Brian Eno Film Shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature at 2025 Oscars, But Many Other Music Docs Snubbed

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

Eno, 76, 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 & 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 10 categories, including best original song, best original score and best documentary feature on Tuesday (Dec. 17).

A total of 169 features vied to make the shortlist for documentary feature film. Just 15 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 15 shortlisted films for documentary (feature).

Shortlisted Films

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

Nominations-round voting runs from Jan. 8-12. Nominations will be announced Jan. 17. Final-round voting runs from Feb. 11-18. The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide. The show will also stream live on Hulu for the first time.