Elvis fans have a big night coming. Tomorrow, Sunday, Nov 8, “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” is up for four awards at the 11th Critics Choice Documentary Awards in Manhattan.
First, so nobody mixes them up. “EPiC” is Baz Luhrmann’s new concert film, built from Elvis’s 1970s Las Vegas shows. It is not the 2022 “Elvis” movie starring Austin Butler, even though Luhrmann directed both. “EPiC” was in theaters worldwide from Feb 27, 2026.
Its four nominations are Best First Documentary Feature for Luhrmann, Best Editing for Jonathan Redmond, Best Music Documentary and Best Archival Documentary. The show starts at 4 PM PT, 7 PM ET, and you can watch it online at CriticsChoice.com.
That archival nomination makes more sense once you know where the footage came from.
Most of it was found in the MGM vaults, stored in salt mines in Kansas. Forbes Australia says Luhrmann’s team found “65 boxes of negative,” and Rolling Stone puts it at 59 hours of unseen footage. Many of the reels had no sound at all, so the team had to match Elvis’s vocals from old VHS tapes and work prints. Restoring it all took more than two years.
IndieWire talked with Luhrmann about “EPiC” and the unseen Elvis footage, and it’s a good chance to hear the director talk about discovering that footage in his own words.
Baz Luhrmann on finding unseen Elvis footage
But not every piece came out of the ground in Kansas.
Some of it came from Graceland, Elvis’s home in Memphis.
Luhrmann worked out of an office at Graceland for 18 months. During that time, never-before-seen Super 8 film turned up in the Graceland archives. Forbes Australia credits Angie Marchese, Graceland’s Vice President of Archives and Exhibits, with unearthing it.
Luhrmann said it plainly in a Hollywood trade interview: “The stuff you saw of him in the gold suit in Hawaii, that comes from the archives in Graceland.”
He also made a point of thanking Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s only child, for opening the doors. “And Lisa Marie gave me the great privilege of access to areas other people are not allowed into, including the upstairs area, which is a gift. And that I’ll always cherish, I’ll always cherish.”
Graceland’s upstairs is closed to tourists. Luhrmann said that responsibility has now “fallen to Riley Keough,” Lisa Marie’s daughter and Elvis’s eldest grandchild. He thinks a lot of her, too. Speaking to the interviewer, he added, “keep an eye on her as a filmmaker.”
AMFM Magazine, which reported on the Graceland Super 8 find, also sat down with Luhrmann for “EPiC,” so this one is worth a look if you want more of the story behind the film.
Baz Luhrmann talks about “EPiC”
So once the film was done, who did Luhrmann want to show it to?
When he spoke to The Australian Women’s Weekly, in a story published Feb 9, 2026, he hadn’t yet shown the finished film to the Presley family. He was making plans, and he knew exactly who belonged in the room.
“I’m organising a screening with Riley [Keough, Elvis’ eldest grandchild] and the twins [younger granddaughters Finley and Harper Lockwood],” he said.
And there was one more name on his list.
“I’m reaching out to Priscilla as well, because she’s in it. And I hope she loves it.”