Submissions for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature#2024
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These are the lists of documentary films that were shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in recent years.
{{horizontal TOC|collapsed}}
List of selected films and years
{{Incomplete list|date=January 2024}}
=1999=
{{Main article|72nd Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Amargosa
| rowspan="3" |United States |Marta Becket and the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel |{{notnom}} | align="center" rowspan="12"|{{cite web |url=http://digitalcollections.oscars.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15759coll9/id/10992 |title=Academy Announces Films Remaining in Competition for Best Documentary Feature (pg.41 of 178) |last= |first= |date=January 3, 2000 |website= |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=May 6, 2020 |quote= |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724205643/http://digitalcollections.oscars.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15759coll9/id/10992 |url-status=live }} |
|---|
| scope="row"|American Movie
|The making of a low budget horror movie in Wisconsin |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Beyond the Mat
|World Wrestling Federation, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Mick Foley, Terry Funk and Jake Roberts |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Buena Vista Social Club
||Cuba |A group of elderly Cuban musicians |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Genghis Blues
| rowspan="3" |United States |Paul Pena and the art of Tuvan throat singing |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.
|Fred A. Leuchter Jr., capital punishment and Holocaust denial |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|On the Ropes
|Brett Morgen, Nanette Burstein |Three young boxers and their coach |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|One Day in September
|United Kingdom |Terrorist attacks at the 1972 Summer Olympics |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Pop & Me
|Chris Roe | rowspan="4" |United States |The director's travels around with his own father, interviewing fathers and sons about their own father-son relationships |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Smoke and Mirrors: A History of Denial
|Torrie Rosenzweig |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Source
|{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Speaking in Strings
|Paola di Florio |Italian-born violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg |{{nom}} |
=2000=
{{Main article|73rd Academy Awards}}
=2001=
{{Main article|74th Academy Awards}}
=2002=
{{Main article|75th Academy Awards}}
=2003=
{{Main article|76th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|The Agronomist
|United States |Jean Dominique and Radio Haiti-Inter, the country's first independent radio station |{{notnom}} | align="center" rowspan="12"|{{cite web |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/popculture/oscar-s-documentary-dozen-3541256 |title=Oscar's documentary dozen |last=Kilday |first=Gregg |date=November 21, 2003 |website= |publisher=Today.com |access-date=May 6, 2020 |quote= |archive-date=October 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024042923/https://www.today.com/popculture/popculture/oscar-s-documentary-dozen-3541256 |url-status=live }} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Balseros
|Carles Bosch and Josep M. Domenech |Spain, Catalonia |Balseros emigrating from Cuba during the Período especial and the 1994 Cuban rafter crisis |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Bus 174
|Brazil |The June 2000 hijacking of Bus 174 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Capturing the Friedmans
| rowspan="2" |United States |American family with dark sexual secrets |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin
|The life and times of Golden Age of Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Fog of War
|United States |Robert McNamara and his involvement in the Vietnam War |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Heir to an Execution
| | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Inheritance: A Fisherman's Story
| | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Lost Boys of Sudan
|Megan Mylan and Jou Shenk | rowspan="4" |United States |Two boys from the Dinka tribe of Sudan who emigrated to the United States, who were part of the refugee group commonly known as the Lost Boys of Sudan |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|My Architect
|The career and familial relationships of the director's father, architect Louis Kahn |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|My Flesh and Blood
|The adopted children of Susan Tom, most of whom have significant physical disabilities |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Weather Underground
|Sam Green and Bill Siegel |The rise and fall of the radical political group of the same name |{{nom}} |
=2004=
{{Main article|77th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Born into Brothels
|Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman |India |Children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Kolkata's red light district. |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} | align="center" rowspan="12"|{{cite web |url=http://digitalcollections.oscars.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15759coll9/id/11278 |title=Academy Announces Documentary Films in Competition for 78th Academy Awards |last= |first= |date=November 15, 2005 |website= |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |access-date=May 6, 2020 |quote=}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Home of the Brave
|Paola di Florio | rowspan="4" |United States |The 1965 murder of civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
|Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller |Historian and activist Howard Zinn |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|In the Realms of the Unreal
|Outsider artist Henry Darger's magnum opus. The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Riding Giants
|{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Ritchie Boys
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Story of the Weeping Camel
|Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni |Germany |A family of nomadic shepherds in the Gobi Desert trying to save the life of a rare white bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) calf after it was rejected by its mother. |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Super Size Me
|United States |A filmmaker eating nothing but McDonald's fast food for 30 days |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Tell Them Who You Are
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Touching the Void
|United Kingdom |Joe Simpson and Simon Yates' near-fatal descent after making the first successful ascent of the West Face of Siula Grande in the Cordillera Huayhuash in the Peruvian Andes |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Tupac: Resurrection
| rowspan="2" |United States |Late rapper Tupac Shakur from his upbringing to his untimely death |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Twist of Faith
|Sexual abuse by a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo, Ohio |{{nom}} |
=2005=
{{Main article|78th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Darwin's Nightmare
|Austria |Environmental and social effects of the fishing industry around Lake Victoria in Tanzania |{{nom}} | align="center" rowspan="7"|[https://www.indiewire.com/2005/11/15-films-selected-for-oscar-short-list-in-doc-feature-category-2-77660/ 15 Films Selected for Oscar Short List in Doc Feature Category-IndieWire] |
|---|
| scope="row"|The Devil and Daniel Johnston
| rowspan="3" |United States |Outsider music artist Daniel Johnston and his struggles with paranoid schizophrenia |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
|The rise and fall of the real estate corporation Enron |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Mad Hot Ballroom
|The ballroom dance program for fifth graders in the New York City Department of Education |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|March of the Penguins
|France |The daily lives of emperor penguins |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Murderball
|Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro | rowspan="2" |United States |American Wheelchair rugby players facing against Canadian wheelchair rugby players at the 2004 Paralympic Games |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Street Fight
|The 2002 Newark mayoral election in which Newark City Councilman Cory Booker challenged incumbent mayor Sharpe James |{{nom}} |
=2006=
{{Main article|79th Academy Awards}}
=2007=
{{Main article|80th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Autism: The Musical
|Tricia Regan | rowspan="7" |United States |Children on the autism spectrum performing their own stage musical |{{notnom}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Body of War
|Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue |The experiences of Iraq War veteran Tomas Young, including his paralysis from enemy gunshot wounds and his subsequent anti-war activism |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|For the Bible Tells Me So
|Daniel G. Karslake |Christianity and homosexuality |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Lake of Fire
|Abortion in the United States |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Nanking
|Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman |The Nanjing Massacre |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|No End in Sight
|The Iraq War |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
|The writings of U.S. veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Price of Sugar
|Bill Haney |Dominican Republic |Exploitation of Haitian immigrants in the Dominican Republic involved with production of sugar, and the efforts of Spanish priest Father Christopher Hartley to ameliorate their situation |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Please Vote for Me
|China |Elections for class monitor in a 3rd grade class in the Evergreen Primary School in Wuhan, China |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Sicko
|United States |Health insurance and Healthcare in the United States |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Taxi to the Dark Side
|United States |The December 2002 killing of an Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar, who was beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in extrajudicial detention and interrogated at a black site at Bagram air base |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|War/Dance
|Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine | rowspan="2" |United States |Three Acholi children living in a Ugandan refugee camp, who are preparing to compete in the National Music Competition in Kampala |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|White Light/Black Rain
|The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki |{{notnom}} |
=2008=
{{Main article|81st Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
|Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath | rowspan="5" |United States | |{{nom}} | align="center" rowspan="7"|{{cite web|url=http://filmjunk.com/2008/11/18/2009-academy-awards-best-documentary-short-list-unveiled/|title=2009 Academy Awards Best Documentary Short List Unveiled - Film Junk|publisher=}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Encounters at the End of the World
| |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Garden
| |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
|Classical music composer Philip Glass |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|I.O.U.S.A.
