# European Film Award for Best Documentary

The European Film Award for Best Documentary or Prix Arte has been awarded annually since 1989 by the European Film Academy. Special Mentions were presented alongside the winner of the award until 1993, since 1999 a set of nominees are presented out of which a winner is chosen.

## Criteria

Documentary films taken into consideration must have a minimum length of 70 minutes. They must have either had a theatrical release in at least one European country, at a European competitive feature film festival accredited by FIAPF or been screened at one of the following documentary festivals:
* Cinéma du Réel (France)
* Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (Denmark)
* Doclisboa (Portugal)
* Dok Leipzig (Germany)
* International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
* Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival (Czech Republic)
* Kraków Film Festival (Poland)
* Sheffield Doc/Fest (UK)
* Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (Greece)
* Visions du Réel (Switzerland)

## Winners and nominees

The winners are in a yellow background and in bold.

### 1980s

| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| 1989 (2nd) |
| 1989 (2nd) | Recsk 1950-1953: The Story Of A Secret Concentration Camp In Communist Hungary | Recsk 1950–1953, egy titkos kényszermunkatábor története | Géza Böszörményi, Lívia Gyarmathy | Hungary |
| 1989 (2nd) | A Story of the Wind | Een verhaal van de wind | Joris Ivens & Marceline Loridan | Netherlands |
| 1989 (2nd) | The Road to God Knows Where | The Road to God Knows Where | Alan Gilsenan | Ireland |
| 1989 (2nd) | Pictures of the Old World | Obrazy starého sveta | Dušan Hanák | Czechoslovakia |

### 1990s

| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| 1990 (3rd) |
| 1990 (3rd) | The Crossroad | Šķērsiela | Ivars Seleckis | Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic |
| 1990 (3rd) | Step Across the Border | Step Across the Border | Nicholas Humbert & Werner Penzel | Switzerland |
| 1991 (4th) |
| 1991 (4th) | Hear My Cry | Usłyszcie mój krzyk | Maciej Drygas | Poland |
| 1991 (4th) | Crimes and passions - the scar | Crimes et passions - la cicatrice | Mireille Dumas | France |
| 1991 (4th) | The Wall | Die Mauer | Jürgen Böttcher | Germany |
| 1992 (5th) |
| 1992 (5th) | Earth of the Blind | Neregiu zeme | Audrius Stonys | Czech Republic |
| 1992 (5th) | Dostoyevsky’s Travels | Dostoyevsky’s Travels | Paweł Pawlikowski | United Kingdom |
| 1992 (5th) | Lovers on Trial | Les amants d'assises | Manu Bonmariage | Belgium |
| 1993 (6th) |
| 1993 (6th) | Misfits To Yuppies | Det sociala arvet | Stefan Jarl | Sweden |
| 1993 (6th) | The Man Who Loves Gary Lineker | The Man Who Loves Gary Lineker | Ylli Hasani, Steve Sklair | United Kingdom |
| 1993 (6th) | 89mm from Europe | 89 mm od Europy | Marcel Łoziński | Poland |
| 1994 (7th) |
| 1994 (7th) | Angels of Sarajevo | Anđeli u Sarajevu | Saga-Group Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 1995 (8th) |
| 1995 (8th) | Viva Stalin | Viva Stalin | Jens Meurer | Germany |
| 1996 (9th) |
| 1996 (9th) | Vendetta - Blood Revenge in Albania | Vendetta - Blutrache in Albanien | Jerzy Sladkowski, Stanislav Krzeminski | Germany |
| 1997 (10th) |
| 1997 (10th) | Gigi, Monica... and Bianca | Gigi, Monica... et Bianca | Yasmina Abdellaoui, Benoît Dervaux | Belgium, Romania |
| 1998 (11th) |
| 1998 (11th) | Painting with Falls | Tableau avec chutes | Claudio Pazienza | Belgium, France |
| 1999 (12th) |
| 1999 (12th) | Buena Vista Social Club | Buena Vista Social Club | Wim Wenders | Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Cuba, France |
| 1999 (12th) | Mr Zwilling und Mrs Zuckermann | Herr Zwilling und Frau Zuckermann | Volker Koepp | Germany |
| 1999 (12th) | My Best Fiend | Mein liebster Feind - Klaus Kinski | Werner Herzog | Germany |
| 1999 (12th) | Bach in Auschwitz | La chaconne d'Auschwitz | Michel Daeron | France |
| 1999 (12th) | The Truth Commission | La commission de la vérité | André van In | Belgium |
| 1999 (12th) | Mobutu, king of Zaire | Mobutu, roi du Zaïre | Thierry Michel | Belgium |
| 1999 (12th) | Pripyat | Pripyat | Nikolaus Geyrhalter | Austria |
    Jury Special Award
    Special Mention

