American Cinema Editors announced on Jan. 25 that film editors Lillian E. Benson and Richard Chew will receive career achievement awards for their outstanding contributions to film editing at the 72nd annual ACE Eddie Awards on March 5 at the ACE Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

“Lillian and Richard are rock star editors and represent the very best of our craft and profession,” ACE president Kevin Tent said. “Not only have they had incredibly prolific careers, but they’ve given back to our community in many ways, not the least of which by mentoring the next generation of editors. We are thrilled to honor these two special editors and look back at their amazing careers.”

As the first woman of color invited to join American Cinema Editors more than 30 years ago, Benson has been an integral part of the organization and its growth. She has served on its board of directors for over two decades and has been instrumental in helping ACE expand and diversify its reach.

An Emmy Award nominee for the PBS documentary series “Eyes on the Prize,” which chronicled the civil rights movement from 1952-1985, Benson has worked on “Chicago Med” for the past six seasons. Her career has included projects such as “Beyond the Steps: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater,” “Motown 40: The Music is Forever,” “A Century of Living,” “Conscience and the Constitution,” “Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” “Craft in America” and “All Our Sons: Fallen Heroes of 9/11.” In 2016, she edited “Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise” about the American poet’s resiliency and impact on America. Benson said her favorite work was on “John Lewis: Get in the Way.”

“This documentary is the thing I love the most of anything I’ve ever done. I feel I was born to cut it,” Benson said. “It was released a couple of years before he died and was the first documentary done about his life. I love Lewis because he was a warrior his entire life. He never wavered. He did what he could. He forgave people, people I couldn’t forgive. He always had the bigger picture in mind.”

Chew’s body of work includes “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “The Conversation” and “Star Wars,” for which he won the Oscar for Best Film Editing with co-editors Marcia Lucas and Paul Hirsch. From comic classics like “Risky Business” to arthouse gems like Allison Anders’ “Mi Vida Loca” and auteur epics such as Terence Malick’s “The New World,” Chew’s filmography centers on independent choices, collaborating with filmmakers he admires and focusing on projects that move him.

Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors is an honorary society of motion picture editors. For information, visit americancinemaeditors.org.