| |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Man on Wire
|United States |Highwire artist Philippe Petit's walking between the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center in New York |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Trouble the Water
|Tia Lessin Carl Deal |United States | |{{nom}} |
=2009=
{{Main article|82nd Academy Awards}}
=2010=
{{Main article|83rd Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Exit Through the Gift Shop
|United Kingdom | |{{nom}} | align="center" rowspan="7"|{{cite web|url=https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/547712-oscars-2010-feature-documentary-shortlist-revealed|title=Oscar's 2010 Feature Documentary Shortlist Revealed|date=18 November 2010|website=ComingSoon.net}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Gasland
|United States | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Inside Job
|United States | |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Restrepo
| rowspan="3" |United States | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Tillman Story
|The untimely death of former football player turned soldier Pat Tillman |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Waiting for "Superman"
| |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Waste Land
|Brazil, United Kingdom | |{{nom}} |
=2011=
{{Main article|84th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Buck
| | | |{{notnom}} | align="center" rowspan="15"|[https://variety.com/2011/film/news/oscars-documentary-shortlist-unveiled-1118046382/ Oscars: Documentary shortlist unveiled — Variety] |
|---|
| scope="row"|Bill Cunningham New York
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Battle for Brooklyn
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Hell and Back Again
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front -
|United States |The rise and fall of radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Jane's Journey
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Loving Story
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Pina
|Germany | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Project Nim
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Semper Fi: Always Faithful
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Sing Your Song
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Undefeated
| | | |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Under Fire: Journalists in Combat
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|We Were Here
| | | |{{notnom}} |
=2012=
{{Main article|85th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Bully
| | | |{{notnom}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Chasing Ice
| | |Best Original Song nominee |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|5 Broken Cameras
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Gatekeepers
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|How to Survive a Plague
|United States |The beginnings of ACT UP and TAG during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Invisible War
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Searching for Sugar Man
| | | |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|This Is Not a Film
| | |Filmmaker Jafar Panahi's exile from making cinema in Iran |{{notnom}} |
=2013=
{{Main article|86th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|The Act of Killing
| | | |{{nom}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Blackfish
| |United States |Controversies surrounding the mistreatment of whales at Sea World |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Cutie and the Boxer
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Dirty Wars
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|God Loves Uganda
| | | |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Square
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|20 Feet from Stardom
|United States |Legendary backup singers (eg.Darlene Love) |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
=2014=
{{Main article|87th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Citizen Koch
|Tia Lessin and Carl Deal |United States | |{{notnom}} | align="center" rowspan="9"|{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/15-documentaries-land-on-oscars-short-list-1201368807/|author=Tim Gray|title=15 Documentaries Land on Oscar's Short List|website=Variety|date=2 December 2014 |access-date=2018-10-25}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Citizenfour
|United States |Edward Snowden and his whistleblowing involvement on WikiLeaks |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Finding Vivian Maier
|John Maloof and Charlie Siskel | rowspan="2" |United States |Street photographer Vivian Maier and the rediscovery of her photography |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Internet's Own Boy
|Aaron Swartz and the case of United States v. Swartz |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Jodorowsky's Dune
| | |Cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky's attempts at adapting the classic sci-fi novel Dune |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Last Days in Vietnam
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Life Itself
|United States |Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Salt of the Earth
| | | |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Virunga
| | | |{{nom}} |
=2015=
{{Main article|88th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Amy
|United Kingdom |The life and death of singer Amy Winehouse |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} | align="center" rowspan="19"|{{cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/news/15-documentary-features-advance-2015-oscarr-race|title=15 Documentary Features Advance in 2015 Oscar Race|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|website=oscars.org|access-date=2018-10-25|archive-date=2019-05-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503225036/https://www.oscars.org/news/15-documentary-features-advance-2015-oscarr-race|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2015/10/23/oscars-2016-documentary-submissions/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|title=Oscars 2016: 124 documentaries submitted for consideration|access-date=2018-10-25|archive-date=2018-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025185949/https://ew.com/article/2015/10/23/oscars-2016-documentary-submissions/|url-status=live}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Best of Enemies
| Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville | rowspan="3" | United States |The televised arguments between conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr and progressive novelist Gore Vidal |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Cartel Land
| Vigilante groups fighting Mexican drug cartels during Mexican drug war |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
|An exposé on the practices of the Church of Scientology |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|He Named Me Malala
| United States, United Arab Emirates | The life of young activist Malala Yousafzai |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Heart of a Dog
| rowspan="2" |United States |Composer Laurie Anderson's meditative ode to canines |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Hunting Ground
|The incidence of sexual assault on college campuses in the United States and the reported failure of college administrations to deal with it adequately |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Listen to Me Marlon
|United Kingdom |Archival footage examining the life of Academy Award-winning actor Marlon Brando |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Look of Silence
|Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom, United States | Indonesian mass killings of 1965–66 |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Meru
| Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | rowspan="2" | United States | The first ascent of the "Shark's Fin" route on Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets
| {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|We Come as Friends
| Austria, France | War-ravaged South Sudan fighting for independence from North Sudan and its President Omar al-Bashir | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|What Happened, Miss Simone?
| rowspan="2" |United States |The life and troubled times of singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Where to Invade Next
| Director Michael Moore spending time in various countries where he experiences alternative methods of dealing with social and economic ills experienced in the United States |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom
| Ukraine, United States, United Kingdom |Ukraine's fight for freedom during the Revolution of Dignity |{{nom}} |
=2016=
{{Main article|89th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Cameraperson
| rowspan="2" |United States |A cinematographer's collection of documentary footage |{{notnom}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Command and Control
| 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion in Damascus, Arkansas between September 18–19, 1980 | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Eagle Huntress
| Otto Bell | Mongolia, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, United States | Aisholpan Nurgaiv, a 13-year-old Kazakh girl from Mongolia, as she attempts to become the first female eagle hunter to compete in the eagle festival at Ulgii, Mongolia | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Fire at Sea
| Italy |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Gleason
|Clay Tweel |United States |Former football player Steve Gleason and his journey living with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Hooligan Sparrow
| China, United States | A child rape case in China involving a government official and the subsequent protests led by activists | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|I Am Not Your Negro
|France, United States |Author James Baldwin's unfinished memoir about being black in America |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Ivory Game
| Kief Davidson, Richard Ladkani | rowspan="2" | United States | The poaching of elephants in Africa, related to the ivory trade in China and Hong Kong, and the repercussions of elephant poaching | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Life, Animated
|Owen Suskind, son of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, diagnosed with autism learning about life and communication through classic Disney animated movies |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|OJ: Made in America
|United States |The examination of racial divides in America during the O. J. Simpson saga |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|13th
| rowspan="5" |United States | A look at the 13th amendment and its effect on African Americans |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Tower
|Keith Maitland |The 1966 University of Texas shooting perpetrated by Charles Whitman |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Weiner
|Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg |The rise and fall of politician Anthony Weiner due to his excessive sexting |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Witness
| James D. Solomon | The murder of Kitty Genovese and the subsequent investigation led by her brother, Bill | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Zero Days
| The phenomenon surrounding the Stuxnet computer virus and the development of the malware software known as "Olympic Games." | {{notnom}} |
=2017=
{{Main article|90th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
| rowspan="4" |United States |A family-owned community bank, Abacus Federal Savings Bank, the only financial institution to face criminal charges following the subprime mortgage crisis |{{nom}} | align="center" rowspan="17"|{{cite web|url=http://www.cinemasight.com/awards-history/90th-academy-awards-2017/90th-academy-awards-2017-documentary-feature-eligibility-list/|title=90th Academy Awards (2017): Documentary Feature Eligibility List|date=19 January 2018|publisher=|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027061625/http://www.cinemasight.com/awards-history/90th-academy-awards-2017/90th-academy-awards-2017-documentary-feature-eligibility-list/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/11/oscars-best-documentary-feature-contenders-news-1202208949/|author=Antonia Blyth|title=Oscars 2018: A Look At Contenders In The Best Documentary Feature Race|website=Deadline|date=16 November 2017|access-date=2018-10-25|archive-date=2018-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025190045/https://deadline.com/2017/11/oscars-best-documentary-feature-contenders-news-1202208949/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://ew.com/movies/2017/12/07/oscars-2018-best-documentary-shortlist/|website=ew.com|title=One of these 15 movies will win best documentary at the Oscars-Entertainment Weekly|access-date=2018-10-25|archive-date=2018-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025190255/https://ew.com/movies/2017/12/07/oscars-2018-best-documentary-shortlist/|url-status=live}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Chasing Coral
| A team of divers, scientists and photographers around the world who document the disappearance of coral reefs | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|City of Ghosts
|The Syrian media activist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently after their homeland is taken over by ISIS in 2014 |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
| The role of the New York Public Library as an egalitarian network of exploration, exchange and learning |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Faces Places
|France |Varda and JR traveling around rural France, creating portraits of the people they come across |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Human Flow
| Germany | The current global refugee crisis | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Icarus
|United States |Fogel's exploration of the option of doping to win an amateur cycling race and happening upon a major international doping scandal when he asks for the help of Grigory Rodchenkov, the head of the Russian anti-doping laboratory |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
|Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk | rowspan="4" |United States |Former United States Vice President Al Gore's continuing mission to battle climate change |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Jane
|Iconic anthropologist Jane Goodall |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Jim and Andy
|The making of the 1999 biopic Man on the Moon starring Jim Carrey in his Golden Globe-winning portrayal of the controversial stand-up comedian Andy Kaufman |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|LA 92