### 2000s

| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| 2000 (12th) |
| 2000 (12th) | The Gleaners and I | Les glaneurs et la glaneuse | Agnès Varda | France |
| 2000 (12th) | Calle 54 | Calle 54 | Fernando Trueba | Spain |
| 2000 (12th) | Gulag | Goulag | Iossif Pasternak, Hélène Châtelain | France |
| 2000 (12th) | Working Women of the World | Ouvrières du monde | Marie-France Collard | France |
| 2000 (12th) | Home Game | Heimspiel | Pepe Danquart | Germany |
| 2000 (12th) | One Day in September | One Day in September | Kevin Macdonald | United Kingdom |
| 2001 (13th) |
| 2001 (13th) | Black Box BRD | Black Box BRD | Andres Veiel | Germany |
| 2002 (14th) |
| 2002 (14th) | To Be and to Have | Être et avoir | Nicolas Philibert | France |
| 2003 (16th) |
| 2003 (16th) | S21: The Khmer Rouge Death Machine | S-21, la machine de mort Khmère rouge | Rithy Panh | France, Cambodia |
| 2003 (16th) | The Five Obstructions | De fem benspænd | Lars Von Trier, Jørgen Leth | Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, France |
| 2003 (16th) | Whose Is This Song? | Chia e tazi pesen? | Adela Peeva | Bulgaria, Belgium |
| 2003 (16th) | Eat, Sleep, No Women | Essen, schlafen, keine Frauen | Heiner Stadler | Germany |
| 2003 (16th) | A Species' Odyssey | L'odyssée de l'espèce | Jacques Malaterre, Javier G. Salanova | France, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium |
| 2003 (16th) | The Day I Will Never Forget | The Day I Will Never Forget | Kim Longinotto | United Kingdom |
| 2003 (16th) | The Story of the Weeping Camel | Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel | Byambasuren Davaa, Luigi Falorni | Germany, Mongolia |
| 2003 (16th) | Hush! | Tishe! | Viktor Kossakovsky | Russia |
| 2004 (17th) |
| 2004 (17th) | Darwin's Nightmare | Darwin's Nightmare | Hubert Sauper | Austria, France, Belgium |
| 2004 (17th) | Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer | Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer | Nick Broomfield, Joan Churchill | United Kingdom |
| 2004 (17th) | Addicted to Acting | Die Spielwütigen | Andres Veiel | Germany |
| 2004 (17th) | Basque Ball, Skin Against Stone | La pelota vasca, la piel contra la piedra | Julio Medem | Spain |
| 2004 (17th) | The World According to Bush | Le monde selon Bush | William Karel | France |
| 2004 (17th) | Checkpoint | Mahssomim | Yoav Shamir | Israel |
| 2004 (17th) | The Last Victory | The Last Victory | John Appel | Netherlands |
| 2004 (17th) | Touch the Sound | Touch the Sound | Thomas Riedelsheimer | Germany, United Kingdom, Finland |
| 2005 (18th) |
| 2005 (18th) | The Pipeline Next Door | Un dragon dans les eaux | Nino Kirtadzé | France |
| 2005 (18th) | Stroke | Am seidenen Faden | Katarina Peters | Germany |
| 2005 (18th) | The Devil's Miner | Berg des Teufels | Richard Ladkani, Kief Davidson | Germany |
| 2005 (18th) | Dreamland | Leiputrija | Laila Pakalnina | Latvia, Germany |
| 2005 (18th) | Raw Youth | Ungdommens råskap | Margreth Olin | Norway, Denmark |
| 2005 (18th) | Melodias | Melodias | François Bovy | Switzerland |
| 2005 (18th) | Before Flying Back to the Earth | Pries parskrendant i zeme | Arunas Matelis | Lithuania, Germany |
| 2005 (18th) | Workingman's Death | Workingman's Death | Michael Glawogger | Austria, Germany |
| 2005 (18th) | Rehearsals | Repetitioner | Michal Leszczylowsky, Gunnar Källström | Sweden |
| 2005 (18th) | The Swenkas | The Swenkas | Jeppe Rønde | Denmark, Sweden |
| 2005 (18th) | Viva Zapatero! | Viva Zapatero! | Sabina Guzzanti | Italy, Denmark |
| 2006 (19th) |
| 2006 (19th) | Into Great Silence | Die Grosse Stile | Philip Gröning | Germany |
