Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop Shortlisted for Oscars
Exit Through The Gift Shop shortlisted in Best Documentary category for 2011 Academy Awards.
For decades Banksy has been a phantom working under the cover of darkness to deface private property in the name of public good, so you might recall the controversy that greeted the release Exit Through The Gift Shop earlier this year, the debut film of the art world's greatest enigma.
The film followed the rise and rise of graffiti artist Thierry Guetta in Los Angeles, and Banksy's attempt to help him piece together a documentary. The controversy was generally concerned with whether the film was really a documentary or not: the final half of the film especially seemed so finely conceived a parody of the art world that it couldn't possibly be real.
However, the time to cease doubting may be nigh. The film has been named as one of fifteen on the shortlist for the Academy Awards' Best Documentary. Its inclusion on the shortlist is validation that it is, actually, a documentary. If the Academy Awards says it is, it must be true. Mustn't it?
Even more significant is that Banksy could potentially win an Oscar in a few months time, raising the question: will he appear on stage to accept the award and risk unveiling his so closely guarded identity?
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