List of Best Documentary Feature Film Award Winners over the years

Last Modified Mar 3, 2025 03:07 EST
Best Documentary Feature Film Award Winners
The Oscars (Source: Netflix)


The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is presented for documentary films. The first feature-length documentary awards were given out in 1941 as special honors to Kukan and Target for Tonight. Except for 1946, they have subsequently been awarded annually in a competitive manner.


Best Documentary Feature Film Award Winners


Given below is a list of all the documentary films to have won the award over the years:


YearWinnerProducer(s)
1941KukanRey Scott
1941Target for TonightBritish Ministry of Information
1943Desert VictoryBritish Ministry of Information
1944The Fighting LadyUnited States Navy
1945The True GloryThe Governments of Great Britain and the United States of America
1947Design for DeathSid Rogell, Theron Warth, Richard O. Fleischer
1948The Secret LandOrville O. Dull
1949Daybreak in UdiCrown Film Unit
1950The Titan: Story of MichelangeloRobert Snyder
1951Kon-TikiOlle Nordemar
1952The Sea Around UsIrwin Allen
1953The Living DesertWalt Disney
1954The Vanishing PrairieWalt Disney
1955Helen Keller in Her StoryNancy Hamilton
1956The Silent WorldJacques-Yves Cousteau
1957Albert SchweitzerJerome Hill
1958White WildernessBen Sharpsteen
1959Serengeti Shall Not DieBernhard Grzimek
1960The Horse with the Flying TailLarry Lansburgh
1961Sky Above and Mud Beneath (Le Ciel et la Boue)Arthur Cohn, Rene Lafuite
1962Black FoxLouis Clyde Stoumen
1963Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the WorldRobert Hughes
1964Jacques-Yves Cousteau's World Without SunJacques-Yves Cousteau
1965The Eleanor Roosevelt StorySidney Glazier
1966The War GamePeter Watkins
1967The Anderson PlatoonPierre Schoendoerffer
1968Journey into SelfBill McGaw
1969Arthur Rubinstein - The Love of LifeBernard Chevry
1970WoodstockBob Maurice
1971The Hellstrom ChronicleWalon Green
1972MarjoeHoward Smith, Sarah Kernochan
1973The Great American CowboyKieth Merrill
1974Hearts and MindsPeter Davis, Bert Schneider
1975The Man Who Skied Down EverestF. R. Crawley, James Hager, Dale Hartleben
1976Harlan County, U.S.A.Barbara Kopple
1977Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?John Korty, Dan McCann, Warren L. Lockhart
1978Scared Straight!Arnold Shapiro
1979Best BoyIra Wohl
1980From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in ChinaMurray Lerner
1981GenocideArnold Schwartzman, Rabbi Marvin Hier
1982Just Another Missing KidJohn Zaritsky
1983He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'Emile Ardolino
1984The Times of Harvey MilkRobert Epstein, Richard Schmiechen
1985Broken RainbowMaria Florio, Victoria Mudd
1986Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've GotBrigitte Berman
1986Down and Out in AmericaJoseph Feury, Milton Justice
1987The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round TableAviva Slesin
1988Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus BarbieMarcel Ophuls
1989Common Threads: Stories from the QuiltRobert Epstein, Bill Couturié
1990American DreamBarbara Kopple, Arthur Cohn
1991In the Shadow of the StarsAllie Light, Irving Saraf
1992The Panama DeceptionBarbara Trent, David Kasper
1993I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary SchoolSusan Raymond, Alan Raymond
1994Maya Lin: A Strong Clear VisionFreida Lee Mock, Terry Sanders
1995Anne Frank RememberedJon Blair
1996When We Were KingsLeon Gast, David Sonenberg
1997The Long Way HomeRabbi Marvin Hier, Richard Trank
1998The Last DaysJames Moll, Ken Lipper
1999One Day in SeptemberArthur Cohn, Kevin Macdonald
2000Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the KindertransportMark Jonathan Harris, Deborah Oppenheimer
2001Murder on a Sunday MorningJean-Xavier de Lestrade, Denis Poncet
2002Bowling for ColumbineMichael Moore, Michael Donovan
2003The Fog of WarErrol Morris, Michael Williams
2004Born into BrothelsRoss Kauffman, Zana Briski
2005March of the PenguinsLuc Jacquet, Yves Darondeau
2006An Inconvenient TruthDavis Guggenheim
2007Taxi to the Dark SideAlex Gibney, Eva Orner
2008Man on WireJames Marsh, Simon Chinn
2009The CoveLouie Psihoyos, Fisher Stevens
2010Inside JobCharles Ferguson, Audrey Marrs
2011UndefeatedTJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, Rich Middlemas
2012Searching for Sugar ManMalik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn
201320 Feet from StardomMorgan Neville, Gil Friesen, Caitrin Rogers
2014CitizenFourLaura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
2015AmyAsif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees
2016O.J.: Made in AmericaEzra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow
2017IcarusBryan Fogel, Dan Cogan
2018Free SoloElizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes, Shannon Dill
2019American FactorySteven Bognar, Julia Reichert, Jeff Reichert
2020My Octopus TeacherPippa Ehrlich, James Reed, Craig Foster
2021Summer of SoulAhmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, David Dinerstein
2022NavalnyDaniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris
202320 Days in MariupolMstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath
2024No Other LandBasel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor



FAQs about Oscars

Kukan won the first Best Documentary Feature Film Oscar.


The following films have been nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film 2025: Porcelain War, No Other Land, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, Sugarcane, Black Box Diaries.


20 Days in Mariupol won the Best Documentary Feature Film Oscar in 2024.


A. No Other Land won the Best Documentary Feature Film Oscar in 2025.


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