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Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film

The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to Kukan and Target for Tonight.[1] They have since been bestowed competitively each year, with the exception of 1946.[2] Copies of every winning film (along with copies of most nominees) are held by the Academy Film Archive.[3]

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film
CountryUnited States
Presented byAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
First awarded1942
Most recent winnerDaniel Roher
Odessa Rae
Diane Becker
Melanie Miller
Shane Boris
Navalny (2022)
Websiteoscars.org

Winners and nominees edit

Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year (that is, the year they were released under the Academy's rules for eligibility). In practice, due to the limited nature of documentary distribution, a film may be released in different years in different venues, sometimes years after production is complete.

1940s edit

Year Film Nominees
1942
(15th)
[note 1]
The Battle of Midway John Ford (United States Navy)
Kokoda Front Line! Ken G. Hall[4][5] (Australian News & Information Bureau)
Moscow Strikes Back Artkino
Prelude to War Frank Capra (Office of War Information)
Africa, Prelude to Victory The March of Time
Combat Report United States Army Signal Corps
Conquer by the Clock Frederic Ullman Jr. [de; fr]
The Grain That Built a Hemisphere Walt Disney
Henry Browne, Farmer United States Department of Agriculture
High Over the Borders National Film Board of Canada
High Stakes in the East The Netherlands Information Bureau
Inside Fighting China National Film Board of Canada
It's Everybody's War United States Office of War Information
Listen to Britain British Ministry of Information
Little Belgium Belgian Ministry of Information
Little Isles of Freedom Victor Stoloff and Edgar Loew
Mr. Blabbermouth United States Office of War Information
Mr. Gardenia Jones United States Office of War Information
The New Spirit Walt Disney
The Price of Victory William H. Pine
A Ship Is Born United States Merchant Marine
Twenty-One Miles British Ministry of Information
We Refuse to Die William C. Thomas
The White Eagle Concanen Films [de]
Winning Your Wings United States Army Air Force
1943
(16th)
[note 2]
[6]
Desert Victory British Ministry of Information
Baptism of Fire United States Army
The Battle of Russia United States Department of War Special Service Division
Report from the Aleutians United States Army Pictorial Service
War Department Report United States Office of Strategic Services Field Photographic Bureau
1944
(17th)
The Fighting Lady Edward Steichen (United States Navy)
Resisting Enemy Interrogation United States Army Air Force
1945
(18th)
The True Glory The Governments of Great Britain and the United States of America
The Last Bomb United States Army Air Force
1946
(19th)
No award given
1947
(20th)
Design for Death Sid Rogell, Theron Warth and Richard Fleischer
Journey into Medicine United States Department of State Office of Information and Educational Exchange
The World Is Rich Paul Rotha
1948
(21st)
The Secret Land Orville O. Dull
The Quiet One Janice Loeb
1949
(22nd)
Daybreak in Udi Crown Film Unit
Kenji Comes Home Paul F. Heard

1950s edit

Year Film Nominees
1950
(23rd)
The Titan: Story of Michelangelo Robert Snyder
With These Hands Jack Arnold and Lee Goodman [de]
1951
(24th)
Kon-Tiki Olle Nordemar
I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. Bryan Foy
1952
(25th)
The Sea Around Us Irwin Allen
The Hoaxters Dore Schary
Navajo Hall Bartlett
1953
(26th)
The Living Desert Walt Disney
The Conquest of Everest John Taylor, Leon Clore and Grahame Tharp [de]
A Queen Is Crowned Castleton Knight
1954
(27th)
The Vanishing Prairie Walt Disney
The Stratford Adventure Guy Glover
1955
(28th)
Helen Keller in Her Story Nancy Hamilton
Heartbreak Ridge René Risacher [de]
1956
(29th)
The Silent World Jacques-Yves Cousteau
The Naked Eye Louis Clyde Stoumen
Where Mountains Float The Government Film Committee of Denmark
1957
(30th)
Albert Schweitzer Jerome Hill
On the Bowery Lionel Rogosin
Torero! Manuel Barbachano Ponce
1958
(31st)
White Wilderness Ben Sharpsteen
Antarctic Crossing James Carr [de]
The Hidden World Robert Snyder
Psychiatric Nursing Nathan Zucker [de]
1959
(32nd)
Serengeti Shall Not Die Bernhard Grzimek
The Race for Space David L. Wolper

1960s edit

Year Film Nominees
1960
(33rd)
The Horse with the Flying Tail Larry Lansburgh
Rebel in Paradise Robert D. Fraser
1961
(34th)
Le Ciel et la Boue (Sky Above and Mud Beneath) Arthur Cohn and René Lafuite [de]
La Grande Olimpiade (Olympic Games 1960) dell Istituto Nazionale Luce, Comitato Organizzatore Del Giochi Della XVII Olimpiade
1962
(35th)
Black Fox Louis Clyde Stoumen
Alvorada (Brazil's Changing Face) Hugo Niebeling
1963
(36th)
[note 3][6]
Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World Robert Hughes
Le Maillon et la Chaine (The Link and the Chain) Paul de Roubaix [de; fr]
The Yanks Are Coming Marshall Flaum
1964
(37th)
Jacques-Yves Cousteau's World without Sun Jacques-Yves Cousteau
The Finest Hours Jack Le Vien
Four Days in November Mel Stuart
The Human Dutch Bert Haanstra
Over There, 1914–18 Jean Aurel
1965
(38th)
The Eleanor Roosevelt Story Sidney Glazier
The Battle of the Bulge... The Brave Rifles Laurence E. Mascott [de; fr]
The Forth Road Bridge Peter Mills
Let My People Go Marshall Flaum
To Die in Madrid Frédéric Rossif
1966
(39th)
The War Game Peter Watkins
The Face of a Genius Alfred R. Kelman
Helicopter Canada Peter Jones and Tom Daly
The Really Big Family Alex Grasshoff
Le Volcan Interdit (The Forbidden Volcano) Haroun Tazieff
1967
(40th)
The Anderson Platoon Pierre Schoendoerffer
Festival Murray Lerner
Harvest Carroll Ballard
A King's Story Jack Le Vien
A Time for Burning William C. Jersey [de]
1968
(41st)
[note 4][6][7]
Journey into Self Bill McGaw
A Few Notes on Our Food Problem James Blue
The Legendary Champions William Cayton
Other Voices David H. Sawyer [de]
1969
(42nd)
Arthur Rubinstein – The Love of Life Bernard Chevry [de]
Before the Mountain Was Moved Robert K. Sharpe
In the Year of the Pig Emile de Antonio
The Olympics in Mexico Comite Organizador de los Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada
The Wolf Men Irwin Rosten

1970s edit

Year Film Nominees
1970
(43rd)
Woodstock Bob Maurice
Chariots of the Gods Dr. Harald Reinl
Jack Johnson Jim Jacobs
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis Ely Landau
Say Goodbye David H. Vowell
1971
(44th)
The Hellstrom Chronicle Walon Green
Alaska Wilderness Lake Alan Landsburg
On Any Sunday Bruce Brown
The RA Expeditions Lennart Ehrenborg [de; sv] and Thor Heyerdahl
The Sorrow and the Pity Marcel Ophüls
1972
(45th)
Marjoe Howard Smith and Sarah Kernochan
Ape and Super-Ape Bert Haanstra
Malcolm X Marvin Worth and Arnold Perl
Manson Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick
The Silent Revolution Eckehard Munck [de]
1973
(46th)
The Great American Cowboy Kieth Merrill
Always a New Beginning John D. Goodell [pl]
Battle of Berlin Bengt von zur Muehlen
Journey to the Outer Limits Alexander Grasshoff
Walls of Fire Gertrude Ross Marks [de] and Edmund F. Penney
1974
(47th)
Hearts and Minds Peter Davis and Bert Schneider
Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman Judy Collins and Jill Godmilow
The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art Herbert Kline [de; fr]
The 81st Blow Jacquot Ehrlich, David Bergman and Haim Gouri
The Wild and the Brave Natalie R. Jones and Eugene S. Jones
1975
(48th)
The Man Who Skied Down Everest F. R. Crawley, James Hager and Dale Hartlebe[8]
The California Reich Walter F. Parkes and Keith F. Critchlow
Fighting for Our Lives Glen Pearcy
The Incredible Machine Irwin Rosten
The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir Shirley MacLaine
1976
(49th)
Harlan County, U.S.A. Barbara Kopple
Hollywood on Trial James Gutman and David Helpern Jr.
Off the Edge Michael Firth
People of the Wind Anthony Howarth and David Koff
Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry Donald Brittain and Robert Duncan
1977
(50th)
Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? John Korty, Dan McCann and Warren L. Lockhart
The Children of Theatre Street Robert Dornhelm and Earle Mack
High Grass Circus Bill Brind, Torben Schioler and Tony Ianzelo
Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love Harry Rasky
Union Maids Jim Klein [de], Julia Reichert and Miles Mogulescu
1978
(51st)
Scared Straight! Arnold Shapiro
The Lovers' Wind Albert Lamorisse
Mysterious Castles of Clay Alan Root
Raoni Jean-Pierre Dutilleux, Barry Williams and Michel Gast
With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade Anne Bohlen, Lyn Goldfarb and Lorraine Gray
1979
(52nd)
Best Boy Ira Wohl
Generation on the Wind David A. Vassar
Going the Distance Paul Cowan and Jacques Bobet
The Killing Ground Steve Singer and Tom Priestley
The War at Home Glenn Silber and Barry Alexander Brown

