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. They have since been bestowed competitively each year, with the exception of 1946.19th Academy Awards (1946): Nominees and Winners-Cinema Sight by Wesley Lovell Copies of every winning film (along with copies of most nominees) are held by the Academy Film Archive.
Winners and nominees 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 Year Film Nominees1942 In 1942, documentary features and short subjects competed together for Best Documentary. Four special awards were bestowed among the 25 nominees. The Battle of Midway John Ford (United States Navy) Kokoda Front Line! Ken G. Hall (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 Slavko Vorkapich 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 FreedomVictor 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 Winning Your Wings United States Army Air Force1943 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.). 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 Bureau1944 The Fighting Lady Edward Steichen (United States Navy) Resisting Enemy Interrogation United States Army Air Force1945 The True Glory The Governments of Great Britain and the United States of America The Last Bomb United States Army Air Force1947 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 Rotha1948 The Secret Land Orville O. Dull The Quiet One Janice Loeb1949 Daybreak in Udi Crown Film Unit Kenji Comes Home Paul F. Heard
1950s Year Film Nominees1950 The Titan: Story of Michelangelo Robert Snyder With These Hands Jack Arnold and 1951 Kon-Tiki Olle Nordemar I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. Bryan Foy1952 The Sea Around Us Irwin Allen The Hoaxters Dore Schary Navajo Hall Bartlett1953 The Living Desert Walt Disney The Conquest of Everest John Taylor, Leon Clore and A Queen Is Crowned Castleton Knight1954 The Vanishing Prairie Walt Disney The Stratford Adventure Guy Glover1955 Helen Keller in Her Story Nancy Hamilton Heartbreak Ridge 1956 The Silent World Jacques-Yves Cousteau The Naked Eye Louis Clyde Stoumen Where Mountains Float The Government Film Committee of Denmark1957 Albert Schweitzer Jerome Hill On the Bowery Lionel Rogosin Torero! Manuel Barbachano Ponce1958 White Wilderness Ben Sharpsteen Antarctic Crossing The Hidden World Robert Snyder Psychiatric Nursing 1959 Serengeti Shall Not Die Bernhard Grzimek The Race for Space David L. Wolper
1960s Year Film Nominees1960 The Horse with the Flying Tail Larry Lansburgh Rebel in Paradise Robert D. Fraser1961Le Ciel et la Boue (Sky Above and Mud Beneath)Arthur Cohn and La Grande Olimpiade (Olympic Games 1960) dell Istituto Nazionale Luce, Comitato Organizzatore Del Giochi Della XVII Olimpiade1962Black FoxLouis Clyde StoumenAlvorada (Brazil's Changing Face) Hugo Niebeling1963 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.Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the WorldRobert HughesLe Maillon et la Chaine (The Link and the Chain)The Yanks Are ComingMarshall Flaum1964Jacques-Yves Cousteau's World without SunJacques-Yves CousteauThe Finest Hours Jack Le VienFour Days in NovemberMel StuartThe Human DutchBert HaanstraOver There, 1914–18Jean Aurel1965The Eleanor Roosevelt Story Sidney GlazierThe Battle of the Bulge... The Brave Rifles The Forth Road Bridge Peter MillsLet My People Go Marshall FlaumTo Die in Madrid Frédéric Rossif1966The 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 Tazieff1967The Anderson Platoon Pierre SchoendoerfferFestival Murray LernerHarvest Carroll BallardA King's Story Jack Le VienA Time for Burning William C. Jersey1968 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.Documentary Winners: 1969 OscarsJourney into Self Bill McGawA Few Notes on Our Food Problem James BlueThe Legendary Champions William CaytonOther Voices 1969Arthur Rubinstein – The Love of Life 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 Rosten