|Archival coverage of the 1992 Rodney King riots |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Last Men in Aleppo
|Denmark, Syria |The lives of three White Helmets founders, Khaled Omar Harrah, Subhi Alhussen and Mahmoud as they grapple the dilemma to flee their country or stay and fight for it |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992
| rowspan="5" | United States |Prior events leading up to the Rodney King riots | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Long Strange Trip
| The career of the rock band the Grateful Dead | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|One of Us
| The lives of three ex-Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Strong Island
|The April 1992 murder of William Ford, the director's brother |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Unrest
| Brea faced chronic fatigue syndrome that struck just before she married her husband Omar Wasow | {{notnom}} |
=2018=
{{Main article|91st Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Charm City
| United States | A community in Baltimore, Maryland, over the span of three years of high violence | {{notnom}} | align="center" rowspan="15"|{{Cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/the-academy-starts-rolling-out-the-91st-oscars-shortlists.html|title=Get Ready to Fill That Void: The Academy Is Rolling Out Its 91st Oscars Shortlists|work=Vulture|date=December 17, 2018|access-date=September 27, 2022|first=Halle|last=Kiefer|archive-date=September 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927164155/https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/the-academy-starts-rolling-out-the-91st-oscars-shortlists.html|url-status=live}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Communion
| Anna Zamecka | Poland | Ola, a 14-year-old girl who takes care of her dysfunctional, alcoholic father, autistic brother, mother who lives separately, and her preparation of family celebration of her brother's Holy Communion sacrament | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Crime + Punishment
| Stephen T. Maing | rowspan="2" | United States | A group of black and Latino whistleblower cops and a private investigator who risk everything to expose illegal quota practices and their impact on young minorities | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Dark Money
| The effects of corporate money and influence in the American political system | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Distant Barking of Dogs
| Simon Lereng Wilmont | Ukraine, Denmark, Finland, Sweden | The life of 10-year-old Ukrainian boy Oleg throughout a year during the war in Donbas | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Free Solo
| Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | United States | Alex Honnold as he attempts to become the first person to ever free solo climb Yosemite National Park's 3,000 foot high El Capitan wall | {{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Hale County This Morning, This Evening
| RaMell Ross | rowspan="2" | United States | The lives of black people in Hale County, Alabama | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Minding the Gap
| Bing Liu | The lives and friendships of three young men growing up in Rockford, Illinois, united by their love of skateboarding | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Of Fathers and Sons
| Germany, Lebanon Netherlands, Qatar, Syria | Radical jihadism and terrorist training in Syria | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|On Her Shoulders
| rowspan="2" | United States | Human rights activist Nadia Murad, as she met with politicians and journalists to alert the world to the massacres and kidnapping happening in Iraq | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|RBG
| Betsy West, Julie Cohen | The life, legacy and career of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Ruth Bader Ginsburg | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Shirkers
| Singapore, United Kingdom, United States | The making of an independent thriller featuring a teenage assassin set in Singapore | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Silence of Others
| Almudena Carracedo, Robert Bahar | United States, Spain | The silenced fight of the victims from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Three Identical Strangers
| Tim Wardle | United States, United Kingdom | The lives of Edward Galland, David Kellman, and Robert Shafran, a set of identical triplet brothers adopted as infants by separate families | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Won't You Be My Neighbor?
| United States | The life, legacy and guiding philosophy of children's television host Fred Rogers | {{notnom}} |
= 2019 =
{{Main article|92nd Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Advocate
| Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaïche | Israel | Human rights lawyer Leah Tsemel as she navigates through the Israeli judicial system in defense of Palestinians accused of terrorism | {{notnom}} | align="center" rowspan="15"|{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/12/oscars-academy-shortlists-documentary-features-visual-effects-1202810920/|title=Oscars: Academy Releases Shortlists For Nine Categories Including Documentary, International Film, VFX, Song, Score & Shorts|work=Deadline|date=December 16, 2019|access-date=September 27, 2022|first=Erik|last=Pedersen|archive-date=September 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927160209/https://deadline.com/2019/12/oscars-academy-shortlists-documentary-features-visual-effects-1202810920/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/entertainment/159_Documentary_Features_submitted_for_2019_Oscar_Race_printer.shtml |title=159 Documentary Features submitted for 2019 Oscar® Race - The Bahamas Weekly |access-date=2023-01-24 |archive-date=2023-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124223147/http://www.thebahamasweekly.com/publish/entertainment/159_Documentary_Features_submitted_for_2019_Oscar_Race_printer.shtml |url-status=live }} |
|---|
| scope="row"|American Factory
| Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert | United States | Chinese company Fuyao's factory in Moraine that occupies Moraine Assembly, a shuttered General Motors plant | {{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|The Apollo
| rowspan="2" | United States | The history of Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Apollo 11