1980s edit

Year Film Nominees
1980
(53rd)
From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China Murray Lerner
Agee Ross Spears
The Day After Trinity Jon H. Else
Front Line David Bradbury
The Yellow Star: The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-45 Bengt von zur Mühlen and Arthur Cohn
1981
(54th)
Genocide Arnold Schwartzman and Rabbi Marvin Hier
Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey Suzanne Bauman, Paul Neshamkin and Jim Burroughs
Brooklyn Bridge Ken Burns
Eight Minutes to Midnight: A Portrait of Dr. Helen Caldicott Mary Benjamin, Susanne Simpson and Boyd Estus
El Salvador: Another Vietnam Glenn Silber and Tete Vasconcellos
1982
(55th)
Just Another Missing Kid John Zaritsky
After the Axe Sturla Gunnarsson and Steve Lucas
Ben's Mill John Karol and Michel Chalufour
In Our Water Meg Switzgable
A Portrait of Giselle Joseph Wishy
1983
(56th)
He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' Emile Ardolino
Children of Darkness Richard Kotuk and Ara Chekmayan
First Contact Bob Connolly and Robin Anderson
The Profession of Arms Michael Bryans and Tina Viljoen
Seeing Red James Klein and Julia Reichert
1984
(57th)
The Times of Harvey Milk Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen
High Schools Charles Guggenheim and Nancy Sloss
In the Name of the People Alex W. Drehsler and Frank Christopher
Marlene Karel Dirka and Zev Braun
Streetwise Cheryl McCall
1985
(58th)
Broken Rainbow Maria Florio and Victoria Mudd
Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Susana Blaustein Muñoz and Lourdes Portillo
Soldiers in Hiding Japhet Asher
The Statue of Liberty Ken Burns and Buddy Squires
Unfinished Business Steven Okazaki
1986
(59th)
[note 5]
Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got (TIE) Brigitte Berman
Down and Out in America (TIE) Joseph Feury and Milton Justice
Chile: Hasta Cuando? David Bradbury
Isaac in America: A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer Kirk Simon and Amram Nowak
Witness to Apartheid Sharon I. Sopher [de]
1987
(60th)
The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table Aviva Slesin
Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years/Bridge to Freedom 1965 Callie Crossley and James A. DeVinney
Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima John Junkerman and John W. Dower
Radio Bikini Robert Stone
A Stitch for Time Barbara Herbich and Cyril Christo
1988
(61st)
Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie Marcel Ophüls
The Cry of Reason – Beyers Naudé: An Afrikaner Speaks Out Robert Bilheimer and Ronald Mix
Let's Get Lost Bruce Weber and Nan Bush
Promises to Keep Ginny Durrin [de]
Who Killed Vincent Chin? Renee Tajima-Peña and Christine Choy
1989
(62nd)
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt Rob Epstein and Bill Couturié
Adam Clayton Powell Richard Kilberg and Yvonne Smith
Crack USA: County Under Siege Vince DiPersio and William Guttentag
For All Mankind Al Reinert and Betsy Broyles Breier
Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren Judith Leonard and William C. Jersey [de]

1990s edit

Year Film Nominees
1990
(63rd)
American Dream Barbara Kopple and Arthur Cohn
Berkeley in the Sixties Mark Kitchell
Building Bombs Mark Mori and Susan Robinson
Forever Activists: Stories from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Judith Montell
Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey Robert Hillmann and Eugene Corr
1991
(64th)
In the Shadow of the Stars Allie Light and Irving Saraf
Death on the Job Vince DiPersio and William Guttentag
Doing Time: Life Inside the Big House Alan Raymond and Susan Raymond
The Restless Conscience: Resistance to Hitler Within Germany 1933-1945 Hava Kohav Beller
Wild by Law Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey
1992
(65th)
The Panama Deception Barbara Trent and David Kasper
Changing Our Minds: The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker David Haugland
Fires of Kuwait Sally Dundas
Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II Bill Miles and Nina Rosenblum
Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann Margaret Smilow [de] and Roma Baran
1993
(66th)
I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School Susan Raymond and Alan Raymond
The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter David Paperny and Arthur Ginsberg
Children of Fate Susan Todd and Andrew Young
For Better or For Worse David Collier and Betsy Thompson
The War Room D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus
1994
(67th)
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision Freida Lee Mock and Terry Sanders
Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter Deborah Hoffmann
D-Day Remembered Charles Guggenheim
Freedom on My Mind Connie Field and Marilyn Mulford
A Great Day in Harlem Jean Bach
1995
(68th)
Anne Frank Remembered Jon Blair
The Battle Over Citizen Kane Thomas Lennon and Michael Epstein
Small Wonders Allan Miller and Walter Scheuer
Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream Michael Tollin and Fredric Golding
Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern Jeanne Jordan and Steven Ascher
1996
(69th)
When We Were Kings Leon Gast and David Sonenberg
The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story Susan W. Dryfoos
Mandela Jo Menell [cs; sk] and Angus Gibson
Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse Anne Belle and Deborah Dickson [de; fr]
Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press Rick Goldsmith [de; pt]
1997
(70th)
The Long Way Home Marvin Hier and Richard Trank
4 Little Girls Spike Lee and Sam Pollard
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life Michael Paxton
Colors Straight Up Michèle Ohayon and Julia Schachter
Waco: The Rules of Engagement Dan Gifford and William Gazecki
1998
(71st)
The Last Days James Moll and Kenneth Lipper
Dancemaker Matthew Diamond and Jerry Kupfer
The Farm: Angola, USA Jonathan Stack and Liz Garbus
Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth Robert B. Weide
Regret to Inform Barbara Sonneborn and Janet Cole [de]
1999
(72nd)
One Day in September Arthur Cohn and Kevin Macdonald
Buena Vista Social Club Wim Wenders and Ulrich Felsberg [de; pl]
Genghis Blues Roko Belic and Adrian Belic
On the Ropes Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen
Speaking in Strings Paola di Florio and Lilibet Foster

2000s edit

Year Film Nominees
2000
(73rd)
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 [de]
2001
(74th)
Murder on a Sunday Morning Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and Denis Poncet
Children Underground Edet Belzberg
LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton Deborah Dickson [de; fr] and Susan Froemke
Promises B.Z. Goldberg and Justine Shapiro
War Photographer Christian Frei
2002
(75th)
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 Jacques Perrin
2003
(76th)
The Fog of War Errol Morris and Michael Williams
Balseros Carles Bosch [es; ca] 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
(77th)
Born into Brothels Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski
The Story of the Weeping Camel Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni [de]
Super Size Me Morgan Spurlock
Tupac: Resurrection Karolyn Ali and Lauren Lazin
Twist of Faith Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt
2005
(78th)
March of the Penguins Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau
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
(79th)
An Inconvenient Truth Davis Guggenheim
Deliver Us from Evil Amy Berg and Frank Donner
Iraq in Fragments James Longley and John Sinno
Jesus Camp Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
My Country, My Country Jocelyn Glatzer [de] and Laura Poitras
2007
(80th)
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 Fine
2008
(81st)
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
(82nd)
The Cove Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
Burma VJ Anders Østergaard [da; de] and Lise Lense-Møller [de]
Food, Inc. Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein [de]
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
Which Way Home Rebecca Cammisa

2010s edit

Year Film Nominees
2010
(83rd)
Inside Job Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Exit Through the Gift Shop Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
Gasland Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic [de; no; pt]
Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley [no; pt]
2011
(84th)
Undefeated T. J. Martin, Daniel Lindsay and Rich 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
2012
(85th)
Searching for Sugar Man Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn
5 Broken Cameras Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky [de; pt], and Estelle Fialon [de]
How to Survive a Plague David France and Howard Gertler
The Invisible War Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering
2013
(86th)
20 Feet from Stardom Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers
The Act of Killing Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
Cutie and the Boxer Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
Dirty Wars Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
The Square Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
2014
(87th)
Citizenfour Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
Finding Vivian Maier John Maloof and Charlie Siskel [de; pt]
Last Days in Vietnam Rory Kennedy and Kevin McAlester
The Salt of the Earth Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
Virunga Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara
2015
(88th)
Amy Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
Cartel Land Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin
The Look of Silence Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
What Happened, Miss Simone? Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor
2016
(89th)
[9]
O.J.: Made in America Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow
Fire at Sea Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
I Am Not Your Negro Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety [de; pt] and Hébert Peck
Life, Animated Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
13th Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish
2017
(90th)
[10]
Icarus Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman
Faces Places Agnès Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda
Last Men in Aleppo Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed and Søren Steen Jespersen
Strong Island Yance Ford and Joslyn Barnes
2018
(91st)
Free Solo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes, and Shannon Dill [de]
Hale County This Morning, This Evening RaMell Ross [pt], Joslyn Barnes, and Su Kim
Minding the Gap Bing Liu and Diane Quon
Of Fathers and Sons Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich [de], Eva Kemme [de], and Tobias N. Siebert [de]
RBG Betsy West and Julie Cohen [de; fr; pt]
2019
(92nd)
American Factory Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert
The Cave Feras Fayyad, Kirstine Barfod [de] and Sigrid Dyekjær [da; de]
The Edge of Democracy Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan [pt]
For Sama Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts
Honeyland Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska and Atanas Georgiev

2020s edit

Year Film Nominees
2020/21
(93rd)
My Octopus Teacher Pippa Ehrlich [de], James Reed and Craig Foster
Collective Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana [de]
Crip Camp Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
The Mole Agent Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez [de]
Time Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino [de] and Kellen Quinn
2021
(94th)
Summer of Soul Questlove, Joseph Patel [de], Robert Fyvolent [de] and David Dinerstein [de]
Ascension Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell
Attica Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry [de]
Flee Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
Writing with Fire Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh
2022
(95th)
Navalny Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris
All That Breathes Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov
Fire of Love Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman
A House Made of Splinters Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström
2023

(96th)

Bobi Wine: The People's President Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek
The Eternal Memory Maite Alberdi, Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín and Rocio Jadue
Four Daughters Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha
To Kill a Tiger Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim
20 Days in Mariupol Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath

Shortlisted finalists edit

Finalists for Best Documentary Feature are selected by the Documentary Branch based on a preliminary ballot. A second preferential ballot determines the five nominees.[11] Prior to the 78th Academy Awards, there were twelve films shortlisted. These are the additional films that were shortlisted.

