Mechanic Nico Lunin is the first Belgian to join the prestigious Guild of American Film Editors | showbiz

American Cinema Editors (ACE) was founded in 1950. To become a member, you must be sponsored and invited by other members and meet the criteria for ACE membership. Film editors are accepted only by voting rounds, based on strict conditions, the quality of their work, their training for others, and their dedication to editing. Now a Belgian is also part of the association for the first time: mechanic Nico Leonen. “This unique recognition motivates me more than ever to be a worthy ambassador for this beautiful but invisible profession.” Niko Leonin said about his admission to the guild.

Leonen is an ordinary mechanic by Felix van Groningen, Vin Troech and Quin Mortier and has edited “Steve + Skye”, “Another is Happiness”, “Days Without Love”, “The Unhappiness of Things”, “The Invaders”, “Breaking the Broken Circle”, “The Kid”, Un Ange” and “The House”. In 2013, at the Ostend Film Festival, he was awarded the 2012-2013 Flemish Film Culture Award and Ensor for Best Editing for The Broken Circle Breakdown. In 2016, he was awarded the 2016 Knack Focus Jo Röpcke Award For “the way he can tell stories, organise, visually rhythm, and his measured vision of cinema outside the newsroom.” He also works internationally. He has made directorial debuts for Ryan Gosling’s Lost River and James Gray’s Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt and edited two series for the prestigious American pay channel HBO: “Betty” and “I know this much is True.” He is currently associated with the new Koen Mortier films “Skunk” and “Le otto Montagne” by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch.