2018 Academy Awards: Australian film editor Lee Smith takes Oscar for Dunkirk

Lee Smith, a 57-year-old editor from Sydney, has won an Oscar for his work on World War II epic Dunkirk.

Australia’s Lee Smith proudly shows his Oscar for best editing in Dunkirk

Lee Smith has spent more than a decade turning Christopher Nolan’s labyrinthine imagination into films that resonate with audiences around the world.

As Hollywood came together yesterday in the shadow of ­Harvey Weinstein for the 90th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, the 57-year-old editor from Sydney won an Oscar for his work on Nolan’s World War II epic Dunkirk. It was Smith’s third shot at an Oscar, having previously been nominated for The Dark Knight and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Smith, who has worked with Nolan on seven films, paid tribute to his long-term collaborator as he accepted the award. “This is the most awesome thing that can happen to a guy like me,” he said.

Smith was the only winner among the Australian nominees in an awards ceremony that otherwise resulted in few surprises. Margot Robbie was nominated as best actress for her role in I, Tonya, but lost to Frances McDormand, a favourite for her performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Also nominated were Australians Josh Lawson and Derin Seale for their live-action short The Eleven O’Clock, and Paul Machliss in the editing category for Baby Driver. There was a great deal of anticipation leading into the ceremony about how Hollywood would ­respond to the Weinstein scandal and subsequent focus on sexual harassment.

Frances McDormand rallies women in the audience. Picture: Getty Images

Host Jimmy Kimmel gave a subdued opening monologue that honoured the #MeToo movement and declared that Weinstein’s exposure as a predator had been “long overdue”.

But the most pointed statement came from Ashley Judd, Annabella Sciorra and Salma Hayek, each of whom had ­accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. They were greeted by a standing ovation.

“We work together to make sure the next 90 years empower these limitless possibilities of equality, diversity, inclusion and intersectionality,” Judd said. “That’s what this year has promised us.”

Veterans Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty relish the chance to read out the correct best picture winner.

And when McDormand accepted her best actress award, she invited every woman in the audience who had been nominated to stand: “We all have stories to tell and projects we need financed.”

The ceremony had a distinct shift in tone from last year, when many of the jabs were aimed at the newly elected US President. Politics was in the air, but Donald Trump was barely mentioned.

Oscars 2018 red carpet

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Some of the more predictable winners included Gary Oldman as best actor in The Darkest Hour, Sam Rockwell as supporting actor in Three Billboards and Allison Janney in I, Tonya.

The ceremony also poked fun at last year’s debacle when Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty ­announced La La Land as the best picture instead of Moonlight. Dunaway and Beatty presented the best picture award to The Shape of Water, which also won best director for Guillermo del Toro.

Del Toro became the third Mexican to win the director’s honour, joining Alejandro Inarritu and Alfonso Cuaron.