Year Finalists
1999 Amargosa, American Movie, Beyond the Mat, Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr., Pop & Me, Smoke and Mirrors: A History of Denial, The Source[12]
2003 The Agronomist, Bus 174, Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, Heir to an Execution, Inheritance: A Fisherman's Story, Lost Boys of Sudan, My Flesh and Blood[13]
2004 Home of the Brave, Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, In the Realms of the Unreal, Riding Giants, The Ritchie Boys, Tell Them Who You Are, Touching the Void[14]
2005 After Innocence, The Boys of Baraka, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Favela Rising, Mad Hot Ballroom, Occupation: Dreamland, On Native Soil: The Documentary of the 9/11 Commission Report, Rize, 39 Pounds of Love, Unknown White Male[15]
2006 Blindsight, Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?, The Ground Truth, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, Shut Up & Sing, Sisters in Law, Storm of Emotions, The Trials of Darryl Hunt, An Unreasonable Man, The War Tapes[16]
2007 Autism: The Musical, Body of War, For the Bible Tells Me So, Lake of Fire, Nanking, Please Vote for Me, The Price of Sugar, A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman, The Rape of Europa, White Light/Black Rain[17]
2008 At the Death House Door, Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh, Fuel, Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts, I.O.U.S.A., In a Dream, Made in America, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, Standard Operating Procedure, They Killed Sister Dorothy[18]
2009 The Beaches of Agnès, Every Little Step, Facing Ali, Garbage Dreams, Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, Mugabe and the White African, Sergio, Soundtrack for a Revolution, Under Our Skin, Valentino: The Last Emperor[19]
2010 Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Enemies of the People, Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould, The Lottery, Precious Life, Quest for Honor, This Way of Life, The Tillman Story, Waiting for "Superman", William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe[20]
2011 Battle for Brooklyn, Bill Cunningham New York, Buck, Jane's Journey, The Loving Story, Project Nim, Semper Fi: Always Faithful, Sing Your Song, Under Fire: Journalists in Combat, We Were Here[21]
2012 Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, Bully, Chasing Ice, Detropia, Ethel, The House I Live In, The Imposter, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, This Is Not a Film, The Waiting Room[22]
2013 The Armstrong Lie, Blackfish, The Crash Reel, First Cousin Once Removed, God Loves Uganda, Life According to Sam, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, Stories We Tell, Tim's Vermeer, Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington[23]
2014 Art and Craft, The Case Against 8, Citizen Koch, The Internet's Own Boy, Jodorowsky's Dune, Keep on Keepin' On, The Kill Team, Life Itself, The Overnighters, Tales of the Grim Sleeper[24]
2015 Best of Enemies, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, He Named Me Malala, Heart of a Dog, The Hunting Ground, Listen to Me Marlon, Meru, 3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets, We Come as Friends, Where to Invade Next[25]
2016 Cameraperson, Command and Control, The Eagle Huntress, Gleason, Hooligan Sparrow, The Ivory Game, Tower, Weiner, The Witness, Zero Days[26]
2017 Chasing Coral, City of Ghosts, Ex Libris: The New York Public Library, Human Flow, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, Jane, LA 92, Long Strange Trip, One of Us, Unrest[27]
2018 Charm City, Communion, Crime + Punishment, Dark Money, The Distant Barking of Dogs, On Her Shoulders, Shirkers, The Silence of Others, Three Identical Strangers, Won't You Be My Neighbor?[28]
2019 Advocate, The Apollo, Apollo 11, Aquarela, The Biggest Little Farm, The Great Hack, Knock Down the House, Maiden, Midnight Family, One Child Nation [29]
2020 All In: The Fight for Democracy, Boys State, Dick Johnson Is Dead, Gunda, MLK/FBI, Notturno, The Painter and the Thief, 76 Days, The Truffle Hunters, Welcome to Chechnya[30]
2021 Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry, Faya Dayi, The First Wave, In the Same Breath, Julia, President, Procession, The Rescue, Simple as Water, The Velvet Underground[31]
2022 Bad Axe, Children of the Mist, Descendant, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, Hidden Letters, The Janes, Last Flight Home, Moonage Daydream, Retrograde, The Territory[32]
2023 32 Sounds, American Symphony, Apolonia, Apolonia, Beyond Utopia, Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, In the Rearview, Stamped from the Beginning, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, A Still Small Voice[33]

Superlatives edit

For this Academy Award category, the following superlatives emerge:[34]

  • Most awards:

Arthur Cohn3 awards (resulting from 4 nominations); Simon Chinn2 awards; Jacques-Yves Cousteau2 awards; Walt Disney2 awards (resulting from 7 nominations; Disney has an additional 2 wins in the Documentary Short Subject category); Rob Epstein2 awards; Marvin Hier2 awards; Barbara Kopple2 awards

Process controversies edit

Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, at the time the highest-grossing documentary film in movie history, was ruled ineligible because Moore had opted to have it played on television prior to the 2004 election. Previously, the 1982 winner Just Another Missing Kid had already been broadcast in Canada and won that country's ACTRA award for excellence in television at the time of its nomination.

In 1990, a group of 45 filmmakers filed a protest to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over a potential conflict of interest involving Mitchell Block. They noted that Block was a member of the Documentary Steering Committee, which selects films as nominees, but he had a conflict of interest because his company Direct Cinema owned the distribution rights to three of the five films (including eventual winner Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt)[35] selected that year as nominees for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. They noted that Michael Moore's Roger & Me (distributed by Warner Brothers) was omitted from the nominees, although it had been highly praised by numerous critics and was ranked by many critics as one of the top ten films of the year.[36]

The controversy over Hoop Dreams' exclusion was enough to have the Academy Awards begin the process to change its documentary voting system.[37] Roger Ebert, who had declared it to be the best 1994 movie of any kind, looked into its failure to receive a nomination: "We learned, through very reliable sources, that the members of the committee had a system. They carried little flashlights. When one gave up on a film, he waved a light on the screen. When a majority of flashlights had voted, the film was switched off. Hoop Dreams was stopped after 15 minutes."[38]

The Academy's executive director, Bruce Davis, took the unprecedented step of asking accounting firm Price Waterhouse to turn over the complete results of that year's voting, in which members of the committee had rated each of the 63 eligible documentaries on a scale of six to ten. "What I found," said Davis, "is that a small group of members gave zeros (actually low scores) to every single film except the five they wanted to see nominated. And they gave tens to those five, which completely skewed the voting. There was one film that received more scores of ten than any other, but it wasn't nominated. It also got zeros (low scores) from those few voters, and that was enough to push it to sixth place."[39]

In 2000, Arthur Cohn, the producer of the winning One Day in September boasted "I won this without showing it in a single theater!" Cohn had hit upon the tactic of showing his Oscar entries at invitation-only screenings, and to as few other people as possible. Oscar bylaws at the time required voters to have seen all five nominated documentaries; by limiting his audience, Cohn shrank the voting pool and improved his odds. Following protests by many documentarians, the nominating system subsequently was changed.[40]

Hoop Dreams director Steve James said "With so few people looking at any given film, it only takes one to dislike a film and its chances for making the short list are diminished greatly. So they've got to do something, I think, to make the process more sane for deciding the shortlist."[41] Among other rule changes taking effect in 2013,[42] the Academy began requiring a documentary to have been reviewed by either The New York Times or Los Angeles Times, and be commercially released for at least one week in both of those cities. Advocating the rule change, Michael Moore said "When people get the award for best documentary and they go on stage and thank the Academy, it's not really the Academy, is it? It's 5% of the Academy."[41]

The awards process has also been criticized for emphasizing a documentary's subject matter over its style or quality. In 2009, Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman wrote about the documentary branch members' penchant for choosing "movies that the selection committee deemed good because they're good for you... a kind of self-defeating aesthetic of granola documentary correctness."[43]

In 2014, following the announcement of the shortlist of eligible feature documentary nominees, Sony Pictures Classics co-president Tom Bernard publicly criticized Academy documentary voters after they excluded SPC's Red Army from the shortlist. "It's a sign of some really old people in the documentary area of the Academy. There's a lot of people who are really up in their years. It's shocking to me that that film (Red Army) didn't get in," Bernard said.[44] Additionally, in his reporting of the Oscar documentary shortlist exclusions that year, The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg reacted to Red Army's omission: "...no matter which 15 titles the doc branch selected, plenty of other great ones would be left on the outside. That is the case, most egregiously, with Gabe Polsky's Red Army (Sony Classics), a masterful look at the role of sports in society and Russian-American relations".[45] (Icarus, another documentary related to sports and Russian-American relations, later won the Oscar.)

In 2017, following the win of the eight-hour O.J.: Made in America in this category, the Academy announced that multi-part and limited series would be ineligible for the award in the future, even if they are not broadcast after their Oscar-qualifying release (as was O.J.: Made in America).[46]

Acclaimed documentaries not nominated for Best Documentary Feature edit

[47][48]

Documentaries with wins or nominations in other categories edit

Though Academy rules do not expressly preclude documentaries from being nominated in other competitive categories,[49] documentaries are typically considered ineligible for nominations in categories that presume the work is fictitious, including Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and acting. To date, no documentaries have been nominated for Best Picture,[50] or Best Director. The Quiet One was nominated for Best Story and Screenplay.

No documentary feature has yet been nominated for Best Picture, although Chang was nominated in the "Unique and Artistic Production" category at the 1927/28 awards.

At the 3rd Academy Awards, prior to the introduction of a documentary category, With Byrd at the South Pole won the award for Best Cinematography, becoming the first documentary both to be nominated for and win an Oscar.[51][52] 1952's Navajo would become the first film nominated for both Best Documentary and Best Cinematography.

Woodstock was the first documentary to be nominated for Best Film Editing[53] while Hoop Dreams was the second (although it was, controversially, not nominated for Best Documentary Feature).[54][55] Woodstock is also the only documentary to receive a nomination for Best Sound.[56]

Honeyland became the first documentary to be nominated for both Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature.[57] The following year, Collective would accomplish the same double nomination.[58][59][60] Prior to this, Waltz with Bashir became the first documentary and first animated film nominated for Best International Feature Film, although it was not nominated for Best Documentary Feature.[61][62] The Danish-language animated documentary Flee was later nominated for Best International Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Animated Feature, the first film to accomplish this feat.

Nine documentaries have received nominations for Best Original Song: Mondo Cane (for Riz Ortolani and Nino Oliviero's "More"),[63] An Inconvenient Truth (for Melissa Etheridge's "I Need to Wake Up", the only nominee from a documentary to win),[64] Chasing Ice (for J. Ralph's "Before My Time"), Racing Extinction (for Ralph and Anhoni's "Manta Ray"), Jim: The James Foley Story (for Ralph and Sting's "The Empty Chair"), Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me (for Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond's "I'm Not Gonna Miss You"), The Hunting Ground (for Lady Gaga and Diane Warren's "Til It Happens To You"), RBG (for Warren's "I'll Fight")[65] and American Symphony (for Batiste's "It Never Went Away").