| The 1969 Apollo 11 mission | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Aquarela
| Germany, United Kingdom, United States | Climate change depicted by water and ice around the world | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Biggest Little Farm
| United States | John Chester and his wife Molly as they acquire and establish themselves on Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, California | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Cave
| Syria, Denmark | Dr. Amani Ballour, a physician in Ghouta who is operating a makeshift hospital nicknamed "the Cave" during the Syrian Civil War | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Edge of Democracy
| Brazil | Political past of Costa in a personal way, in context with the first term of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the events leading to impeachment of Dilma Rousseff | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|For Sama
| Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts | Syria, United Kingdom, United States | Al-Kateab's journey as a journalist and rebel in the Syrian civil war uprising as she and her husband raise their daughter Sama | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Great Hack
| United States | The Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Honeyland
| Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov | North Macedonia | The life of Hatidže Muratova, a loner beekeeper of wild bees who lives in the remote mountain village of Bekirloja, North Macedonia | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Knock Down the House
| United States | Four female democrats who run for Congress in the 2018 United States elections: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Amy Vilela, Cori Bush and Paula Jean Swearengin | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Maiden
| Alex Holmes | United Kingdom | Tracy Edwards and the crew of the Maiden as they compete as the first all-woman crew in the 1989–1990 Whitbread Round the World Race | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Midnight Family
| Luke Lorentzen | Mexico, United States | Ochoa family who run a private ambulance business | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|One Child Nation
| Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang | United States | The fallout of China's one-child policy that lasted from 1980 to 2015 | {{notnom}} |
=2020=
{{Main article|93rd Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|All In: The Fight for Democracy
| Liz Garbus, Lisa Cortés | rowspan="2" | United States | Voter suppression and the perspective and expertise of Stacey Abrams, the former Minority Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives | {{notnom}} | align="center" rowspan="15"|{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/02/oscars-documentary-feature-shortlist-2021-snubs-surprises-netflix-amazon-1234690805/|title=Oscars Documentary Feature Shortlist: Snubs, Surprises And A Netflix-Amazon Showdown|work=Deadline|date=February 9, 2021|access-date=September 21, 2022|first=Matthew|last=Carey|archive-date=October 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241004102709/https://deadline.com/2021/02/oscars-documentary-feature-shortlist-2021-snubs-surprises-netflix-amazon-1234690805/|url-status=live}}[https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/94aa-doc-feature-eligibility-list.pdf 94TH ACADEMY AWARDS® ELIGIBLE FOR ... - Oscars.org] |
|---|
| scope="row"|Boys State
| Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine | A thousand teenage boys attending Boys State in Texas, coming to build a representative government from the ground up | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Collective
| Romania | The 2016 public health scandal following the Colectiv nightclub fire | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Crip Camp
| Nicole Newnham, James Lebrecht | rowspan="2" | United States | Camp Jened campers who turned themselves into activists for the disability rights movement in the 1970s and follows their fight for accessibility legislation | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Dick Johnson Is Dead
| Johnson's father Richard "Dick", who suffers from dementia, portraying different ways in which he could ultimately die | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Gunda
| United States, Norway, Spain | The daily life of a pig, two cows, and a one-legged chicken | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|MLK/FBI
| United States | The investigation and harassment of activist Martin Luther King Jr. by J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Mole Agent
| Chile, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, United States | A private investigator, Rómulo, hires Sergio, an elderly man to go undercover in a nursing home in Chile | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|My Octopus Teacher
| Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed | South Africa, United Kingdom | A year spent by filmmaker Craig Foster forging a relationship with wild common octopus in a South African kelp forest | {{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Notturno
| Italy, Germany, France | Different people from areas near war zones in the Middle East who are trying to start over again with their everyday lives | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Painter and the Thief
| Benjamin Ree | Norway, United States | Barbora Kysilkova, an artist, forming a friendship with Karl-Bertil Nordland, a man who stole her artwork | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|76 Days
| Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, anonymous third | China, United States | The struggles of patients and frontline medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Time
| United States | Sibil Fox Richardson, fighting for the release of her husband, Rob, who is serving a 60-year prison sentence for engaging in an armed bank robbery | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|The Truffle Hunters
| Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw | United States, Italy, Greece | A group of aging men hunt in the woods in Northern Italy, for a prized quarry, the Alba truffle | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Welcome to Chechnya
| United States | LGBT Chechen refugees as they made their way out of anti-gay purges in Chechnya of the late 2010s | {{notnom}} |
=2021=
{{Main article|94th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|Ascension
