This is a list of films by year that have received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

together with the other nominations for best

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announced and presented early in the following year. Copies of every winning film (along with copies of most nominees) are held by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of mot ...

. Fifteen films are shortlisted before nominations are announced.

Rules and eligibility

Per the recent rules of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

(AMPAS), a Short Subject Documentary is defined as a nonfiction motion picture "dealing creatively with cultural, artistic, historical, social, scientific, economic or other subjects". It may be photographed in actual occurrence, or may employ partial reenactment, stock footage, stills, animation, stop-motion or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact, and not on fiction. It must have a run time of no more than 40 minutes and released during a special eligibility period which may vary from year to year, but generally begins the month of October of the prior year and ends in September of the award year. (This eligibility differs from most other Academy Award categories which only includes films released between January and December of the award year.) The documentary's release must also occur within two years of the film's completion, and there are also rules governing the formatting of audio and video used to produce and exhibit the picture. In addition, to be eligible the film must meet one of the following criteria: * complete a commercial showing of at least 7 days in either

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or anywhere in

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before being released to other non-theatrical venues such as

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or TV; or * regardless of any public exhibition or nontheatrical release the film must have won a qualifying award at a competitive film festival, as specified by the Academy; or * win a Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal award in the Documentary category of the Academy's Student Academy Award Competition. The film must run daily for seven days, open to the public for paid admission, and must be advertised in one of the city's major circulars during its run, with screening times included. Additionally, the film must be shown at least once during every day of its qualifying run. Unlike the Best Documentary Feature award, whose rules mandate at least one screening starting between noon and 10 pm local time on each day of the qualifying run, there is no restriction on the start time of any screening. The film must have narration or dialogue primarily in English or with English subtitles, and must be the whole of an original work. Partial edits from larger works and episodes from serialized films are not eligible. Eligibility rules for prior years may have differed from these.

Nomination process

The Documentary Branch of the Academy first votes to select ten pictures for preliminary nomination, after which a second round of balloting is conducted to select the five documentary nominees. The entire Academy membership will then vote for one of these five for the Oscar. A maximum of two people involved with the production of the documentary may be nominated for the award, one of whom must be the film's credited director. One producer may also be nominated, but if more than one non-director producer is credited the Academy Documentary Branch will vet the producers to select the one they believe was most involved in the creation of the film.

Winners and nominees

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple wins

Individuals with multiple wins

;3 wins *

Charles Guggenheim Charles Eli Guggenheim (March 31, 1924 – October 9, 2002) was an American documentary film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was the most honored documentary filmmaker in the academy history, winning four Oscars from twelve nomination ...

;2 wins *

Malcolm Clarke Malcolm Clarke may refer to: *Malcolm Clarke (zoologist) (1930–2013), British marine biologist *Malcolm Clarke (composer) (1943–2003), British composer *Malcolm Clarke (footballer) (1944–2004), Scottish footballer *Malcolm Clarke (filmmaker), ...

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

Bill Guttentag Bill Guttentag is an American dramatic and documentary film writer-producer-director. His films have premiered at the Sundance, Cannes, Telluride and Tribeca film festivals, and he has won two Academy Awards. Career Guttentag won an Oscar for ...

Robin Lehman Robin Lehman (born Robert Owen Lehman Jr.; December 3, 1936) is an American Documentary film, documentary Filmmaking, filmmaker best known for his short films ''Don't (1974 film), Don't'' (1974) and ''The End of the Game (1975 film), The End of t ...

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (; born November 12, 1978) is a Pakistani journalist, filmmaker and political activist known for her work in films that highlight gender inequality against women. Obaid-Chinoy is slated to direct an upcoming ''Star Wars'' ...

Ben Proudfoot Ben Proudfoot (born October 29, 1990) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and entrepreneur. He has won two Academy Awards, the first ever awarded to The New York Times and the LA Times. Proudfoot is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Brea ...

Studios with multiple wins

;4 wins *

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

;3 wins *

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

Individuals with multiple nominations

;9 nominations *

;4 nominations *

Karen Goodman Karen Goodman is an American film and television director and producer, best known for her work on various documentaries. She has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category four times for '' The Childre ...

Freida Lee Mock Freida Lee Mock is an American filmmaker, director, screenwriter and producer. She is a co-founder of the American Film Foundation with Terry Sanders. Her documentary, '' Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision'' (1994) won an Academy Award for Best Fea ...

;3 nominations * George Casey *

Thomas Lennon Thomas Lennon (born August 9, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series ''Reno 911!'', Andrei Novak on '' Santa Clarita Diet'' and Felix Unger on '' The Odd Couple''. He is the screenw ...

* ''

The March of Time ''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945 that was produced by advertising agency Batten, Barton, ...

'' * Herbert Morgan *

Steven Okazaki Steven Okazaki (born March 12, 1952) is an American documentary filmmaker known for his raw, cinéma vérité-style documentaries that frequently show ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. He has received a Peabody Award, a Pr ...

* DeWitt L. Sage Jr. *

Terry Sanders Terry Sanders (born December 20, 1931) is an American filmmaker having produced and/or directed more than 70 dramatic features, televisions specials, documentaries and portrait films. Career Sanders co-heads the American Film Foundation and ...

Kirk Simon Kirk Simon (July 25, 1954 – April 14, 2018) was an American filmmaker, best known for his work on various documentaries. Career Simon received a nomination for an Academy Award four times, winning once. Simon produced three films nominated ...

* United States Office of War Information Overseas Motion Picture Bureau * Dick Young ;2 nominations *

Jon Alpert Jon Alpert (born c. December 13, 1948) is an American journalist and documentary film, documentary film director, filmmaker, known for his use of a cinéma vérité approach in his films. Life and career A native of Port Chester, New York, Jo ...

* Lee R. Bobker *

Kris Bowers Kristopher Bowers (born April 5, 1989) is an American composer, pianist, and director. He has composed scores for films including '' Green Book'', '' King Richard'', '' The Color Purple'', and '' The Wild Robot'' and television series ''Bridgert ...

British Ministry of Information The Ministry of Information (MOI), headed by the Minister of Information, was a United Kingdom government department created briefly at the end of the First World War and again during the Second World War. Located in Senate House at the Univer ...

* Patrick Carey *

* Skye Fitzgerald * Roland Hallé * John Healy *

Gordon Hollingshead Gordon Hollingshead (January 8, 1892, in Garfield, New Jersey – July 8, 1952, in Balboa Island, California) was an American film producer, associate producer and assistant director. He holds the record for the most Academy Award nominati ...

* Bobby Houston *

Daniel Junge Daniel Junge (born October 7, 1969) is an American documentary filmmaker. On February 26, 2012, he won the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for the film '' Saving Face'', which he co-directed along with Pakistani filmmaker Sha ...

* Steve Kalafer *

Julian Krainin Julian Krainin (born January 24, 1941) is an American film producer, director, cinematographer, and scriptwriter. Notable films during his fifty-year career include ''Quiz Show'', ''George Wallace,'' and '' Princeton: A Search for Answers'', for ...

Dan Krauss Dan Krauss is an American film director and cinematographer. Biography Krauss is best known for his two Academy Awards, Oscar-nominated documentary films ''The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club, The Death of Kevin Carter'' (2 ...

* Alec Lorimore * James R. Messenger *

Greg MacGillivray Greg MacGillivray (born 1945) is an American film director and cinematographer. Career MacGillivray was first nominated for an Academy Award in 1995 for directing ''The Living Sea'' (Best Documentary Short Subject), and was nominated in the same c ...

* Mafilm Studio * Matthew O'Neill *

* Robert Richter *

RKO Radio RKO General Inc. (previously General Teleradio Inc. and RKO Teleradio Pictures Inc.) was an American broadcasting company that, from 1952 through 1991, served as the main holding company for the noncore businesses of the General Tire and Rubber C ...

* Jay Rosenblatt *

Eric Simonson Eric Simonson (born June 27, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American writer and director in theatre, film and opera. He is a member of Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and the author of plays '' Lombardi'', ''Fake'', ''Honest'', ''Magic/B ...

* Truman Talley *

Francis Thompson Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

* Vivienne Verdon-Roe *

Cynthia Wade Cynthia Wade is an American television, commercial and film director, producer and cinematographer based in New York City. She has directed documentaries on social issues including '' Shelter Dogs'' in 2003 about animal welfare and '' Freeheld'' ...

Donald Wrye Donald Wrye (September 24, 1934 – May 15, 2015) was an American Film director, director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for directing the 1978 film ''Ice Castles''. He died on May 15, 2015, at his home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. ...

* Gerardine Wurzburg *

Ruby Yang Ruby Yang (), is a Hong Kong-born American filmmaker. Yang is recognized for her contributions to documentary and dramatic cinema. Her work has earned her an Academy award, two Academy nominations, and numerous other accolades, including an Emmy, ...