Documentaries nominated for their scores include This is Cinerama, White Wilderness (which also won for Documentary Feature[66]), Let It Be, and Birds Do It, Bees Do It.

Five documentary filmmakers have received honorary Oscars: Pete Smith, William L. Hendricks, D. A. Pennebaker, Frederick Wiseman, and Agnès Varda.[67]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ In 1942, documentary features and short subjects competed together for Best Documentary. Four special awards were bestowed among the 25 nominees.
  2. ^ A preliminary list of eight films were announced as nominees, but the Documentary Award Committee subsequently narrowed the field to five titles included on the final ballot. The films that did not advance were: For God and Country (United States Army Pictorial Service), Silent Village (British Ministry of Information), and We've Come a Long, Long Way (Negro Marches On, Inc.).
  3. ^ Terminus was originally announced as a nominee, but the nomination was rescinded after it was discovered the film had been released prior to the eligibility period.
  4. ^ Young Americans, produced by Robert Cohn and Alex Grasshoff, won this award on April 14, 1969. On May 7, 1969, the win and nomination were rescinded after it was discovered the film had been released prior to the eligibility period. First runner-up Journey into Self was named the winner the following day.
  5. ^ A tie in voting resulted in two winners.

References edit

  1. ^ Fisher, Bob (2012). "The Drive to Archive: Academy Pushes to Preserve Docs". International Documentary Association. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  2. ^ 19th Academy Awards (1946): Nominees and Winners-Cinema Sight by Wesley Lovell
  3. ^ "Academy Award-Winning Documentaries". Academy Film Archive. 4 September 2014.
  4. ^ De Souza, P. "Kokoda Front Line! (1942)". australianscreen (National Film and Sound Archive Australia). Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  5. ^ Taylor, B. "Australias First Oscar". National Film and Sound Archive Australia. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
  6. ^ a b c . Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
  7. ^ Documentary Winners: 1969 Oscars
  8. ^ "The 48th Academy Awards". Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  9. ^ "Academy Awards 2017: Complete list of Oscar winners and nominees". Los Angeles Times. February 26, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  10. ^ Hipes, Patrick (January 23, 2018). "Oscar Nominations: 'The Shape Of Water' Leads Way With 13". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  11. ^ "93rd Academy Award of Merit Rules" (PDF). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (PDF) from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  12. ^ "Academy Announces Films Remaining in Competition for Best Documentary Feature". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. January 3, 2000. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  13. ^ Kilday, Gregg (November 21, 2003). "Oscar's documentary dozen". Today.com. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  14. ^ "Academy Announces Documentary Films in Competition for 78th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. November 17, 2004. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  15. ^ "Academy Announces Documentary Films in Competition for 78th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. November 15, 2005. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  16. ^ "15 Docs Advance in 2006 Oscar Race". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. November 15, 2006. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  17. ^ "15 Docs Move Ahead in 2007 Oscar Race". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. November 19, 2007. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  18. ^ "15 Docs Continue in 2008 Oscar Race". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. November 17, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  19. ^ Brooks, Brian (November 18, 2009). "Academy Names 15 to Documentary Shortlist; Moore Snubbed". IndieWire. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  20. ^ Knegt, Peter (November 18, 2010). "Academy Announces Characteristically Controversial Documentary Feature Shortlist". IndieWire. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  21. ^ Finke, Nikki (November 18, 2011). "Oscars: 15 Documentary Features Rise". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  22. ^ "Oscars: 15 Films On Docu Feature Shortlist". Deadline Hollywood. December 3, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  23. ^ "15 Documentary Features Advance in 2013 Oscar Race". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. December 3, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  24. ^ "15 Documentary Features Advance in 2014 Oscar Race". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. December 1, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  25. ^ "15 Documentary Features Advance in 2015 Oscar Race". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. December 1, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  26. ^ "15 Documentary Features Advance in 2016 Oscar Race". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. December 6, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  27. ^ "Oscars: The 15 Films on the Documentary Feature Shortlist". The Hollywood Reporter. December 7, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  28. ^ "91st Oscar Shortlists". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 14 December 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  29. ^ "92nd Oscar Shortlists". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 10 December 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  30. ^ "93rd Oscars Shortlists". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 9 February 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  31. ^ "94th Oscars Shortlists". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 20 December 2021. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  32. ^ "95th Oscars Shortlists Announced for 10 Categories".
  33. ^ Bergeson, Samantha (2023-12-21). "2024 Oscar Shortlists Unveiled: 'Barbie,' 'Poor Things,' 'Maestro,' and 'The Zone of Interest' Make the Cut". IndieWire. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  34. ^ Academy Award Statistics 2009-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ^ With Direct Cinema Limited (Sorted by Release Date Ascending) – IMDb
  36. ^ Collins, Glenn. "Film Makers Protest to Academy", The New York Times, 24 February 1990. Accessed March 6, 2011.
  37. ^ "Steve James, Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert: Hoop Dreams: from short subject to major league"; current.org; July 30, 1995. June 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  38. ^ Ebert, Roger. "The great American documentary – Roger Ebert's Journal – Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com.
  39. ^ Pond, Steve, The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards, pg. 74, Faber and Faber, 2005
  40. ^ Ebert, Roger. "One Day In September Movie Review (2001) – Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com.
  41. ^ a b Team, Indiewire (9 January 2012). "Michael Moore: Best Documentary Oscar Will Be Chosen By the Full Academy – IndieWire". www.indiewire.com.
  42. ^ "The OTHER Oscars: Best Documentary Feature –". CraveOnline. 31 January 2014.
  43. ^ "Oscar documentary scandal: The real reason that too many good movies got left out". ew.com. 20 November 2009.
  44. ^ "Sony Classics' Tom Bernard Slams Oscar Voters for Snubbing Russian Hockey Doc 'Red Army'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  45. ^ "Oscar Doc Shortlist: A Brutal Year to Have to Select Just 15 Finalists". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  46. ^ McNary, Dave (2017-04-07). "Oscars: New Rules Bar Multi-Part Documentaries Like 'O.J.: Made in America'". Variety. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  47. ^ Oliver, Lyttelton (18 February 2014). "Great Documentariees That Weren't Nominated for an Oscar". IndieWire.
  48. ^ Oscars Have No Hidden 'Agenda' to Thwart Popular Documentaries – Los Angeles Times
  49. ^ "Rules & Eligibility". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2014-07-28. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  50. ^ "Oscars: A Best Picture Nom for a Documentary? Why Not?". The Hollywood Reporter. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
  51. ^ "With Byrd at the South Pole (1930)". catalog.afi.com. American Film Institute. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  52. ^ . Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16.
  53. ^ 1971|Oscars.org
  54. ^ 1995|Oscars.org
  55. ^ Forrest Gump Wins Film Editing: 1995 Oscars
  56. ^ The Opening of the Academy Awards in 1971 – Oscars on YouTube
  57. ^ Martinelli, Marissa (2020-01-13). "A Documentary About Beekeepers Just Made Oscar History". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  58. ^ 2021|Oscars.org
  59. ^ "Another Round" Wins Best International Film|93rd Oscars
  60. ^ "My Octopus Teacher" Wins Best Documentary Feature|93rd Oscars
  61. ^ 2009|Oscars.org
  62. ^ "Departures" Wins Foreign Language Film: 2009 Oscars
  63. ^ "80th Annual Academy Awards Oscar Quiz". old.post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  64. ^ 2007|Oscars.org
  65. ^ "The 91st Academy Awards | 2019". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  66. ^ 1959|Oscars.org
  67. ^ Sheehan, Paul (2018-09-06). "Honorary Oscars: Full list of 132 winners from Charlie Chaplin to Cicely Tyson". GoldDerby. Retrieved 2020-02-02.