1970s Year Film Nominees1970Woodstock Bob MauriceChariots of the GodsDr. Harald ReinlJack JohnsonJim JacobsKing: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to MemphisEly LandauSay Goodbye David H. Vowell1971The Hellstrom ChronicleWalon GreenAlaska Wilderness LakeAlan LandsburgOn Any SundayBruce BrownThe RA Expeditions and Thor HeyerdahlThe Sorrow and the PityMarcel Ophüls1972MarjoeHoward Smith and Sarah KernochanApe and Super-ApeBert HaanstraMalcolm XMarvin Worth and Arnold PerlMansonRobert Hendrickson and Laurence MerrickThe Silent Revolution1973The Great American CowboyKieth MerrillAlways a New BeginningBattle of BerlinBengt von zur MuehlenJourney to the Outer LimitsAlexander GrasshoffWalls of Fire and Edmund F. Penney1974Hearts and MindsPeter Davis and Bert SchneiderAntonia: A Portrait of the WomanJudy Collins and Jill GodmilowThe Challenge... A Tribute to Modern ArtHerbert KlineThe 81st BlowJacquot Ehrlich, David Bergman and Haim GouriThe Wild and the BraveNatalie R. Jones and Eugene S. Jones1975The Man Who Skied Down EverestF. R. Crawley, James Hager and Dale HartlebeThe California ReichWalter F. Parkes and Keith F. CritchlowFighting for Our LivesGlen PearcyThe Incredible MachineIrwin RostenThe Other Half of the Sky: A China MemoirShirley MacLaine1976Harlan County, U.S.A.Barbara KoppleHollywood on TrialJames Gutman and David Helpern Jr.Off the EdgeMichael FirthPeople of the WindAnthony Howarth and David KoffVolcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm LowryDonald Brittain and Robert Duncan1977Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?John Korty, Dan McCann and Warren L. LockhartThe Children of Theatre StreetRobert Dornhelm and Earle MackHigh Grass Circus Bill Brind, Torben Schioler and Tony IanzeloHomage to Chagall: The Colours of LoveHarry RaskyUnion Maids, Julia Reichert and Miles Mogulescu1978Scared Straight!Arnold ShapiroThe Lovers' WindAlbert LamorisseMysterious Castles of ClayAlan RootRaoniJean-Pierre Dutilleux, Barry Williams and Michel GastWith Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency BrigadeAnne Bohlen, Lyn Goldfarb and Lorraine Gray1979Best BoyIra WohlGeneration on the WindDavid A. VassarGoing the DistancePaul Cowan and Jacques BobetThe Killing GroundSteve Singer and Tom PriestleyThe War at HomeGlenn Silber and Barry Alexander Brown
1980s
Year Film Nominees1980From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in ChinaMurray LernerAgeeRoss SpearsThe Day After TrinityJon H. ElseFront Line David BradburyThe Yellow Star: The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-45 Bengt von zur Mühlen and Arthur Cohn1981GenocideArnold Schwartzman and Rabbi Marvin HierAgainst Wind and Tide: A Cuban OdysseySuzanne Bauman, Paul Neshamkin and Jim BurroughsBrooklyn BridgeKen BurnsEight Minutes to Midnight: A Portrait of Dr. Helen CaldicottMary Benjamin, Susanne Simpson and Boyd EstusEl Salvador: Another VietnamGlenn Silber and Tete Vasconcellos1982Just Another Missing KidJohn ZaritskyAfter the AxeSturla Gunnarsson and Steve LucasBen's MillJohn Karol and Michel ChalufourIn Our WaterMeg SwitzgableA Portrait of GiselleJoseph Wishy1983He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'Emile ArdolinoChildren of DarknessRichard Kotuk and Ara ChekmayanFirst ContactBob Connolly and Robin AndersonThe Profession of ArmsMichael Bryans and Tina ViljoenSeeing RedJames Klein and Julia Reichert1984The Times of Harvey MilkRob Epstein and Richard SchmiechenHigh SchoolsCharles Guggenheim and Nancy SlossIn the Name of the PeopleAlex W. Drehsler and Frank ChristopherMarlene Karel Dirka and Zev BraunStreetwise Cheryl McCall1985Broken RainbowMaria Florio and Victoria MuddLas Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de MayoSusana Blaustein Muñoz and Lourdes PortilloSoldiers in HidingJaphet AsherThe Statue of LibertyKen Burns and Buddy SquiresUnfinished BusinessSteven Okazaki1986 A tie in voting resulted in two winners.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 SingerKirk Simon and Amram NowakWitness to Apartheid1987The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round TableAviva SlesinEyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years/Bridge to Freedom 1965Callie Crossley and James A. DeVinneyHellfire: A Journey from HiroshimaJohn Junkerman and John W. DowerRadio BikiniRobert StoneA Stitch for TimeBarbara Herbich and Cyril Christo1988Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus BarbieMarcel OphülsThe Cry of Reason – Beyers Naudé: An Afrikaner Speaks OutRobert Bilheimer and Ronald MixLet's Get LostBruce Weber and Nan BushPromises to KeepGinny DurrinWho Killed Vincent Chin? Renee Tajima-Peña and Christine Choy1989Common Threads: Stories from the QuiltRob Epstein and Bill CouturiéAdam Clayton PowellRichard Kilberg and Yvonne SmithCrack USA: County Under SiegeVince DiPersio and William GuttentagFor All MankindAl Reinert and Betsy Broyles BreierSuper Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl WarrenJudith Leonard and William C. Jersey
1990s