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Billboard DECEMBER 17, 2024 - by Paul Grein

BRIAN ENO FILM SHORTLISTED FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AT 2025 OSCARS, BUT MANY OTHER MUSIC DOCS SNUBBED

Among the music-focused films that are M.I.A.: Elton John: Never Too Late, The Greatest Night In Pop and I Am: Celine Dion.

Eno, a documentary about legendary British musician Brian Eno, is shortlisted for an Oscar for best documentary feature. Gary Hustwit directed the film.

Eno, seventy-six, has won seven Grammys for producing records by U2 and Coldplay. In 1993, he and his partner Daniel Lanois won a Grammy for producer of the year (non-classical) in a tie with Babyface and L.A. Reid. Eno was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of Roxy Music.

The documentary feature shortlist also includes Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, a film about the political activities of jazz musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach during the Cold War. Johan Grimonprez directed the film.

Will & Harper, the Netflix film about a cross-country road trip starring Will Ferrell and Harper Steele is also on the shortlist. The film, directed by Josh Greenbaum, features Kristen Wiig's Harper and Will Go West, which is shortlisted for best original song.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released shortlists in ten categories including best original song, best original score and best documentary feature on Tuesday (December 17).

A total of a hundred and sixty-nine features vied to make the shortlist for documentary feature film. Just fifteen made it. Among the music-focused films that failed to make the shortlist: Elton John: Never Too Late; The Greatest Night in Pop, about the recording session that produced We Are the World; I Am: Celine Dion; Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All; Luther: Never Too Much (about Luther Vandross); Mad About The Boy: The Noel Coward Story; Music By John Williams; Piece By Piece, about and featuring music by Pharrell Williams; and The World According To Allee Willis.

Also passed over: Following Harry, about Harry Belafonte's social justice work; Studio One Forever (about the L.A. nightclub that is described as "America's first gay disco") and Flipside (about a comical attempt to save a New Jersey record store).

Here's a complete list of this year's fifteen shortlisted films for documentary (feature): The Bibi Files / Black Box Diaries / Dahomey / Daughters / Eno / Frida / Hollywoodgate / No Other Land / Porcelain War / Queendom / The Remarkable Life Of Ibelin / Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat / Sugarcane / Union / Will & Harper