| rowspan="3" | United States | The pursuit of the Chinese Dream | {{nom}} | align="center" rowspan="15"|{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/12/oscars-documentary-shortlist-2022-94th-academy-awards-1234900391/|title='Flee' Scores Rare Oscar Shortlist Double, Joins 'Summer of Soul,' 'The Rescue,' 'Ascension' In Continued Hunt For Academy Awards|work=Deadline|date=December 21, 2021|access-date=September 18, 2022|first=Matthew|last=Carey}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Attica
| Stanley Nelson Jr., Traci Curry | The infamous 1971 Attica Prison riot | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry
| The career and creative process of singer-songwriter Billie Eilish | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Faya Dayi
| United States, Ethiopia, Qatar | The rituals of khat, a psychoactive plant that plays an important role in Ethiopia's economy and culture | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The First Wave
| United States | A hospital in New York City, as it battles the COVID-19 pandemic | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Flee
| Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden, United States | Amin Nawabi, who shares his hidden past of fleeing his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark for the first time | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|In the Same Breath
| rowspan="2" | United States | The response of the Chinese and American governments to the COVID-19 pandemic | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Julia
| Julie Cohen, Betsy West | The life of cooking teacher and television personality Julia Child | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|President
| Camilla Nielsson | Denmark, Norway, United States, Zimbabwe | The career of Nelson Chamisa who takes on the corrupt ruling party in Zimbabwe | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Procession
| United States | The six men, who suffered abuse by priests, looking for peace | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Rescue
| Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin | United States, United Kingdom | The 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Simple as Water
| United States | The Syrian families across five countries, revealing the impact of war, separation, and displacement | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
| United States | The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival | {{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|The Velvet Underground
| United States | The life and times of influential rock band The Velvet Underground | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Writing with Fire
| India | The journalists running the Dalit women-led newspaper Khabar Lahariya, as they shift from 14 years of print to digital journalism using smartphones | {{nom}} |
=2022=
{{Main article|95th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|A House Made of Splinters
|Simon Lereng Wilmont |Denmark | The care of the staff of an institution for children who have been removed from their homes. |{{nom}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|All That Breathes
|India |Two brothers devote their lives to protect one casualty of the turbulent times: the bird known as the black kite |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
| rowspan="2" |United States |The life of artist Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Bad Axe
|David Siev |David Siev's Asian-American family struggles to keep their local restaurant afloat amidst racial tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Children of the Mist
|Ha Le Diem |Vietnam |The Di Hmong teenager faces challenges growing up. In traditional Di culture, girls are married at the age of 14. But at school he learns that there are alternatives. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Descendant
|United States |The community of Africatown and the descendants of some of the last known enslaved Africans that were brought to the United States |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Fire of Love
|United States |The life and career of the daring French volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft, who were ultimately killed in the 1991 eruption of Mount Unzen |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
|Daniel Geller & Dayna Goldfine |United States |The story of Leonard Cohen, and his song "Hallelujah" |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Hidden Letters
|Violet Du Feng & Qing Zhao |China |The story of two Chinese women trying to balance their lives as independent women in modern China while confronting the traditional identity that defines but also oppresses them. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Janes
|Tia Lessin & Emma Pildes | rowspan="2" |United States |The story of a clandestine service for women seeking safe, affordable, and illegal abortions, calling themselves JANE |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Last Flight Home
|In his final days, we discover Eli Timoner and an extraordinary life of wild achievements, tragic loss and most of all, enduring love |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Moonage Daydream
|Germany |David Bowie's creative, spiritual and musical journey |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Navalny
|United States |The poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Retrograde
|United States |The events that took place during the last nine months of the United States' 20-year war in Afghanistan |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Territory
|Alex Pritz |United States |The attempts of a young indigenous leader of the Uru-eu-wau-wau, an Amazonian tribe contacted by the Brazilian government only in 1980 |{{notnom}} |
=2023=
{{Main article|96th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|American Symphony
|United States | A year in the life of musician Jon Batiste chronicling his career in music and his marriage with Suleika Jaouad as they deal with her leukemia. |{{notnom}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Apolonia, Apolonia
| Lea Glob |Denmark, Poland, France | The coming-of-age story of Apolonia Sokol as she finds her place in the art world, told through 13 years. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Beyond Utopia
| Madeleine Gavin |United States | The work of Pastor Sungeun Kim, a South Korean human rights activist who has helped rescuing North Korean defectors. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Bobi Wine: The People's President
|Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp |United Kingdom, Uganda, United States | The campaign trail of Ugandan politician, singer, and actor Bobi Wine leading to the 2021 Ugandan general election. |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy
|United States | The journey of making and producing John Schlesinger's 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Eternal Memory
|Chile | The relationship between actress Paulina Urrutia and journalist Augusto Góngora as they struggle with Gongora's Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Four Daughters
|Tunisia, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia | After two daughters of a Tunisian woman disappeared, the filmmaker invites professional actresses to compensate for the loss. |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
|Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson |United States | The life of American poet Nikki Giovanni and the historical periods she lived through from civil rights movement and Black Arts Movement to Black Lives Matter. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|In the Rearview
|Maciek Hamela |Ukraine, Poland, France | Following the first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Polish van travels through Ukraine's streets serving as a refuge for citizens. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Stamped from the Beginning
| rowspan="2" |United States | A hybrid documentary based on Ibram X. Kendi's 2016 non-fiction book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
| The life of American actor Michael J. Fox and his struggle with Parkinson's disease. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|A Still Small Voice
|Luke Lorentzen |United Kingdom | A chaplain completing a year-long hospital residency facing the challenges and spiritual questions that come from her experiences with her patients. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|32 Sounds
|Sam Green |United States | Sound and its effects on human's perception of time and the world. |{{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|To Kill a Tiger
|Canada | A family in Jharkhand, India campaigning for justice for the teenage daughter, who has brutally raped. |{{nom}} |
| scope="row"|20 Days in Mariupol
|Ukraine | The twenty days spent by the filmmaker and his colleagues in besieged Mariupol after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. |{{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
=2024=
{{Main article|97th Academy Awards}}
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
!scope="col"| Film !scope="col" | Director(s) !scope="col" | Countrie(s) !scope="col" | Subject(s) !scope="col" | Result !scope="col" style="width:2%;" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row"|The Bibi Files
| United States | The leaked interrogation footage of the trial of Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel. | {{notnom}} | rowspan="15" align="center" |{{Cite web|url=https://press.oscars.org/news/97th-oscarsr-shortlists-10-award-categories-announced |title= 97th Oscars Shortlists in 10 Award Categories Announced |date=17 December 2024|access-date=18 December 2024 |website= Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/oscars-shortlists-full-list-movies-contenders-1236088489/ |title= Academy Unveils Shortlists in 10 Oscar Categories |author= Kimberly Nordyke, Beatrice Verhoeven |website= The Hollywood Reporter |date= 17 December 2024 |access-date= 18 December 2024|lang=en}} |
|---|
| scope="row"|Black Box Diaries
| United States, United Kingdom, Japan | The investigation into Shiori's sexual assault case committed by Noriyuki Yamaguchi, director of the Tokyo Broadcasting System. | {{Nom}} |
| scope="row"|Dahomey
| France, Senegal, Benin | Dramatised account of 26 royal treasures from the Kingdom of Dahomey (in modern-day Republic of Benin), which were held in a museum in France. | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Daughters
|Natalie Rae and Angela Patton |United States |The account of 4 young girls as part of afatherhood program in a Washington, D.C., jail. | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Eno
|United States, United Kingdom |An account of English ambient music artist Brian Eno, produced with a computer software capable to select footage and edit the film in 52 quintillion possible iterations. | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Frida
|Carla Gutierrez |Mexico, United States |The life of Frida Kahlo told through her own writings and interviews. | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Hollywoodgate
|Ibrahim Nash'at |Germany, United States |The daily life of Taliban air force commander Mawlawi Mansour, and the fundamentalist M.J. Mukhtar, following the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|No Other Land
|Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor |Palestine, Norway |The struggle of Palestinian activist Basel Adra over the destruction of the Masafer Yatta villages due to the occupation of the Israeli army. | {{won|place=1st|Won Academy Award}} |
| scope="row"|Porcelain War
|Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev |United States, Australia, Ukraine |The experience of Ukrainian artists as they face the current Russian occupation in Ukraine. | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Queendom
|Agniia Galdanova |United States, France | The art and activism of Gena Marvin, a queer artist from Russia challenging her country's anti-LGBTQ+ laws. | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
|Norway |The secret life of Mats Steen, a World of Warcraft gamer with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
|Belgium, France, Netherlands |The crash of Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach at the UN Security Council in protest of the murder of Patrice Lumumba. | {{nom}} |
| scope="row"|Sugarcane
|Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie |United States, Canada |The investigation into the abuse and disappearances of Canadian indigenous children in the nearby Sugarcane Reserve. | {{Nom}} |
| scope="row"|Union
|Brett Story and Stephen Maing | rowspan="2" |United States |The journey of Amazon Labor Union to unionize Amazon's JKF8 warehouse on Staten Island. | {{notnom}} |
| scope="row"|Will & Harper
|A road trip across the United States between Will Ferrel and his friend Harper Steele, who completed her gender transition. | {{notnom}} |
See also
References
{{Reflist|3}}
{{Academy Awards lists}}