External links edit

  • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences official site

academy, award, best, documentary, feature, film, award, documentary, films, 1941, first, awards, feature, length, documentaries, were, bestowed, special, awards, kukan, target, tonight, they, have, since, been, bestowed, competitively, each, year, with, excep. The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films In 1941 the first awards for feature length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to Kukan and Target for Tonight 1 They have since been bestowed competitively each year with the exception of 1946 2 Copies of every winning film along with copies of most nominees are held by the Academy Film Archive 3 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature FilmCountryUnited StatesPresented byAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences AMPAS First awarded1942Most recent winnerDaniel Roher Odessa Rae Diane Becker Melanie Miller Shane Boris Navalny 2022 Websiteoscars wbr org Contents 1 Winners and nominees 1 1 1940s 1 2 1950s 1 3 1960s 1 4 1970s 1 5 1980s 1 6 1990s 1 7 2000s 1 8 2010s 1 9 2020s 2 Shortlisted finalists 3 Superlatives 4 Process controversies 5 Acclaimed documentaries not nominated for Best Documentary Feature 6 Documentaries with wins or nominations in other categories 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External linksWinners and nominees editFollowing the Academy s practice films are listed below by the award year that is the year they were released under the Academy s rules for eligibility In practice due to the limited nature of documentary distribution a film may be released in different years in different venues sometimes years after production is complete This section contains numerous links to pages on foreign language Wikipedias They are shown as red links with the language codes in small blue letters in brackets Click on the language code to see the page in that language 1940s edit Year Film Nominees1942 15th note 1 The Battle of Midway John Ford United States Navy Kokoda Front Line Ken G Hall 4 5 Australian News amp Information Bureau Moscow Strikes Back ArtkinoPrelude to War Frank Capra Office of War Information Africa Prelude to Victory The March of TimeCombat Report United States Army Signal CorpsConquer by the Clock Frederic Ullman Jr de fr The Grain That Built a Hemisphere Walt DisneyHenry Browne Farmer United States Department of AgricultureHigh Over the Borders National Film Board of CanadaHigh Stakes in the East The Netherlands Information BureauInside Fighting China National Film Board of CanadaIt s Everybody s War United States Office of War InformationListen to Britain British Ministry of InformationLittle Belgium Belgian Ministry of InformationLittle Isles of Freedom Victor Stoloff and Edgar LoewMr Blabbermouth United States Office of War InformationMr Gardenia Jones United States Office of War InformationThe New Spirit Walt DisneyThe Price of Victory William H PineA Ship Is Born United States Merchant MarineTwenty One Miles British Ministry of InformationWe Refuse to Die William C ThomasThe White Eagle Concanen Films de Winning Your Wings United States Army Air Force1943 16th note 2 6 Desert Victory British Ministry of InformationBaptism of Fire United States ArmyThe Battle of Russia United States Department of War Special Service DivisionReport from the Aleutians United States Army Pictorial ServiceWar Department Report United States Office of Strategic Services Field Photographic Bureau1944 17th The Fighting Lady Edward Steichen United States Navy Resisting Enemy Interrogation United States Army Air Force1945 18th The True Glory The Governments of Great Britain and the United States of AmericaThe Last Bomb United States Army Air Force1946 19th No award given1947 20th Design for Death Sid Rogell Theron Warth and Richard FleischerJourney into Medicine United States Department of State Office of Information and Educational ExchangeThe World Is Rich Paul Rotha1948 21st The Secret Land Orville O DullThe Quiet One Janice Loeb1949 22nd Daybreak in Udi Crown Film UnitKenji Comes Home Paul F Heard1950s edit Year Film Nominees1950 23rd The Titan Story of Michelangelo Robert SnyderWith These Hands Jack Arnold and Lee Goodman de 1951 24th Kon Tiki Olle NordemarI Was a Communist for the F B I Bryan Foy1952 25th The Sea Around Us Irwin AllenThe Hoaxters Dore ScharyNavajo Hall Bartlett1953 26th The Living Desert Walt DisneyThe Conquest of Everest John Taylor Leon Clore and Grahame Tharp de A Queen Is Crowned Castleton Knight1954 27th The Vanishing Prairie Walt DisneyThe Stratford Adventure Guy Glover1955 28th Helen Keller in Her Story Nancy HamiltonHeartbreak Ridge Rene Risacher de 1956 29th The Silent World Jacques Yves CousteauThe Naked Eye Louis Clyde StoumenWhere Mountains Float The Government Film Committee of Denmark1957 30th Albert Schweitzer Jerome HillOn the Bowery Lionel RogosinTorero Manuel Barbachano Ponce1958 31st White Wilderness Ben SharpsteenAntarctic Crossing James Carr de The Hidden World Robert SnyderPsychiatric Nursing Nathan Zucker de 1959 32nd Serengeti Shall Not Die Bernhard GrzimekThe Race for Space David L Wolper1960s edit Year Film Nominees1960 33rd The Horse with the Flying Tail Larry LansburghRebel in Paradise Robert D Fraser1961 34th Le Ciel et la Boue Sky Above and Mud Beneath Arthur Cohn and Rene Lafuite de La Grande Olimpiade Olympic Games 1960 dell Istituto Nazionale Luce Comitato Organizzatore Del Giochi Della XVII Olimpiade1962 35th Black Fox Louis Clyde StoumenAlvorada Brazil s Changing Face Hugo Niebeling1963 36th note 3 6 Robert Frost A Lover s Quarrel with the World Robert HughesLe Maillon et la Chaine The Link and the Chain Paul de Roubaix de fr The Yanks Are Coming Marshall Flaum1964 37th Jacques Yves Cousteau s World without Sun Jacques Yves CousteauThe Finest Hours Jack Le VienFour Days in November Mel StuartThe Human Dutch Bert HaanstraOver There 1914 18 Jean Aurel1965 38th The Eleanor Roosevelt Story Sidney GlazierThe Battle of the Bulge The Brave Rifles Laurence E Mascott de fr The Forth Road Bridge Peter MillsLet My People Go Marshall FlaumTo Die in Madrid Frederic Rossif1966 39th The War Game Peter WatkinsThe Face of a Genius Alfred R KelmanHelicopter Canada Peter Jones and Tom DalyThe Really Big Family Alex GrasshoffLe Volcan Interdit The Forbidden Volcano Haroun Tazieff1967 40th The Anderson Platoon Pierre SchoendoerfferFestival Murray LernerHarvest Carroll BallardA King s Story Jack Le VienA Time for Burning William C Jersey de 1968 41st note 4 6 7 Journey into Self Bill McGawA Few Notes on Our Food Problem James BlueThe Legendary Champions William CaytonOther Voices David H Sawyer de 1969 42nd Arthur Rubinstein The Love of Life Bernard Chevry de Before the Mountain Was Moved Robert K SharpeIn the Year of the Pig Emile de AntonioThe Olympics in Mexico Comite Organizador de los Juegos de la XIX OlimpiadaThe Wolf Men Irwin Rosten1970s edit Year Film Nominees1970 43rd Woodstock Bob MauriceChariots of the Gods Dr Harald ReinlJack Johnson Jim JacobsKing A Filmed Record Montgomery to Memphis Ely LandauSay Goodbye David H Vowell1971 44th The Hellstrom Chronicle Walon GreenAlaska Wilderness Lake Alan LandsburgOn Any Sunday Bruce BrownThe RA Expeditions Lennart Ehrenborg de sv and Thor HeyerdahlThe Sorrow and the Pity Marcel Ophuls1972 45th Marjoe Howard Smith and Sarah KernochanApe and Super Ape Bert HaanstraMalcolm X Marvin Worth and Arnold PerlManson Robert Hendrickson and Laurence MerrickThe Silent Revolution Eckehard Munck de 1973 46th The Great American Cowboy Kieth MerrillAlways a New Beginning John D Goodell pl Battle of Berlin Bengt von zur MuehlenJourney to the Outer Limits Alexander GrasshoffWalls of Fire Gertrude Ross Marks de and Edmund F Penney1974 47th Hearts and Minds Peter Davis and Bert SchneiderAntonia A Portrait of the Woman Judy Collins and Jill GodmilowThe Challenge A Tribute to Modern Art Herbert Kline de fr The 81st Blow Jacquot Ehrlich David Bergman and Haim GouriThe Wild and the Brave Natalie R Jones and Eugene S Jones1975 48th The Man Who Skied Down Everest F R Crawley James Hager and Dale Hartlebe 8 The California Reich Walter F Parkes and Keith F CritchlowFighting for Our Lives Glen PearcyThe Incredible Machine Irwin RostenThe Other Half of the Sky A China Memoir Shirley MacLaine1976 49th Harlan County U S A Barbara KoppleHollywood on Trial James Gutman and David Helpern Jr Off the Edge Michael FirthPeople of the Wind Anthony Howarth and David KoffVolcano An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry Donald Brittain and Robert Duncan1977 50th Who Are the DeBolts And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids John Korty Dan McCann and Warren L LockhartThe Children of Theatre Street Robert Dornhelm and Earle MackHigh Grass Circus Bill Brind Torben Schioler and Tony IanzeloHomage to Chagall The Colours of Love Harry RaskyUnion Maids Jim Klein de Julia Reichert and Miles Mogulescu1978 51st Scared Straight Arnold ShapiroThe Lovers Wind Albert LamorisseMysterious Castles of Clay Alan RootRaoni Jean Pierre Dutilleux Barry Williams and Michel GastWith Babies and Banners Story of the Women s Emergency Brigade Anne Bohlen Lyn Goldfarb and Lorraine Gray1979 52nd Best Boy Ira WohlGeneration on the Wind David A VassarGoing the Distance Paul Cowan and Jacques BobetThe Killing Ground Steve Singer and Tom PriestleyThe War at Home Glenn Silber and Barry Alexander Brown1980s edit Year Film Nominees1980 53rd From Mao to Mozart Isaac Stern in China Murray LernerAgee Ross SpearsThe Day After Trinity Jon H ElseFront Line David BradburyThe Yellow Star The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933 45 Bengt von zur Muhlen and Arthur Cohn1981 54th Genocide Arnold Schwartzman and Rabbi Marvin HierAgainst Wind and Tide A Cuban Odyssey Suzanne Bauman Paul Neshamkin and Jim BurroughsBrooklyn Bridge Ken BurnsEight Minutes to Midnight A Portrait of Dr Helen Caldicott Mary Benjamin Susanne Simpson and Boyd EstusEl Salvador Another Vietnam Glenn Silber and Tete Vasconcellos1982 55th Just Another Missing Kid John ZaritskyAfter the Axe Sturla Gunnarsson and Steve LucasBen s Mill John Karol and Michel ChalufourIn Our Water Meg SwitzgableA Portrait of Giselle Joseph Wishy1983 56th He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin Emile ArdolinoChildren of Darkness Richard Kotuk and Ara ChekmayanFirst Contact Bob Connolly and Robin AndersonThe Profession of Arms Michael Bryans and Tina ViljoenSeeing Red James Klein and Julia Reichert1984 57th The Times of Harvey Milk Rob Epstein and Richard SchmiechenHigh Schools Charles Guggenheim and Nancy SlossIn the Name of the People Alex W Drehsler and Frank ChristopherMarlene Karel Dirka and Zev BraunStreetwise Cheryl McCall1985 58th Broken Rainbow Maria Florio and Victoria MuddLas Madres The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Susana Blaustein Munoz and Lourdes PortilloSoldiers in Hiding Japhet AsherThe Statue of Liberty Ken Burns and Buddy SquiresUnfinished Business Steven Okazaki1986 59th note 5 Artie Shaw Time Is All You ve Got TIE Brigitte BermanDown and Out in America TIE Joseph Feury and Milton JusticeChile Hasta Cuando David BradburyIsaac in America A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer Kirk Simon and Amram NowakWitness to Apartheid Sharon I Sopher de 1987 60th