# International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Documentary

The International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best Original Score for a Documentary is an annual award given by the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA). Established in 2008, the award is given to the composer of a film or television score for a documentary based on two criteria: the effectiveness, appropriateness and emotional impact of the score in the context of the film for which it was written; and the technical and intellectual merit of the composition when heard as a standalone listening experience." The eligibility period runs January 1 through December 31 every year, and IFMCA members vote for the winner the following February.
When the award was established in 2008, it was called "Best Original Score for a Documentary Feature" and only documentary films were eligible. Eligibility was expanded in before the 2011 awards to include documentary TV shows. In 2020, the award was renamed to reflect the new criteria.

## Winners and nominees
### 2000s

Best Original Score for a Documentary Feature
| Year | Film | Composer(s) |
| 2007 | Earth | George Fenton |
| 2007 | Darfur Now | Graeme Revell |
| 2007 | In the Shadow of the Moon | Philip Sheppard |
| 2007 | The First Cry | Armand Amar |
| 2007 | The White Planet | Bruno Coulais |
| 2008 | Standard Operating Procedure | Danny Elfman |
| 2008 | The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos | The Cinematic Orchestra |
| 2008 | Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father | Kurt Kuenne |
| 2008 | Night | Cezary Skubiszewski |
| 2008 | Tabarly | Yann Tiersen |
| 2009 | Home | Armand Amar |
| 2009 | Brothers at War | Lee Holdridge |
| 2009 | Earth Days | Michael Giacchino |
| 2009 | Garbo: The Spy | Fernando Velázquez |
| 2009 | Under the Sea 3D | Micky Erbe and Maribeth Solomon |

### 2010s

| Year | Documentary | Composer(s) |
| 2010 | Oceans | Bruno Coulais |
| 2010 | Babies | Bruno Coulais |
| 2010 | The Battle of Britain | Miguel d'Oliveira |
| 2010 | Waiting for "Superman" | Christophe Beck |
| 2010 | The Wildest Dream | Joel Douek |
| 2011 | The Wind Gods | Pinar Toprak |
| 2011 | Frozen Planet | George Fenton |
| 2011 | Hold at All Costs: The Story of the Battle of Outpost Harry | Larry Groupé |
| 2011 | Jig | Patrick Doyle |
| 2011 | Russland - Im Reich der Tiger, Bären und Vulkane | Kolja Erdmann |
| 2012 | Tale of a Forest | Panu Aaltio |
| 2012 | Kingdom of Plants 3D | Joel Douek, Freddy Sheinfeld and Elik Alvarez |
| 2012 | Los mundos sutiles | Pascal Gaigne |
| 2012 | Samsara | Lisa Gerrard and Michael Stearns |
| 2012 | Simon Schama's Shakespeare | Miguel d'Oliveira |
| 2013 | Tim's Vermeer | Conrad Pope |
| 2013 | Africa | Sarah Class |
| 2013 | An Article of Hope | Blake Neely |
| 2013 | Anne & Alet | Mark Rayen Candasamy |
| 2013 | Secrets of the North Sea | Oliver Heuss |
| 2014 | The Unknown Known | Danny Elfman |
| 2014 | Ballet Boys | Henrik Skram |
| 2014 | Bears | George Fenton |
| 2014 | Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey | Alan Silvestri |
| 2014 | Hidden Kingdoms | Ben Foster |
| 2015 | The Hunt | Steven Price |
| 2015 | The Great Human Odyssey | Darren Fung |
| 2015 | He Named Me Malala | Thomas Newman |
| 2015 | Human | Armand Amar |
| 2015 | I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story | Joshua Johnson |
| 2016 | Tale of a Lake | Panu Aaltio |
| 2016 | Paper Lanterns | Chad Cannon |
| 2016 | Planet Earth II | Hans Zimmer (theme); Jasha Klebe and Jacob Shea |
| 2016 | Seasons | Bruno Coulais |
| 2016 | Spain in a Day | Alberto Iglesias |
| 2017 | Mully | Benjamin Wallfisch, Matías León |
| 2017 | Boston: An American Running Story | Jeff Beal |
| 2017 | Blue Planet II | Hans Zimmer (theme); Jacob Shea and David Fleming |
| 2017 | Earth: One Amazing Day | Alex Heffes |
| 2017 | Jane | Philip Glass |
| 2018 | The Tides of Fate | Pinar Toprak |
| 2018 | Dynasties | Benji Merrison and Will Slater |
| 2018 | Free Solo | Marco Beltrami |
| 2018 | McQueen | Michael Nyman |
| 2018 | Wild | Matthijs Kieboom |
Best Original Score for a Documentary
| Year | Documentary | Composer(s) |
| 2019 | Our Planet | Steven Price |
| 2019 | The Biggest Little Farm | Jeff Beal |
| 2019 | CyberWork and the American Dream | Chad Cannon |
| 2019 | Finis Terrae | Christoph Zirngibl |
| 2019 | Untamed Romania | Nainita Desai |

### 2020s

| Year | Documentary | Composer(s) |
| 2020 | David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet | Steven Price |
| 2020 | Elephant | Ramin Djawadi |
| 2020 | Harbor From the Holocaust | Chad Cannon |
| 2020 | Rising Phoenix | Daniel Pemberton |
| 2020 | Sadan Hanim | George Kallis |
| 2021 | Tale of the Sleeping Giants | Panu Aaltio |
| 2021 | The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness | Alex Heffes |
| 2021 | Julia | Rachel Portman |
| 2021 | A Perfect Planet | Ilan Eshkeri |
| 2021 | Qinghai: Our National Park | Chad Cannon |