| 2006 (19th) | 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep | 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep | Ben Hopkins | United Kingdom |
| 2006 (19th) | Dreaming by Numbers | Dreaming by Numbers | Anna Bucchetti | Netherlands |
| 2006 (19th) | Grandmother's House | La casa de mi abuela | Adán Aliaga | Spain |
| 2006 (19th) | Maradona, the Golden Kid | Maradona, un gamin en or | Jean-Christophe Rosé | France |
| 2006 (19th) | The Cemetery Club | Moadon beit hakvarot | Tali Shemesh | Israel |
| 2006 (19th) | The Fisherman and the Dancing Girl | Rybak i tantsovshitsa | Valeriy Solomin | Russia |
| 2006 (19th) | Our Daily Bread | Unser täglich Brot | Nikolaus Geyrhalter | Austria |
| 2007 (20th) |
| 2007 (20th) | Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers | Le papier ne peut pas envelopper la braise | Rithy Panh | France |
| 2007 (20th) | To the Limit | Am Limit | Pepe Danquart | Germany, Austria |
| 2007 (20th) | Belarusian Waltz | Belarusian Waltz | Andrzej Fidyk | Norway |
| 2007 (20th) | Forever | Forever | Heddy Honigmann | Netherlands |
| 2007 (20th) | Echoes of Home | Heimatklänge | Stefan Schwietert | Switzerland, Germany |
| 2007 (20th) | 9 Star Hotel | Malon 9 Kochavim | Ido Haar | Israel |
| 2007 (20th) | The Monastery | The Monastery | Pernille Rose Grønkjær | Denmark |
| 2007 (20th) | Divorce Albanian Style | Razvod Po Albanski | Adela Peeva | Bulgaria |
| 2007 (20th) | The Champagne Spy | Meragel Hashampaniya | Nadav Schirman | Israel, Germany |
| 2007 (20th) | Where is the Love in the Palmgrove? | Où est l'amour dans la palmeraie? | Jérôme Le Maire | Belgium |
| 2008 (21st) |
| 2008 (21st) | René | René | Helena Trestikova | Czech Republic |
| 2008 (21st) | Durakovo – Village of Fools | Durakovo – Le village des fous | Nino Kirtadzé | France |
| 2008 (21st) | Fados | Fados | Carlos Saura | Portugal, Spain |
| 2008 (21st) | Children. As Time Flies. | Kinder. Wie Zeit vergeht. | Thomas Heise | Germany |
| 2008 (21st) | The Mother | La mère | Antoine Cattin, Pavel Kostomarov | Switzerland |
| 2008 (21st) | Man on Wire | Man on Wire | James Marsh | United Kingdom, United States |
| 2008 (21st) | Stranded: I've Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains | Naufragés des Andes | Gonzalo Arijón | France |
| 2008 (21st) | Citizen Havel | Obcan Václav Havel | Pavel Koutecký, Miroslav Janek | Czech Republic |
| 2008 (21st) | Shadow of the Holy Book | Pyhän kirjan varjo | Arto Halonen | Finland |
| 2008 (21st) | The Dictator Hunter | The Dictator Hunter | Klaartje Quirijns | Netherlands |
| 2009 (22nd) |
| 2009 (22nd) | The Sound of Insects – Records of a Mummy | Das Summen der Insekten – Bericht einer Mumie | Peter Liechti | Switzerland |
| 2009 (22nd) | Cooking History | Ako sa varia dejiny | Peter Kerekes | Slovakia, Austria, Czech Republic |
| 2009 (22nd) | Pianomania | Pianomania | Lilian Franck, Robert Cibis | Germany, Austria |
| 2009 (22nd) | Below Sea Level | Below Sea Level | Gianfranco Rosi | Italy, United States |
| 2009 (22nd) | Burma VJ | Burma VJ | Anders Østergaard | Denmark |
| 2009 (22nd) | The Heart of Jenin | Das Herz von Jenin | Leon Geller, Marcus Vetter | Germany |
| 2009 (22nd) | The Damned of the Sea | Les damnes de la mer | Jawad Rhalib | Belgium |
| 2009 (22nd) | Defamation | Defamation | Yoav Shamir | Denmark, Austria, Israel, United States |
| 2009 (22nd) | The Woman with the 5 Elephants | Die Frau mit den 5 Elefanten | Vadim Jendreyko | Switzerland, Germany |
| 2009 (22nd) | The Beaches of Agnès | Les plages d'Agnès | Agnès Varda | France |

