Will & Harper, the Netflix documentary about comedic actor Will Ferrell and his friendship with SNL pal Harper Steele who came out as trans, earned a spot on the coveted Oscar documentary feature shortlist today.It wasn’t the only shortlist honor for the film directed by Josh Greenbaum. The tune from the closing credits – “Will and Harper Go West,” written by SNL alum Kristen Wiig and Sean Douglas and performed by Wiig – got shortlisted for Best Original Song (Douglas is the son of actor Michael Keaton).More from DeadlineADVERTISEMENTBut another high-profile documentary in the running for the shortlist didn’t make the cut: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, about the late actor who was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident. That film, directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, recently won Best Documentary Feature at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, and last week earned a nomination for the Producers Guild of America Award. [Scroll for full list of shortlisted features and short documentaries]Aside from Will & Harper, feature documentaries with a celebrity element did not fare particularly well in shortlist voting (the list is determined by the Academy’s Documentary Branch, which will also choose the eventual five Oscar nominees in the category). Also snubbed were I Am: Celine Dion about the French Canadian chanteuse; Elton John: Never Too Late; Martha, about lifestyle doyenne Martha Stewart; Luther: Never Too Much, about the late singer-songwriter Luther Vandross; Music by John Williams, about the Oscar-winning composer; and Piece by Piece, Oscar winner Morgan Neville’s film on music producer, singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams, done entirely with LEGO animation.RELATED: Oscars: Original Song Shortlist Sees Miley Cyrus ‘Last Showgirl’ Tune Snubbed; Lin-Manuel Miranda Eyeing EGOT; Diane Warren’s Possible 16th Nom and MoreHowever, the Pharrell doc and the Elton John film did earn places on the Original Song shortlist. John, already an EGOT winner, wrote “Never Too Late” with his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, along with singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, and Andrew Watt; Williams wrote and performs “Piece by Piece,” the title track to his doc.Artist Frida KahloA celebrity, albeit of the art world, did claim a place on the doc shortlist: Frida, the Carla Gutiérrez film about the great Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.ADVERTISEMENTRELATED: Oscars: International Feature Shortlist Includes Firsts For Latvia & Thailand; Audiard’s ‘Emilia Pérez’ & Walter Salles’ ‘I’m Still Here’ Among Expected Pics In The CutAnother surprise omission was Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, the award-winning film directed by two-time Oscar nominee Lucy Walker that was nominated for a PGA Award last week. Two previous Oscar winners got snubbed: Errol Morris for his documentary Separated, and Asif Kapadia for 2073. (Coincidentally or not, both of those films incorporate fictionalized elements into their narratives).Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in ‘The Bibi Files’The doc feature shortlist of 15 was culled from 169 qualifiers this year. One of the biggest surprises to make the shortlist: The Bibi Files, directed by Alexis Bloom and produced by Oscar winner Alex Gibney. The documentary, a blistering portrait of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that foregrounds a longstanding corruption investigation against him, made the cut despite having no major distributor or streamer. The film recently joined Jolt, a new streaming platform.‘Hollywoodgate’At least two other films without U.S. distribution also made the shortlist: Union, the Brett Story, Stephen Maing directed film about the first Amazon facility to be successfully unionized, and Hollywoodate, director Ibrahim Nash’at’s harrowing examination of the Taliban’s transition from insurgent group to governing force after the exit of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan.ADVERTISEMENTRELATED: Oscars Crafts: ‘Wicked’, ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ & ‘Alien: Romulus’ Among Hopefuls In VFX, Sound And Makeup & Hairstyling ShortlistsAs expected, some of the most acclaimed documentaries of the year secured their places on the feature shortlist, including No Other Land, the film set in the occupied West Bank that’s directed by a collective of two Israeli and two Palestinian filmmakers. Despite having no U.S. distribution, the film has won about four dozen awards around the world.‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’It joins other top Oscar contenders on the shortlist: Black Box Diaries, the MTV Documentary Films title directed by Shiori Ito; Sugarcane, the National Geographic film directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, Netflix’s The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, directed by Benjmain Ree; another Netflix title — Daughters, directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, the Kino Lorber film directed by Johan Grimonprez.RELATED: The 2025 Oscars: Everything We Know So Far About The Nominations, Ceremony, Date & HostDahomey, the acclaimed documentary directed by Mati Diop, pulled off a rare double: the film about the repatriation of royal treasures to Benin that had been plundered by the French made both the documentary feature shortlist and Best International Feature shortlist, representing Senegal.ADVERTISEMENTOscar-qualifying short documentaries also saw their number culled to 15. Actor-filmmaker Rashida Jones made it with short A Swim Lesson, co-directed with Will McCormack. Smriti Mundhra, an Oscar nominee for St. Louis Superman, saw her latest short documentary, I Am Ready, Warden, make the list.RELATED: 2024-25 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Spirits, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & MoreTwo-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot, the defending champion in the documentary short category, will not be in the running for a third Oscar this year. His two contenders – The Turnaround (directed by Kyle Thrash) and The Final Copy of Ilon Specht – did not make the shortlist.Nominations voting begins on Wednesday, January 8 and end Sunday, January 12. Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced on Friday, January 17.The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, televised live on ABC, streamed live on Hulu.Best of DeadlineSign up for Deadline's Newsletter. 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Will Ferrell Doc In, Christopher Reeve Doc Out

