High-Profile Documentaries Miss Academy Awards Shortlist

Many documentaries were made about famous people like Elton John, Celine Dion, and Christopher Reeve, but none of them made the Academy’s shortlist for Best Documentary. However, Elton John’s brand-new song “Never Too Late” made it to the Original Song list.

The Documentary Branch of the Academy looked at 169 qualified films and chose 15 finalists. Festival favorites and politically charged works made up most of this list. Ten of the chosen documentaries had their world premieres at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, and others were shown at important events in Berlin, Venice, and Toronto.

“Elton John: Never Too Late,” directed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, gained notoriety for its title song, even though celebrity-focused films often face major rejection. John told Deadline some things he knew about how the song was made. He said Brandi Carlile wrote it after seeing an early version of the documentary. “When she came up with this song, we recorded it because it was about my journey of never giving up,” he said. He said that the ideas of the song fit the movie perfectly, so the title was changed to “Never Too Late.”

Stories that are politically engaged are becoming more prevalent in the documentary scene. Films like “No Other Land,” which is about Palestinians who have been forced to leave their homes in the West Bank, and “The Bibi Files,” which is about Benjamin Netanyahu, made the selection. This trend follows recent Oscar wins for films with a political theme, like “20 Days in Mariupol” and “Navalny.”

Some films that made the shortlist are available on major streaming sites. “Frida” on Amazon and “Daughters” and “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” on Netflix are some of the ones that are moving forward. This differs from last year when streaming documentaries had difficulty getting nominated.

The Academy’s choices make it clear that they want content that has an effect and is relevant to society. They have left many stories about celebrities behind.