Our fourth Coolidge Award honored film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who has worked extensively with director Martin Scorsese and won three Oscars for Raging Bull (1980), The Aviator (2004), and The Departed (2006).
The 4th Annual Coolidge Award
Thelma Schoonmaker arrived in Brookline in April 2007 for a series of Coolidge Award-related events, which included:
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A Coolidge Award ceremony, which included testimonials from Howard Shore, Loren King, President of the Boston Society of Film Critics, and (in absentia), Daniel Day Lewis, Lorraine Bracco, and Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as screenwriters Nicholas Pileggi and Jay Cocks.
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An editing master class led by Schoonmaker.
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A panel discussion on The Departed, moderated by Boston Globe critic Ty Burr and featuring Schoonmaker, Howard Shore, screenwriter William Monahan, and director Martin Scorsese (who drove up from New York in the middle of production to honor his friend and editor).
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Repertory screenings included The Aviator, Goodfellas, The King of Comedy, and Raging Bull.
About Thelma Schoonmaker
Thelma Schoonmaker is recognized worldwide for her extraordinary contribution to cinema and distinctive editing talents. She began her career in the early 1960s while taking a summer editing class at New York University. During that period she met Martin Scorsese, who was looking for someone to help him edit his student film. This began a collaboration that has lasted over 40 years.
In 1984 Schoonmaker married British director Michael Powell. They were together until his death in 1990 and she is currently committed to many projects promoting and preserving Powell's legacy in cinema. In addition to The Departed and Raging Bull, Schoonmaker's credits include The Last Temptation of Christ, Cape Fear, Goodfellas, The King of Comedy, Woodstock, Grace of My Heart, Michael Jackson's Bad video and many others. She is a graduate of Cornell University, was nominated for five Academy Awards in addition to winning three, and has been celebrated worldwide at numerous festivals.