The Ten Year Lunch The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table Aviva SlesinEyes on the Prize America s Civil Rights Years Bridge to Freedom 1965 Callie Crossley and James A DeVinneyHellfire A Journey from Hiroshima John Junkerman and John W DowerRadio Bikini Robert StoneA Stitch for Time Barbara Herbich and Cyril Christo1988 61st Hotel Terminus The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie Marcel OphulsThe Cry of Reason Beyers Naude An Afrikaner Speaks Out Robert Bilheimer and Ronald MixLet s Get Lost Bruce Weber and Nan BushPromises to Keep Ginny Durrin de Who Killed Vincent Chin Renee Tajima Pena and Christine Choy1989 62nd Common Threads Stories from the Quilt Rob Epstein and Bill CouturieAdam Clayton Powell Richard Kilberg and Yvonne SmithCrack USA County Under Siege Vince DiPersio and William GuttentagFor All Mankind Al Reinert and Betsy Broyles BreierSuper Chief The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren Judith Leonard and William C Jersey de 1990s edit Year Film Nominees1990 63rd American Dream Barbara Kopple and Arthur CohnBerkeley in the Sixties Mark KitchellBuilding Bombs Mark Mori and Susan RobinsonForever Activists Stories from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Judith MontellWaldo Salt A Screenwriter s Journey Robert Hillmann and Eugene Corr1991 64th In the Shadow of the Stars Allie Light and Irving SarafDeath on the Job Vince DiPersio and William GuttentagDoing Time Life Inside the Big House Alan Raymond and Susan RaymondThe Restless Conscience Resistance to Hitler Within Germany 1933 1945 Hava Kohav BellerWild by Law Lawrence Hott and Diane Garey1992 65th The Panama Deception Barbara Trent and David KasperChanging Our Minds The Story of Dr Evelyn Hooker David HauglandFires of Kuwait Sally DundasLiberators Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II Bill Miles and Nina RosenblumMusic for the Movies Bernard Herrmann Margaret Smilow de and Roma Baran1993 66th I Am a Promise The Children of Stanton Elementary School Susan Raymond and Alan RaymondThe Broadcast Tapes of Dr Peter David Paperny and Arthur GinsbergChildren of Fate Susan Todd and Andrew YoungFor Better or For Worse David Collier and Betsy ThompsonThe War Room D A Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus1994 67th Maya Lin A Strong Clear Vision Freida Lee Mock and Terry SandersComplaints of a Dutiful Daughter Deborah HoffmannD Day Remembered Charles GuggenheimFreedom on My Mind Connie Field and Marilyn MulfordA Great Day in Harlem Jean Bach1995 68th Anne Frank Remembered Jon BlairThe Battle Over Citizen Kane Thomas Lennon and Michael EpsteinSmall Wonders Allan Miller and Walter ScheuerHank Aaron Chasing the Dream Michael Tollin and Fredric GoldingTroublesome Creek A Midwestern Jeanne Jordan and Steven Ascher1996 69th When We Were Kings Leon Gast and David SonenbergThe Line King The Al Hirschfeld Story Susan W DryfoosMandela Jo Menell cs sk and Angus GibsonSuzanne Farrell Elusive Muse Anne Belle and Deborah Dickson de fr Tell the Truth and Run George Seldes and the American Press Rick Goldsmith de pt 1997 70th The Long Way Home Marvin Hier and Richard Trank4 Little Girls Spike Lee and Sam PollardAyn Rand A Sense of Life Michael PaxtonColors Straight Up Michele Ohayon and Julia SchachterWaco The Rules of Engagement Dan Gifford and William Gazecki1998 71st The Last Days James Moll and Kenneth LipperDancemaker Matthew Diamond and Jerry KupferThe Farm Angola USA Jonathan Stack and Liz GarbusLenny Bruce Swear to Tell the Truth Robert B WeideRegret to Inform Barbara Sonneborn and Janet Cole de 1999 72nd One Day in September Arthur Cohn and Kevin MacdonaldBuena Vista Social Club Wim Wenders and Ulrich Felsberg de pl Genghis Blues Roko Belic and Adrian BelicOn the Ropes Nanette Burstein and Brett MorgenSpeaking in Strings Paola di Florio and Lilibet Foster2000s edit Year Film Nominees2000 73rd Into the Arms of Strangers Stories of the Kindertransport Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah OppenheimerLegacy Tod LendingLong Night s Journey into Day Deborah Hoffmann and Frances ReidScottsboro An American Tragedy Daniel Anker and Barak GoodmanSound and Fury Josh Aronson and Roger Weisberg de 2001 74th Murder on a Sunday Morning Jean Xavier de Lestrade and Denis PoncetChildren Underground Edet BelzbergLaLee s Kin The Legacy of Cotton Deborah Dickson de fr and Susan FroemkePromises B Z Goldberg and Justine ShapiroWar Photographer Christian Frei2002 75th Bowling for Columbine Michael Moore and Michael DonovanDaughter from Danang Gail Dolgin and Vicente FrancoPrisoner of Paradise Malcolm Clarke and Stuart SenderSpellbound Jeffrey Blitz and Sean WelchWinged Migration Jacques Perrin2003 76th The Fog of War Errol Morris and Michael WilliamsBalseros Carles Bosch es ca and Josep Maria DomenechCapturing the Friedmans Andrew Jarecki and Marc SmerlingMy Architect Nathaniel Kahn and Susan R BehrThe Weather Underground Sam Green and Bill Siegel2004 77th Born into Brothels Ross Kauffman and Zana BriskiThe Story of the Weeping Camel Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni de Super Size Me Morgan SpurlockTupac Resurrection Karolyn Ali and Lauren LazinTwist of Faith Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt2005 78th March of the Penguins Luc Jacquet and Yves DarondeauDarwin s Nightmare Hubert SauperEnron The Smartest Guys in the Room Alex Gibney and Jason KliotMurderball Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam ShapiroStreet Fight Marshall Curry2006 79th An Inconvenient Truth Davis GuggenheimDeliver Us from Evil Amy Berg and Frank DonnerIraq in Fragments James Longley and John SinnoJesus Camp Heidi Ewing and Rachel GradyMy Country My Country Jocelyn Glatzer de and Laura Poitras2007 80th Taxi to the Dark Side Alex Gibney and Eva OrnerNo End in Sight Charles Ferguson and Audrey MarrsOperation Homecoming Writing the Wartime Experience Richard RobbinsSicko Michael Moore and Meghan O HaraWar Dance Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine2008 81st Man on Wire Simon Chinn and James MarshThe Betrayal Nerakhoon Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk PhrasavathEncounters at the End of the World Werner Herzog and Henry KaiserThe Garden Scott Hamilton KennedyTrouble the Water Carl Deal and Tia Lessin2009 82nd The Cove Louie Psihoyos and Fisher StevensBurma VJ Anders Ostergaard da de and Lise Lense Moller de Food Inc Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein de The Most Dangerous Man in America Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers Judith Ehrlich and Rick GoldsmithWhich Way Home Rebecca Cammisa2010s edit Year Film Nominees2010 83rd Inside Job Charles Ferguson and Audrey MarrsExit Through the Gift Shop Banksy and Jaimie D CruzGasland Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic de no pt Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian JungerWaste Land Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley no pt 2011 84th Undefeated T J Martin Daniel Lindsay and Rich MiddlemasHell and Back Again Danfung Dennis and Mike LernerIf a Tree Falls A Story of the Earth Liberation Front Marshall Curry and Sam CullmanParadise Lost 3 Purgatory Joe Berlinger and Bruce SinofskyPina Wim Wenders and Gian Piero Ringel2012 85th Searching for Sugar Man Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn5 Broken Cameras Emad Burnat and Guy DavidiThe Gatekeepers Dror Moreh Philippa Kowarsky de pt and Estelle Fialon de How to Survive a Plague David France and Howard GertlerThe Invisible War Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering2013 86th 20 Feet from Stardom Morgan Neville Gil Friesen and Caitrin RogersThe Act of Killing Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge SorensenCutie and the Boxer Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean PilcherDirty Wars Richard Rowley and Jeremy ScahillThe Square Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer2014 87th Citizenfour Laura Poitras Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk WilutzkyFinding Vivian Maier John Maloof and Charlie Siskel de pt Last Days in Vietnam Rory Kennedy and Kevin McAlesterThe Salt of the Earth Wim Wenders Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David RosierVirunga Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara2015 88th Amy Asif Kapadia and James Gay ReesCartel Land Matthew Heineman and Tom YellinThe Look of Silence Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge SorensenWhat Happened Miss Simone Liz Garbus Amy Hobby and Justin WilkesWinter on Fire Ukraine s Fight for Freedom Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor2016 89th 9 O J Made in America Ezra Edelman and Caroline WaterlowFire at Sea Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella PalermoI Am Not Your Negro Raoul Peck Remi Grellety de pt and Hebert PeckLife Animated Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman13th Ava DuVernay Spencer Averick and Howard Barish2017 90th 10 Icarus Bryan Fogel and Dan CoganAbacus Small Enough to Jail Steve James Mark Mitten and Julie GoldmanFaces Places Agnes Varda JR and Rosalie VardaLast Men in Aleppo Feras Fayyad Kareem Abeed and Soren Steen JespersenStrong Island Yance Ford and Joslyn Barnes2018 91st Free Solo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi Jimmy Chin Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill de Hale County This Morning This Evening RaMell Ross pt Joslyn Barnes and Su KimMinding the Gap Bing Liu and Diane QuonOf Fathers and Sons Talal Derki Ansgar Frerich de Eva Kemme de and Tobias N Siebert de RBG Betsy West and Julie Cohen de fr pt 2019 92nd American Factory Steven Bognar Julia Reichert and Jeff ReichertThe Cave Feras Fayyad Kirstine Barfod de and Sigrid Dyekjaer da de The Edge of Democracy Petra Costa Joanna Natasegara Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan pt For Sama Waad al Kateab and Edward WattsHoneyland Ljubo Stefanov Tamara Kotevska and Atanas Georgiev2020s edit Year Film Nominees2020 21 93rd My Octopus Teacher Pippa Ehrlich de James Reed and Craig FosterCollective Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana de Crip Camp Nicole Newnham Jim LeBrecht and Sara BolderThe Mole Agent Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibanez de Time Garrett Bradley Lauren Domino de and Kellen Quinn2021 94th Summer of Soul Questlove Joseph Patel de Robert Fyvolent de and David Dinerstein de Ascension Jessica Kingdon Kira Simon Kennedy and Nathan TruesdellAttica Stanley Nelson and Traci A Curry de Flee Jonas Poher Rasmussen Monica Hellstrom Signe Byrge Sorensen and Charlotte De La GournerieWriting with Fire Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh2022 95th Navalny Daniel Roher Odessa Rae Diane Becker Melanie Miller and Shane BorisAll That Breathes Shaunak Sen Aman Mann and Teddy LeiferAll the Beauty and the Bloodshed Laura Poitras Howard Gertler John Lyons Nan Goldin and Yoni GolijovFire of Love Sara Dosa Shane Boris and Ina FichmanA House Made of Splinters Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellstrom2023 96th Bobi Wine The People s President Moses Bwayo Christopher Sharp and John BattsekThe Eternal Memory Maite Alberdi Juan de Dios Larrain Pablo Larrain and Rocio JadueFour Daughters Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim CheikhrouhaTo Kill a Tiger Nisha Pahuja Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim20 