Merrick here...
If you haven't had a chance to see EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, it's currently available via Netflix streaming and can be had on Blu-Ray and DVD HERE. It's a documentary about street art - but this characterization is oversimplified and does not do the picture justice. It's compelling, thought provoking, and is up for Documentary (Feature) at this year's Oscars.
Which means "Banksy", EXIT's enigmatic, controversial, and anonymous director is encompassed within the nomination. Leaving the Academy in something of a quandary: what to do if Banksy actually receives an Oscar? Very, very, very few people are privy to his true identity. His real name has been conjectured but never confirmed, photos of a man purported to be Banksy have been published but were not verified, and he kept himself skillfully anonimized (yes, I know that's not a real word) and obscured in his own movie.
TheWrap has a piece on behind-the-scenes maneuverings regarding the film's potential win.
"The fun but disquieting scenario," said the Academy's executive director, Bruce Davis, on Monday, "is if that film wins and five guys in monkey masks come to the stage all saying, 'I'm Banksy!' Who the hell do we give it to?"
[EDIT]
Davis and Academy president Tom Sherak huddled at a table with Jaimie D'Cruz, the producer of "Exit Through the Gift Shop," who is also nominated for the award, and with an executive producer. And on Tuesday afternoon, Sherak told TheWrap that he thought they'd come to an agreement on what might happen if "Exit" wins – a scenario, he hopes, that involves neither Banksy nor anybody claiming to be him.
"The reason we had that conversation," Sherak said, "was that we had to make sure we were all comfortable with what would happen if he was to win, knowing that he doesn't want anybody to know who he is."
If Banksy isn't comfortable showing his face on the Kodak stage, Sherak said, then the Academy isn't comfortable having him on that stage.