Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature

The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is one of the most important awards for documentary movies.

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
Country	United States
Presented by	Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
First awarded	1942
Most recent winner	Pippa Ehrlich James Reed Craig Foster My Octopus Teacher (2020)
Website	oscars.org

Winners and nominees

1940s

In 1942, there was one Documentary category and four winners.

• 1942
  • The Battle of Midway
  • Kokoda Front Line!
  • Moscow Strikes Back
  • Prelude to War

From 1943 there were two separate documentary categories (features and short films)

• 1943 - Desert Victory
  • Baptism of Fire
  • The Battle of Russia
  • Report from the Aleutians
  • War Department Report
• 1944 - The Fighting Lady
  • Resisting Enemy Interrogation
• 1945 - The True Glory
  • The Last Bomb
• 1946 - none given
• 1947 - Design for Death
  • Journey Into Medicine
  • The World Is Rich
• 1948 - The Secret Land
  • The Quiet One
• 1949 - Daybreak in Udi
  • Kenji Comes Home

1950s

• 1950 - The Titan: Story of Michelangelo
  • With These Hands
• 1951 - Kon-Tiki
  • I Was a Communist for the FBI
• 1952 - The Sea Around Us
  • The Hoaxters
  • Navajo
• 1953 - The Living Desert
  • The Conquest of Everest
  • A Queen Is Crowned
• 1954 - The Vanishing Prairie
  • The Stratford Adventure
• 1955 - Helen Keller in Her Story (also known as The Unconquered)
  • Crèvecoeur
• 1956 - The Silent World
  • Where Mountains Float (Danish: Hvor bjergene sejler)
  • The Naked Eye
• 1957 - Albert Schweitzer
  • On the Bowery
  • Torero
• 1958 - White Wilderness
  • Antarctic Crossing
  • The Hidden World
  • Psychiatric Nursing
• 1959 - Serengeti Shall Not Die
  • The Race for Space
  • From Generation to Generation

1960s

• 1960 - The Horse with the Flying Tail
  • Rebel in Paradise
• 1961 - Sky Above and Mud Beneath, directed by Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau
  • La grande olimpiade, directed by Romolo Marcellini
• 1962 - Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler
  • Alvorada
• 1963 - Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World
  • Le Maillon et la chaîne
  • The Yanks Are Coming
• 1964 - World Without Sun
  • 14-18
  • Alleman
  • The Finest Hours
  • Four Days in November
• 1965 - The Eleanor Roosevelt Story
  • The Battle of the Bulge... The Brave Rifles
  • The Forth Road Bridge
  • Let My People Go: The Story of Israel
  • Mourir à Madrid
• 1966 - The War Game
  • The Face of a Genius
  • Helicopter Canada
  • The Really Big Family
  • Le Volcan interdit
• 1967 - The Anderson Platoon
  • Festival
  • Harvest
  • A King's Story
  • A Time for Burning
• 1968 - Journey into Self

  Note: At the 41st Awards ceremony on April 14, 1969, Young Americans was announced as the winner of the Documentary Feature Oscar. On May 7, 1969, it was revealed that the film had played in October 1967, which rendered it ineligible for a 1968 Award. The first runner-up, Journey Into Self, was awarded the statuette on May 8, 1969.

  • A Few Notes on Our Food Problem
  • Legendary Champions
  • Other Voices
• 1969 - Arthur Rubinstein – The Love of Life
  • Before the Mountain Was Moved
  • In the Year of the Pig
  • Olimpiada en México
  • The Wolf Men

1970s

• 1970 - Woodstock
  • Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (Released in English language version under title "Chariots of the Gods?")
  • Jack Johnson
  • King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
  • Say Goodbye
• 1971 - The Hellstrom Chronicle
  • Alaska Wilderness Lake
  • Le chagrin et la pitié
  • On Any Sunday
  • Ra
• 1972 - Marjoe
  • Bij de beesten af
  • Malcolm X
  • Manson
  • The Silent Revolution
• 1973 - The Great American Cowboy
  • Always a New Beginning
  • Journey to the Outer Limits
  • Schlacht um Berlin
  • Walls of Fire
• 1974 - Hearts and Minds
  • Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman
  • The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art
  • The 81st Blow
  • The Wild and the Brave
• 1975 - The Man Who Skied Down Everest
  • The California Reich
  • Fighting for Our Lives
  • The Incredible Machine
  • The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir
• 1976 - Harlan County, USA
  • Hollywood on Trial
  • Off the Edge
  • People of the Wind
  • Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry
• 1977 - Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?
  • The Children of Theatre Street
  • High Grass Circus
  • Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love
  • Union Maids
• 1978 - Scared Straight!
  • Mysterious Castles of Clay
  • Raoni
  • Le vent des amoureux
  • With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade
• 1979 - Best Boy
  • Generation on the Wind
  • Going the Distance
  • The Killing Ground
  • The War at Home

