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Why Celebrity Docs on Christopher Reeve, Elton John and Celine Dion Could Keep Politically Driven Films Out of the Oscar Race

Will the Oscars avoid political docs in favor of celebrity-driven ones About Christopher Reeve, Elton John and Celine Dion?

Some of this year’s leading doc contenders — Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s “No Other Land,” Brett Story and Stephen Maing’s “Union” and Hasan Oswald’s “Mediha” — are all politically-driven films without distribution deals. Netflix is pushing hard for three docs that the company acquired out of Sundance earlier this year: Natalie Rae and Angela Patton’s “Daughters,” Benjamin Ree’s “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” and Josh Greenbaum’s “Will & Harper.” Meanwhile, Amazon is seeking awards recognition for Carla Gutiérrez’s “Frida” and Irene Taylor’s “I Am Celine Dion.” Nat Geo is hoping to score a nomination for Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s “Sugarcane.” Warner Bros. is promoting Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” while Disney+ is supporting the campaign for R.J. Cutler’s Elton John doc “Never Too Late.” The award season campaign for Shiori Ito’s “Black Box Diaries” is being backed by MTV Documentary Films. It’s anyone’s guess if celebrity titles like “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” “Never Too Late,” “I Am Celine Dion” and “Will & Harper” have ample Oscar potential given the fact that last season’s big-budget documentaries that focused on celebs — like Davis Guggenheim’s “Still: A Michael J.

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