### 2010s

| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| 2010 (23rd) |
| 2010 (23rd) | Nostalgia for the Light | Nostalgia de la luz | Patricio Guzmán | France, Germany, Chile |
| 2010 (23rd) | Armadillo | Armadillo | Janus Metz | Denmark, Sweden |
| 2010 (23rd) | Steam of Life | Miesten vuoro | Joonas Berghäll, Mika Hotakainen | Finland, Sweden |
| 2011 (24th) |
| 2011 (24th) | Pina | Pina | Wim Wenders | Germany |
| 2011 (24th) | Position Among the Stars | Stand van de sterren | Leonard Retel Helmrich | Netherlands |
| 2011 (24th) | ¡Vivan las Antipodas! | ¡Vivan las Antipodas! | Viktor Kossakovsky | Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, Chile |
| 2012 (25th) |
| 2012 (25th) | Winter Nomad | Hiver Nomade | Manuel von Stürler | Switzerland |
| 2012 (25th) | London – The Modern Babylon | London – The Modern Babylon | Julien Temple | United Kingdom |
| 2012 (25th) | Tea or Electricity | Le thé ou l'électricité | Jerome Lemaire | Belgium, France, Morocco |
| 2013 (26th) |
| 2013 (26th) | The Act of Killing | Jagal | Joshua Oppenheimer | Denmark, Norway, United Kingdom |
| 2013 (26th) | Stop-Over | L'escale | Kaveh Bakhtiari | Switzerland, France |
| 2013 (26th) | The Missing Picture | L'image manquante | Rithy Panh | France, Cambodia |
| 2014 (27th) |
| 2014 (27th) | Master of the Universe | Master of the Universe | Marc Bauder | Germany, Austria |
| 2014 (27th) | Just the Right Amount of Violence | Just the Right Amount of Violence | Jon Bang Carlsen | Denmark |
| 2014 (27th) | Of Men and War | Des hommes et de la guerre | Laurent Bécue-Renard | France, Switzerland |
| 2014 (27th) | Sacro GRA | Sacro GRA | Gianfranco Rosi | Italy, France |
| 2014 (27th) | Waiting For August | Waiting For August | Teodora Ana Mihai | Belgium, Romania |
| 2014 (27th) | We Come as Friends | We Come as Friends | Hubert Sauper | Austria, France |
| 2015 (28th) |
| 2015 (28th) | Amy | Amy | Asif Kapadia | United Kingdom |
| 2015 (28th) | Dancing with Maria | Dancing with Maria | Ivan Gergolet | Italy, Argentina, Slovenia |
| 2015 (28th) | A Syrian Love Story | A Syrian Love Story | Sean McAllister | United Kingdom, France |
| 2015 (28th) | The Look of Silence | Senyap | Joshua Oppenheimer | Denmark, Finland, Indonesia, Norway, United Kingdom |
| 2015 (28th) | Toto and His Sisters | Toto and His Sisters | Alexander Nanau | Romania |
| 2016 (29th) |
| 2016 (29th) | Fire at Sea | Fuocoammare | Gianfranco Rosi | Italy, France |
| 2016 (29th) | 21 x New York | 21 x Nowy Jork | Piotr Stasik | Poland |
| 2016 (29th) | A Family Affair | A Family Affair | Tom Fassaertr | Netherlands, Belgium |
| 2016 (29th) | Mr. Gaga | Mr. Gaga | Tomer Heymann | Israel, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands |
| 2016 (29th) | S Is for Stanley | Trent'anni dietro al volante per Stanley Kubrick | Alex Infascelli | Italy |
| 2016 (29th) | The Land of the Enlightened | The Land of the Enlightened | Pieter-Jan De Pue | Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany |
| 2017 (30th) |
| 2017 (30th) | Communion | Komunia | Anna Zamecka | Poland |
| 2017 (30th) | Austerlitz | Austerlitz | Sergei Loznitsa | Germany |
| 2017 (30th) | La Chana | La Chana | Lucija Stojevic | Spain, Iceland, United States |
| 2017 (30th) | Stranger in Paradise | Stranger in Paradise | Guido Hendrikx | Netherlands |
| 2017 (30th) | The Good Postman | Hyvä postimies | Tonislav Hristov | Finland, Bulgaria |
| 2018 (31st) |
| 2018 (31st) | Bergman: A Year in a Life | Bergman - ett år, ett liv | Jane Magnusson | Sweden, Norway |
| 2018 (31st) | A Woman Captured | Egy nő fogságban | Tuza-Ritter | Romania, Germany |
| 2018 (31st) | The Distant Barking of Dogs | The Distant Barking of Dogs | Simon Lering Wilmont | Denmark, Finland, Sweden |
| 2018 (31st) | Of Fathers and Sons | Kinder des Kalifats | Talal Derki | Germany, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar |
| 2018 (31st) | The Silence of Others | El silencio de otros | Almudena Carracedo & Robert Bahar | Spain, United States |
| 2019 (32nd) |
| 2019 (32nd) | For Sama | For Sama | Waad al-Kateab, Edward Wat | United Kingdom, United States |
| 2019 (32nd) | Honeyland | Медена земја | Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska | North Macedonia |
| 2019 (32nd) | Selfie | Selfie | Agostino Ferrente | France, Italy |
| 2019 (32nd) | Putin's Witnesses | Putin's Witnesses | Vitaly Mansky | Latvia, Switzerland, Czech Republic |
| 2019 (32nd) | The Disappearance of my Mother | The Disappearance of my Mother | Beniamino Barrese | Italy, United States |