Days in Mariupol Mstyslav Chernov Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson RathShortlisted finalists editFinalists for Best Documentary Feature are selected by the Documentary Branch based on a preliminary ballot A second preferential ballot determines the five nominees 11 Prior to the 78th Academy Awards there were twelve films shortlisted These are the additional films that were shortlisted Year Finalists1999 Amargosa American Movie Beyond the Mat Mr Death The Rise and Fall of Fred A Leuchter Jr Pop amp Me Smoke and Mirrors A History of Denial The Source 12 2003 The Agronomist Bus 174 Charlie The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin Heir to an Execution Inheritance A Fisherman s Story Lost Boys of Sudan My Flesh and Blood 13 2004 Home of the Brave Howard Zinn You Can t Be Neutral on a Moving Train In the Realms of the Unreal Riding Giants The Ritchie Boys Tell Them Who You Are Touching the Void 14 2005 After Innocence The Boys of Baraka The Devil and Daniel Johnston Favela Rising Mad Hot Ballroom Occupation Dreamland On Native Soil The Documentary of the 9 11 Commission Report Rize 39 Pounds of Love Unknown White Male 15 2006 Blindsight Can Mr Smith Get to Washington Anymore The Ground Truth Jonestown The Life and Death of Peoples Temple Shut Up amp Sing Sisters in Law Storm of Emotions The Trials of Darryl Hunt An Unreasonable Man The War Tapes 16 2007 Autism The Musical Body of War For the Bible Tells Me So Lake of Fire Nanking Please Vote for Me The Price of Sugar A Promise to the Dead The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman The Rape of Europa White Light Black Rain 17 2008 At the Death House Door Blessed Is the Match The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh Fuel Glass A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts I O U S A In a Dream Made in America Pray the Devil Back to Hell Standard Operating Procedure They Killed Sister Dorothy 18 2009 The Beaches of Agnes Every Little Step Facing Ali Garbage Dreams Living in Emergency Stories of Doctors Without Borders Mugabe and the White African Sergio Soundtrack for a Revolution Under Our Skin Valentino The Last Emperor 19 2010 Client 9 The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer Enemies of the People Genius Within The Inner Life of Glenn Gould The Lottery Precious Life Quest for Honor This Way of Life The Tillman Story Waiting for Superman William Kunstler Disturbing the Universe 20 2011 Battle for Brooklyn Bill Cunningham New York Buck Jane s Journey The Loving Story Project Nim Semper Fi Always Faithful Sing Your Song Under Fire Journalists in Combat We Were Here 21 2012 Ai Weiwei Never Sorry Bully Chasing Ice Detropia Ethel The House I Live In The Imposter Mea Maxima Culpa Silence in the House of God This Is Not a Film The Waiting Room 22 2013 The Armstrong Lie Blackfish The Crash Reel First Cousin Once Removed God Loves Uganda Life According to Sam Pussy Riot A Punk Prayer Stories We Tell Tim s Vermeer Which Way Is the Front Line from Here The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington 23 2014 Art and Craft The Case Against 8 Citizen Koch The Internet s Own Boy Jodorowsky s Dune Keep on Keepin On The Kill Team Life Itself The Overnighters Tales of the Grim Sleeper 24 2015 Best of Enemies Going Clear Scientology and the Prison of Belief He Named Me Malala Heart of a Dog The Hunting Ground Listen to Me Marlon Meru 3 1 2 Minutes 10 Bullets We Come as Friends Where to Invade Next 25 2016 Cameraperson Command and Control The Eagle Huntress Gleason Hooligan Sparrow The Ivory Game Tower Weiner The Witness Zero Days 26 2017 Chasing Coral City of Ghosts Ex Libris The New York Public Library Human Flow An Inconvenient Sequel Truth to Power Jane LA 92 Long Strange Trip One of Us Unrest 27 2018 Charm City Communion Crime Punishment Dark Money The Distant Barking of Dogs On Her Shoulders Shirkers The Silence of Others Three Identical Strangers Won t You Be My Neighbor 28 2019 Advocate The Apollo Apollo 11 Aquarela The Biggest Little Farm The Great Hack Knock Down the House Maiden Midnight Family One Child Nation 29 2020 All In The Fight for Democracy Boys State Dick Johnson Is Dead Gunda MLK FBI Notturno The Painter and the Thief 76 Days The Truffle Hunters Welcome to Chechnya 30 2021 Billie Eilish The World s a Little Blurry Faya Dayi The First Wave In the Same Breath Julia President Procession The Rescue Simple as Water The Velvet Underground 31 2022 Bad Axe Children of the Mist Descendant Hallelujah Leonard Cohen A Journey A Song Hidden Letters The Janes Last Flight Home Moonage Daydream Retrograde The Territory 32 2023 32 Sounds American Symphony Apolonia Apolonia Beyond Utopia Desperate Souls Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy Going to Mars The Nikki Giovanni Project In the Rearview Stamped from the Beginning Still A Michael J Fox Movie A Still Small Voice 33 Superlatives editFor this Academy Award category the following superlatives emerge 34 Most awards Arthur Cohn 3 awards resulting from 4 nominations Simon Chinn 2 awards Jacques Yves Cousteau 2 awards Walt Disney 2 awards resulting from 7 nominations Disney has an additional 2 wins in the Documentary Short Subject category Rob Epstein 2 awards Marvin Hier 2 awards Barbara Kopple 2 awardsProcess controversies editMichael Moore s Fahrenheit 9 11 at the time the highest grossing documentary film in movie history was ruled ineligible because Moore had opted to have it played on television prior to the 2004 election Previously the 1982 winner Just Another Missing Kid had already been broadcast in Canada and won that country s ACTRA award for excellence in television at the time of its nomination In 1990 a group of 45 filmmakers filed a protest to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences over a potential conflict of interest involving Mitchell Block They noted that Block was a member of the Documentary Steering Committee which selects films as nominees but he had a conflict of interest because his company Direct Cinema owned the distribution rights to three of the five films including eventual winner Common Threads Stories from the Quilt 35 selected that year as nominees for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature They noted that Michael Moore s Roger amp Me distributed by Warner Brothers was omitted from the nominees although it had been highly praised by numerous critics and was ranked by many critics as one of the top ten films of the year 36 The controversy over Hoop Dreams exclusion was enough to have the Academy Awards begin the process to change its documentary voting system 37 Roger Ebert who had declared it to be the best 1994 movie of any kind looked into its failure to receive a nomination We learned through very reliable sources that the members of the committee had a system They carried little flashlights When one gave up on a film he waved a light on the screen When a majority of flashlights had voted the film was switched off Hoop Dreams was stopped after 15 minutes 38 The Academy s executive director Bruce Davis took the unprecedented step of asking accounting firm Price Waterhouse to turn over the complete results of that year s voting in which members of the committee had rated each of the 63 eligible documentaries on a scale of six to ten What I found said Davis is that a small group of members gave zeros actually low scores to every single film except the five they wanted to see nominated And they gave tens to those five which completely skewed the voting There was one film that received more scores of ten than any other but it wasn t nominated It also got zeros low scores from those few voters and that was enough to push it to sixth place 39 In 2000 Arthur Cohn the producer of the winning One Day in September boasted I won this without showing it in a single theater Cohn had hit upon the tactic of showing his Oscar entries at invitation only screenings and to as few other people as possible Oscar bylaws at the time required voters to have seen all five nominated documentaries by limiting his audience Cohn shrank the voting pool and improved his odds Following protests by many documentarians the nominating system subsequently was changed 40 Hoop Dreams director Steve James said With so few people looking at any given film it only takes one to dislike a film and its chances for making the short list are diminished greatly So they ve got to do something I think to make the process more sane for deciding the shortlist 41 Among other rule changes taking effect in 2013 42 the Academy began requiring a documentary to have been reviewed by either The New York Times or Los Angeles Times and be commercially released for at least one week in both of those cities Advocating the rule change Michael Moore said When people get the award for best documentary and they go on stage and thank the Academy it s not really the Academy is it It s 5 of the Academy 41 The awards process has also been criticized for emphasizing a documentary s subject matter over its style or quality In 2009 Entertainment Weekly s Owen Gleiberman wrote about the documentary branch members penchant for choosing movies that the selection committee deemed good because they re good for you a kind of self defeating aesthetic of granola documentary correctness 43 In 2014 following the announcement of the shortlist of eligible feature documentary nominees Sony Pictures Classics co president Tom Bernard publicly criticized Academy documentary voters after they excluded SPC s Red Army from the shortlist It s a sign of some really old people in the documentary area of the Academy There s a lot of people who are really up in their years It s shocking to me that that film Red Army didn t get in Bernard said 44 Additionally in his reporting of the Oscar documentary shortlist exclusions that year The Hollywood Reporter s Scott Feinberg reacted to Red Army s omission no matter which 15 titles the doc branch selected plenty of other great ones would be left on the outside That is the case most egregiously with Gabe Polsky s Red Army Sony Classics a masterful look at the role of sports in society and Russian American relations 45 Icarus another documentary related to sports and Russian American relations later won the Oscar In 2017 following the win of the eight hour O J Made in America in this category the Academy announced that multi part and limited series would be ineligible for the award in the future even if they are not broadcast after their Oscar qualifying release as was O J Made in America 46 Acclaimed documentaries not nominated for Best Documentary Feature editDont Look Back 1967 Salesman 1969 Gimme Shelter 1970 Grey Gardens 1975 Gates of Heaven 1978 Stop Making Sense 1984 Shoah 1985 The Thin Blue Line 1988 Roger amp Me 1989 Paris Is Burning 1990 Crumb 1994 Hoop Dreams 1994 The Celluloid Closet 1995 American Movie 1999 Touching the Void 2003 Fahrenheit 9 11 2004 Grizzly Man 2005 Cocaine Cowboys 2006 The King of Kong 2007 Dear Zachary A Letter to a Son About His Father 2008 Michael Jackson s This Is It 2009 Senna 2010 Stories We Tell 2013 Blackfish 2013 Life Itself 2014 The Seven Five 2014 Going Clear 2015 Best of Enemies 2015 Cameraperson 2016 Jane 2017 Dawson City Frozen Time 2017 Won t You Be My Neighbor 2018 Three Identical Strangers 2018 They Shall Not