlapping audio between scenes to drive the narrative forward. She is a well-known “film editing doctor” to the major American movie studios, and one of cinema’s all-time celebrated “auteur” film editors.
At the 2001 Muse Awards, Dede Allen — the first editor to get an exclusive credit on a film — received a standing ovation from a packed house.
Her obituary in the Independent UK sited her as “the most important film editor in the most explosive era of American film.” She was nominated for Academy Awards for the films Dog Day Afternoon, Reds, and Wonderboys, and was best-known for such classics as Bonnie and Clyde and The Hustler. She passed away in 2010 at the age of 86.
Mellini_Kantayya
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