I remember a few years ago, one of the more surprising Oscar nominees for both Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing was Edward Zwick’s “Blood Diamond.” It made sense in hindsight. Not only was it great work from respected artists, but Zwick has always had an ear for quality sound work; four of his films have been recognized with Oscar nominations by the branch. So he’s a nice choice for this year’s Filmmaker Award at the 50th annual Cinema Audio Society (CAS) Awards.

“It seems fitting that in celebration of 50 years of the CAS we are honoring Edward Zwick, a producer/director/writer of both award winning film and television,” CAS President David E. Fluhr said via press release. “His projects on both the big and small screen have consistently demonstrated a commitment to quality in story and craft, particularly sound. In continuing the CAS tradition of synergy between our two honorees, Zwick our Filmmaker Honoree and Andy Nelson, our Career Achievement Honoree, have collaborated on five film projects including the CAS and Oscar-nominated “Blood Diamond” and ‘The Last Samurai.”

Speaking of the sound categories, they once again had tricks up their sleeves. The Society had some interesting picks (that tipped us off to the potential for an “All is Lost” miss in Best Sound Mixing) and Peter Jackson’s latest installment of “The Hobbit” managed to slide into both categories.

The 50th annual CAS Awards will be held on Saturday, Feb. 22.