Fashion film makes Oscar documentary shortlist

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Matt Tyrnauer's Valentino: The Last Emperor, a film that follows the lives and careers of the Italian design guru and his business partner Giancarlo Giammetti, is the only fashion film to be nominated for next year's Documentary Feature Oscar.

Surprisingly, the more successful September Issue, considered a real-life Devil wears Prada, was not nominated.

Valentino had previously said that he was hoping the film could be fit for the movie industry's highest acclaim but it is not yet clear whether the Emperor will make it on the list of five finalists that will be announced in February.

Some fashion critics say that Tyrnauer would deserve it, due to having shadowed one of the notoriously most difficult people to work with in the industry (he documented a full two years of the designer's life).

If the Academy (of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) agrees, a finalist listing or a win for the movie would acknowledge the increasing importance of fashion in film and vice versa. This year saw an unusually high number of fashion documentary releases, fashion film festivals and the use of artistic short movies instead of more conventional fashion ads.