1980s

• 1980 From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China directed by Murray Lerner
  • Agee
  • The Day After Trinity
  • Front Line
  • The Yellow Star – The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-45
• 1981 Genocide directed by Arnold Schwartzman
  • Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey
  • Brooklyn Bridge
  • Eight Minutes to Midnight: A Portrait of Dr. Helen Caldicott
  • El Salvador: Another Vietnam
• 1982 Just Another Missing Kid directed by John Zaritsky
  • A Portrait of Giselle
  • After the Axe
  • Ben's Mill
  • In Our Water
• 1983 He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' directed by Emile Ardolino
  • Children of Darkness
  • First Contact
  • The Profession of Arms
  • Seeing Red
• 1984 The Times of Harvey Milk directed by Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen
  • High Schools
  • In the Name of the People
  • Marlene
  • Streetwise
• 1985 Broken Rainbow directed by Maria Florio and Victoria Mudd
  • The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo
  • Soldiers in Hiding
  • The Statue of Liberty
  • Unfinished Business
• 1986 - (tie): Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got and Down and Out in America
  • Chile: Hasta Cuando?
  • Isaac in America: A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer
  • Witness to Apartheid
• 1987 The Ten-Year Lunch
  • Eyes on the Prize
  • Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima
  • Radio Bikini
  • A Stitch for Time
• 1988 Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie
  • The Cry of Reason: Beyers Naude – An Afrikaner Speaks Out
  • Let's Get Lost
  • Promises to Keep
  • Who Killed Vincent Chin?
• 1989 Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
  • Adam Clayton Powell
  • Crack USA: County Under Siege
  • For All Mankind
  • Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren

1990s

• 1990 American Dream directed by Barbara Kopple
  • Berkeley in the Sixties
  • Building Bombs
  • Forever Activists: Stories from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
  • Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey
• 1991 In the Shadow of the Stars directed by Allie Light and Irving Saraf
  • Death on the Job
  • Doing Time: Life Inside the Big House
  • The Restless Conscience: Resistance to Hitler Within Germany 1933-1945
  • Wild by Law
• 1992 The Panama Deception directed by Barbara Trent and David Kasper
  • Changing Our Minds: The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker
  • Fires of Kuwait
  • Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II
  • Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann
• 1993 I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School directed by Susan Raymond
  • The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter
  • Children of Fate
  • For Better or For Worse
  • The War Room
• 1994 Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision directed by Freida Lee Mock
  • Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter
  • D-Day Remembered
  • Freedom on My Mind
  • A Great Day in Harlem
• 1995 Anne Frank Remembered directed by Jon Blair
  • The Battle Over Citizen Kane
  • Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream
  • Small Wonders
  • Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern
• 1996 When We Were Kings directed by Leon Gast
  • The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story
  • Mandela
  • Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse
  • Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press
• 1997 The Long Way Home directed by Mark Jonathan Harris
  • Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life
  • Colors Straight Up
  • 4 Little Girls
  • Waco: The Rules of Engagement
• 1998 The Last Days directed by James Moll
  • Dancemaker
  • The Farm: Angola, U.S.A.
  • Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth
  • Regret to Inform
• 1999 One Day in September by Kevin MacDonald
  • Buena Vista Social Club
  • Genghis Blues
  • On the Ropes
  • Speaking in Strings

2000s

• 2000: Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport – Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah Oppenheimer
  • Legacy – Tod Lending
  • Long Night's Journey into Day – Deborah Hoffmann and Frances Reid
  • Scottsboro: An American Tragedy – Daniel Anker and Barak Goodman
  • Sound and Fury – Josh Aronson and Roger Weisberg
• 2001: Murder on a Sunday Morning (Un coupable idéal) – Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and Denis Poncet
  • Children Underground – Edet Belzberg
  • LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton – Deborah Dickson and Susan Frömke
  • Promises – B.Z. Goldberg and Justine Shapiro
  • War Photographer – Christian Frei
• 2002: Bowling for Columbine – Michael Moore and Michael Donovan
  • Daughter from Danang – Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco
  • Prisoner of Paradise – Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender
  • Spellbound – Jeffrey Blitz and Sean Welch
  • Winged Migration (Le peuple migrateur) – Jacques Perrin
• 2003: The Fog of War – Errol Morris and Michael Williams
  • Balseros – Carlos Bosch and Josep Maria Domenech
  • Capturing the Friedmans – Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling
  • My Architect – Nathaniel Kahn and Susan R. Behr
  • The Weather Underground – Sam Green and Bill Siegel
• 2004: Born into Brothels – Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski
  • The Story of the Weeping Camel (Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel) – Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni
  • Super Size Me – Morgan Spurlock
  • Tupac: Resurrection – Karolyn Ali and Lauren Lazin
  • Twist of Faith – Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt
• 2005: March of the Penguins (La marche de l'empereur) – Luc Jacquet
  • Darwin's Nightmare – Hubert Sauper
  • Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot
  • Murderball – Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
  • Street Fight – Marshall Curry
• 2006: An Inconvenient Truth – Davis Guggenheim
  • Deliver Us from Evil – Amy Berg and Frank Donner and Matthew Cooke
  • Iraq in Fragments – James Longley and Yahya Sinno
  • Jesus Camp – Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
  • My Country, My Country – Jocelyn Glatzer and Laura Poitras
• 2007: Taxi to the Dark Side – Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
  • No End in Sight – Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
  • Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience – Richard Robbins
  • Sicko – Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara
  • War/Dance – Sean Fine and Andrea Nix
• 2008: Man on Wire – Simon Chinn and James Marsh
  • The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) – Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
  • Encounters at the End of the World – Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
  • The Garden – Scott Hamilton Kennedy
  • Trouble the Water – Carl Deal and Tia Lessin
• 2009: The Cove – Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
  • Burma VJ – Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
  • Food, Inc. – Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
  • The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers – Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
  • Which Way Home – Rebecca Cammisa

2010s

• 2010: Inside Job – Charles H. Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
  • Exit Through the Gift Shop – Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
  • Gasland – Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
  • Restrepo – Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
  • Waste Land – Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley
• 2011: Undefeated – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
  • Hell and Back Again – Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
  • If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
  • Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
  • Pina – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

Other websites

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences official site