Will & Harper, the Netflix documentary about comedic actor Will Ferrell and his friendship with SNL pal Harper Steele who came out as trans, earned a spot on the coveted Oscar documentary feature shortlist today. It wasn’t the only shortlist honor for the film directed by Josh Greenbaum. The tune from the closing credits – […]

Will & Harper, the Netflix documentary about comedic actor Will Ferrell and his friendship with SNL pal Harper Steele who came out as trans, earned a spot on the coveted Oscar documentary feature shortlist today.

It wasn’t the only shortlist honor for the film directed by Josh Greenbaum. The tune from the closing credits – “Will and Harper Go West,” written by SNL alum Kristen Wiig and Sean Douglas and performed by Wiig – got shortlisted for Best Original Song (Douglas is the son of actor Michael Keaton).

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But another high-profile documentary in the running for the shortlist didn’t make the cut: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, about the late actor who was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident. That film, directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, recently won Best Documentary Feature at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, and last week earned a nomination for the Producers Guild of America Award. [Scroll for full list of shortlisted features and short documentaries]

Aside from Will & Harper, feature documentaries with a celebrity element did not fare particularly well in shortlist voting (the list is determined by the Academy’s Documentary Branch, which will also choose the eventual five Oscar nominees in the category). Also snubbed were I Am: Celine Dion about the French Canadian chanteuse; Elton John: Never Too Late; Martha, about lifestyle doyenne Martha Stewart; Luther: Never Too Much, about the late singer-songwriter Luther Vandross; Music by John Williams, about the Oscar-winning composer; and Piece by Piece, Oscar winner Morgan Neville’s film on music producer, singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams, done entirely with LEGO animation.

However, the Pharrell doc and the Elton John film did earn places on the Original Song shortlist. John, already an EGOT winner, wrote “Never Too Late” with his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, along with singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, and Andrew Watt; Williams wrote and performs “Piece by Piece,” the title track to his doc.

A celebrity, albeit of the art world, did claim a place on the doc shortlist: Frida, the Carla Gutiérrez film about the great Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

Another surprise omission was Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, the award-winning film directed by two-time Oscar nominee Lucy Walker that was nominated for a PGA Award last week. Two previous Oscar winners got snubbed: Errol Morris for his documentary Separated, and Asif Kapadia for 2073. (Coincidentally or not, both of those films incorporate fictionalized elements into their narratives).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 'The Bibi Files' — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in ‘The Bibi Files’

The doc feature shortlist of 15 was culled from 169 qualifiers this year. One of the biggest surprises to make the shortlist: The Bibi Files, directed by Alexis Bloom and produced by Oscar winner Alex Gibney. The documentary, a blistering portrait of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that foregrounds a longstanding corruption investigation against him, made the cut despite having no major distributor or streamer. The film recently joined Jolt, a new streaming platform.

At least two other films without U.S. distribution also made the shortlist: Union, the Brett Story, Stephen Maing directed film about the first Amazon facility to be successfully unionized, and Hollywoodate, director Ibrahim Nash’at’s harrowing examination of the Taliban’s transition from insurgent group to governing force after the exit of U.S. military forces from Afghanistan.

As expected, some of the most acclaimed documentaries of the year secured their places on the feature shortlist, including No Other Land, the film set in the occupied West Bank that’s directed by a collective of two Israeli and two Palestinian filmmakers. Despite having no U.S. distribution, the film has won about four dozen awards around the world.

'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat' — ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’

It joins other top Oscar contenders on the shortlist: Black Box Diaries, the MTV Documentary Films title directed by Shiori Ito; Sugarcane, the National Geographic film directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, Netflix’s The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, directed by Benjmain Ree; another Netflix title — Daughters, directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, and Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, the Kino Lorber film directed by Johan Grimonprez.

Dahomey, the acclaimed documentary directed by Mati Diop, pulled off a rare double: the film about the repatriation of royal treasures to Benin that had been plundered by the French made both the documentary feature shortlist and Best International Feature shortlist, representing Senegal.

Oscar-qualifying short documentaries also saw their number culled to 15. Actor-filmmaker Rashida Jones made it with short A Swim Lesson, co-directed with Will McCormack. Smriti Mundhra, an Oscar nominee for St. Louis Superman, saw her latest short documentary, I Am Ready, Warden, make the list.

Two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot, the defending champion in the documentary short category, will not be in the running for a third Oscar this year. His two contenders – The Turnaround (directed by Kyle Thrash) and The Final Copy of Ilon Specht – did not make the shortlist.

Nominations voting begins on Wednesday, January 8 and end Sunday, January 12. Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced on Friday, January 17.

The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, televised live on ABC, streamed live on Hulu.

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