Christopher Nolan's World War II epic Dunkirk won the top prize for outstanding sound mixing in a live-action feature during the 54th annual Cinema Audio Society Awards for sound mixing Saturday at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel.
The award went to rerecording mixers Gregg Landaker and Gary Rizzo, production mixer Mark Weingarten, scoring mixer Alan Meyerson, ADR mixer Thomas J. O'Connell and foley mixer Scott Curtis.
Dunkirk bested a slate of nominees that also included Baby Driver, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Shape of Water and Wonder Woman. Dunkirk, Baby Driver, Last Jedi and Shape of Water are also nominated for the Oscar in sound mixing, along with Blade Runner 2049.
Still, in only five of the last 10 years has a team collected this CAS honor on its way to winning an Oscar in sound mixing. (Last year was one of the occasions that they didn't match, with La La Land winning the CAS Award and Hacksaw Ridge collecting the Oscar.)
The Academy Awards has two sound categories, one for mixing and one for sound editing, and this year the same five films are nominated in both categories. Last week, the BAFTAs awarded Dunkirk the prize for best sound (this event combines sound editing and mixing into one category).
Also Saturday at the CAS Awards, Coco won the animated feature category and Jane topped the documentary feature competition. TV category winners included Game of Thrones, Black Mirror, Silicon Valley and Rolling Stone: Stories From the Edge.
During the ceremony, 10-time Oscar nominee Anna Behlmer, who is the first woman nominated for an Oscar in sound mixing, received the Career Achievement Award. In presenting the honor, director Niki Caro noted that “being a female in this industry has made Anna tough, but it hasn’t made her hard.”
Producer Paula Wagner also saluted Technicolor’s Behlmer, saying, “Sound is like an orchestra, and Anna is the conductor. … You have broken the glass ceiling, and you have broken through the sound barrier.”
Receiving a standing ovation as Alicia Keys' “Girl on Fire” played, Behlmer noted that the “greatest gift” in her career has been her friends and colleagues. "How lucky I am to do what I love with people I really enjoy,” she said.
Accepting the CAS Filmmaker Award, Darkest Hour director Joe Wright also received a standing ovation as he saluted all of the sound teams that he has worked with on his films. Baby Driver helmer Edgar Wright and Darkest Hour supervising sound editor and rerecording mixer Craig Berkey presented the award.
Edgar Wright got a big laugh when he quipped that Darkest Hour was "just three car chases from being a complete Baby Driver rip-off." Berkey — whom Joe Wright called his "mixing mind reader" — saluted the director and also read a letter from Darkest Hour star and Oscar nominee Gary Oldman, who had the flu and was unable to attend.
And Tomlinson Holman received a standing ovation as he was honored with the inaugural Edward J. Greene Award for advancement in sound.
A compete list of winners follows.
