Oscars 2019 nominations: Free Solo featuring Alex Honnold climbing El Capitan

It's big news, not just for rock climbing. Directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, the film Free Solo that documents Alex Honnold and his extraordinary ropeless ascent of the 1000m high El Capitan in Yosemite via the route Freerider on 3 June 2017 has officially been nominated for an Oscar Academy Award in the Feature Documentary category.

In December 2018 the film had made the shortlist of 15 feature docs, and earlier today its name was unveiled along with Hale County, This Morning, This Evening (director: RaMell Ross), Minding the Gap (director: Bing Liu), Of Fathers and Sons (director: Talal Derki) and RBG (director: Betsy West, Julie Cohen).

This is possibly only the third time that a climbing or mountaineering film has been considered for the Oscars after - coincidentally - Mike Hoover's 1973 film Solo and Kevin MacDonald’s Touching the Void, which made it into the 15-strong shortlist.

The winners will be announced during the 91st Academy Awards ceremony scheduled to take place on 24 February.