Virunga documentary could bring Leonardo DiCaprio his first Oscar

LEONARDO DiCaprio has been unable to bag an Oscar in his illustrious career. This year he’s in with another chance, but not for what you might think.

DO NOT ARCHIVE... FILE - 7 NOVEMBER 2014: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio will celebrate next week his 40th birthday on November 11,...

AT LAST year’s Oscars Leonardo DiCaprio was beaten out for the best actor award by Matthew McConaughey’s portrayal of Ron Woodrof in Dallas Buyers Club.

It was the latest instance of DiCaprio being overlooked for the gold statuette after he was nominated for best supporting actor in 1994’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, again for best actor in 2005 and in 2007 for The Aviator and Blood Diamond respectively.

After The Wolf of Wall Street failed to yield an Oscar for the 40-year-old, some thought his disappointment was clearly visible and the internet went crazy with sad Leo memes.

At this year’s Oscars he is not nominated for an acting performance, however one project he is attached to has a real chance of winning the best documentary category.

Virunga is a Netflix documentary that was produced by DiCaprio’s production company, Apian Way Productions with the actor on board as executive producer.

The film follows the rangers of Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic on Congo as they strive to protect the population of mountain gorillas and preserve the park from poachers, militants and the interests of big oil companies.

The documentary category is strong at this year’s event with a number of compelling entries including Finding Vivian Maire and CitizenFour — which some are tipping to take home the prize.

It’s not quite the same as bagging one for an individual performance but at least for now, it may be DiCaprio’s best chance of getting his hands on that elusive Oscar.

Watch the trailer here.