Grow Old 2018 Apollo 11 2019 One Child Nation 2019 Boys State 2020 Dick Johnson Is Dead 2020 Good Night Oppy 2022 Still A Michael J Fox Movie 2023 47 48 Documentaries with wins or nominations in other categories editThough Academy rules do not expressly preclude documentaries from being nominated in other competitive categories 49 documentaries are typically considered ineligible for nominations in categories that presume the work is fictitious including Best Production Design Best Costume Design and acting To date no documentaries have been nominated for Best Picture 50 or Best Director The Quiet One was nominated for Best Story and Screenplay No documentary feature has yet been nominated for Best Picture although Chang was nominated in the Unique and Artistic Production category at the 1927 28 awards At the 3rd Academy Awards prior to the introduction of a documentary category With Byrd at the South Pole won the award for Best Cinematography becoming the first documentary both to be nominated for and win an Oscar 51 52 1952 s Navajo would become the first film nominated for both Best Documentary and Best Cinematography Woodstock was the first documentary to be nominated for Best Film Editing 53 while Hoop Dreams was the second although it was controversially not nominated for Best Documentary Feature 54 55 Woodstock is also the only documentary to receive a nomination for Best Sound 56 Honeyland became the first documentary to be nominated for both Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature 57 The following year Collective would accomplish the same double nomination 58 59 60 Prior to this Waltz with Bashir became the first documentary and first animated film nominated for Best International Feature Film although it was not nominated for Best Documentary Feature 61 62 The Danish language animated documentary Flee was later nominated for Best International Feature Best Documentary Feature and Best Animated Feature the first film to accomplish this feat Nine documentaries have received nominations for Best Original Song Mondo Cane for Riz Ortolani and Nino Oliviero s More 63 An Inconvenient Truth for Melissa Etheridge s I Need to Wake Up the only nominee from a documentary to win 64 Chasing Ice for J Ralph s Before My Time Racing Extinction for Ralph and Anhoni s Manta Ray Jim The James Foley Story for Ralph and Sting s The Empty Chair Glen Campbell I ll Be Me for Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond s I m Not Gonna Miss You The Hunting Ground for Lady Gaga and Diane Warren s Til It Happens To You RBG for Warren s I ll Fight 65 and American Symphony for Batiste s It Never Went Away Documentaries nominated for their scores include This is Cinerama White Wilderness which also won for Documentary Feature 66 Let It Be and Birds Do It Bees Do It Five documentary filmmakers have received honorary Oscars Pete Smith William L Hendricks D A Pennebaker Frederick Wiseman and Agnes Varda 67 See also editBAFTA Award for Best Documentary Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature Critics Choice Movie Award for Best Documentary Feature Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Documentary Submissions for Best Documentary Feature Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary FilmNotes edit In 1942 documentary features and short subjects competed together for Best Documentary Four special awards were bestowed among the 25 nominees A preliminary list of eight films were announced as nominees but the Documentary Award Committee subsequently narrowed the field to five titles included on the final ballot The films that did not advance were For God and Country United States Army Pictorial Service Silent Village British Ministry of Information and We ve Come a Long Long Way Negro Marches On Inc Terminus was originally announced as a nominee but the nomination was rescinded after it was discovered the film had been released prior to the eligibility period Young Americans produced by Robert Cohn and Alex Grasshoff won this award on April 14 1969 On May 7 1969 the win and nomination were rescinded after it was discovered the film had been released prior to the eligibility period First runner up Journey into Self was named the winner the following day A tie in voting resulted in two winners References edit Fisher Bob 2012 The Drive to Archive Academy Pushes to Preserve Docs International Documentary Association Retrieved January 4 2018 19th Academy Awards 1946 Nominees and Winners Cinema Sight by Wesley Lovell Academy Award Winning Documentaries Academy Film Archive 4 September 2014 De Souza P Kokoda Front Line 1942 australianscreen National Film and Sound Archive Australia Retrieved 11 June 2017 Taylor B Australias First Oscar National Film and Sound Archive Australia Retrieved 11 June 2017 a b c The Official Academy Awards Database Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archived from the original on February 27 2009 Retrieved January 4 2018 Documentary Winners 1969 Oscars The 48th Academy Awards Retrieved September 29 2015 Academy Awards 2017 Complete list of Oscar winners and nominees Los Angeles Times February 26 2017 Retrieved January 8 2018 Hipes Patrick January 23 2018 Oscar Nominations The Shape Of Water Leads Way With 13 Deadline Hollywood Retrieved January 23 2018 93rd Academy Award of Merit Rules PDF Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archived PDF from the original on May 2 2020 Retrieved May 3 2020 Academy Announces Films Remaining in Competition for Best Documentary Feature Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences January 3 2000 Retrieved May 6 2020 Kilday Gregg November 21 2003 Oscar s documentary dozen Today com Retrieved May 6 2020 Academy Announces Documentary Films in Competition for 78th Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences November 17 2004 Retrieved May 6 2020 Academy Announces Documentary Films in Competition for 78th Academy Awards Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences November 15 2005 Retrieved May 6 2020 15 Docs Advance in 2006 Oscar Race Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences November 15 2006 Retrieved May 6 2020 15 Docs Move Ahead in 2007 Oscar Race Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences November 19 2007 Retrieved May 6 2020 15 Docs Continue in 2008 Oscar Race Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences November 17 2008 Retrieved May 6 2020 Brooks Brian November 18 2009 Academy Names 15 to Documentary Shortlist Moore Snubbed IndieWire Retrieved May 6 2020 Knegt Peter November 18 2010 Academy Announces Characteristically Controversial Documentary Feature Shortlist IndieWire Retrieved May 6 2020 Finke Nikki November 18 2011 Oscars 15 Documentary Features Rise Deadline Hollywood Retrieved May 5 2020 Oscars 15 Films On Docu Feature Shortlist Deadline Hollywood December 3 2012 Retrieved May 5 2020 15 Documentary Features Advance in 2013 Oscar Race Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences December 3 2013 Retrieved May 5 2020 15 Documentary Features Advance in 2014 Oscar Race Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences December 1 2014 Retrieved May 5 2020 15 Documentary Features Advance in 2015 Oscar Race Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences December 1 2015 Retrieved May 5 2020 15 Documentary Features Advance in 2016 Oscar Race Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences December 6 2016 Retrieved May 5 2020 Oscars The 15 Films on the Documentary Feature Shortlist The Hollywood Reporter December 7 2017 Retrieved May 5 2020 91st Oscar Shortlists Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 14 December 2018 Retrieved May 3 2020 92nd Oscar Shortlists Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 10 December 2019 Retrieved May 3 2020 93rd Oscars Shortlists Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 9 February 2021 Retrieved February 9 2021 94th Oscars Shortlists Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 20 December 2021 Retrieved February 8 2022 95th Oscars Shortlists Announced for 10 Categories Bergeson Samantha 2023 12 21 2024 Oscar Shortlists Unveiled Barbie Poor Things Maestro and The Zone of Interest Make the Cut IndieWire Retrieved 2023 12 21 Academy Award Statistics Archived 2009 03 01 at the Wayback Machine With Direct Cinema Limited Sorted by Release Date Ascending IMDb Collins Glenn Film Makers Protest to Academy The New York Times 24 February 1990 Accessed March 6 2011 Steve James Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert Hoop Dreams from short subject to major league current org July 30 1995 Archived June 7 2007 at the Wayback Machine Ebert Roger The great American documentary Roger Ebert s Journal Roger Ebert www rogerebert com Pond Steve The Big Show High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards pg 74 Faber and Faber 2005 Ebert Roger One Day In September Movie Review 2001 Roger Ebert www rogerebert com a b Team Indiewire 9 January 2012 Michael Moore Best Documentary Oscar Will Be Chosen By the Full Academy IndieWire www indiewire com The OTHER Oscars Best Documentary Feature CraveOnline 31 January 2014 Oscar documentary scandal The real reason that too many good movies got left out ew com 20 November 2009 Sony Classics Tom Bernard Slams Oscar Voters for Snubbing Russian Hockey Doc Red Army The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2017 11 27 Oscar Doc Shortlist A Brutal Year to Have to Select Just 15 Finalists The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2017 11 27 McNary Dave 2017 04 07 Oscars New Rules Bar Multi Part Documentaries Like O J Made in America Variety Retrieved 2017 05 30 Oliver Lyttelton 18 February 2014 Great Documentariees That Weren t Nominated for an Oscar IndieWire Oscars Have No Hidden Agenda to Thwart Popular Documentaries Los Angeles Times Rules amp Eligibility Oscars org Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 2014 07 28 Retrieved 2020 01 30 Oscars A Best Picture Nom for a Documentary Why Not The Hollywood Reporter 2 December 2016 Retrieved 2020 02 02 With Byrd at the South Pole 1930 catalog afi com American Film Institute Retrieved 27 June 2018 Movie Reviews Movies amp TV Dept The New York Times 2008 Archived from the original on 2008 06 16 1971 Oscars org 1995 Oscars org Forrest Gump Wins Film Editing 1995 Oscars The Opening of the Academy Awards in 1971 Oscars on YouTube Martinelli Marissa 2020 01 13 A Documentary About Beekeepers Just Made Oscar History Slate Magazine Retrieved 2020 01 30 2021 Oscars org Another Round Wins Best International Film 93rd Oscars My Octopus Teacher Wins Best Documentary Feature 93rd Oscars 2009 Oscars org Departures Wins Foreign Language Film 2009 Oscars 80th Annual Academy Awards Oscar Quiz old post gazette com Retrieved 2020 01 30 2007 Oscars org The 91st Academy Awards 2019 Oscars org Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Retrieved 2020 01 30 1959 Oscars org Sheehan Paul 2018 09 06 Honorary Oscars Full list of 132 winners from Charlie Chaplin to Cicely Tyson GoldDerby Retrieved 2020 02 02 External links editAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences official site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film amp oldid 1207954300, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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