### 2020s

| Year | English title | Original title | Director(s) | Country |
| 2020 (33rd) |
| 2020 (33rd) | Collective | Colectiv | Alexander Nanau | Romania, Luxembourg |
| 2020 (33rd) | Acasă, My Home | Acasă | Radu Ciorniciuc | Romania, Germany, Finland |
| 2020 (33rd) | The Cave | The Cave | Feras Fayyad | Syria, Denmark |
| 2020 (33rd) | Gunda | Gunda | Viktor Kossakovsky | Norway, Russia |
| 2020 (33rd) | Little Girl | Petite fille | Sébastien Lifshitz | France |
| 2020 (33rd) | Saudi Runaway | Saudi Runaway | Susanne Regina Meures | Switzerland |
| 2021 (34th) |
| 2021 (34th) | Flee | Flugt | Jonas Poher Rasmussen | Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway |
| 2021 (34th) | Babi Yar. Context | Babi Yar. Context | Sergei Loznitsa | Netherlands, Ukraine |
| 2021 (34th) | Mr Bachmann and His Class | Herr Bachmann und Seine Klasse | Maria Speth | Germany |
| 2021 (34th) | Taming the Garden | Taming the Garden | Salomé Jashi | Switzerland, Germany, Georgia |
| 2021 (34th) | The Most Beautiful Boy in the World | The Most Beautiful Boy in the World | Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri | Sweden |
| 2023 (36th) |
| 2023 (36th) | Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Savvusanna sõsarad | Anna Hints | Estonia |
| 2023 (36th) | Apolonia, Apolonia | Apolonia, Apolonia | Lea Glob | Denmark |
| 2023 (36th) | Four Daughters | Les Filles d'Olfa | Kaouther Ben Hania | Tunisia |
| 2023 (36th) | Motherland | Motherland | Alexander Mihalkovich | Belarus Hanna Badziaka Belarus |
| 2023 (36th) | On the Adamant | Sur l’Adamant | Nicolas Philibert | France |
| 2024 (37th) | No Other Land | No Other Land | Yuval Abraham Rachel Szor Basel Adra Hamdan Ballal | Palestine, Norway |
| 2024 (37th) | Bye Bye Tiberias | باي باي طبريا | Lina Soualem | France, Belgium, Palestine, Qatar |
| 2024 (37th) | Dahomey | Dahomey | Mati Diop | France, Senegal |
| 2024 (37th) | In Limbo | W zawieszeniu | Alina Maksimenko | Poland |
| 2024 (37th) | Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat | Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat | Johan Grimonprez | France, Belgium, Netherlands |