# Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking

The Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking is handed out annually at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony since 2005. Entries are reviewed by a jury on the basis of the "filmmaker's expressed vision, compelling power of storytelling, artistry or innovation of craft, and the capacity to inform, transport, impact, enlighten, and create a moving and indelible work that elevates the art of documentary filmmaking." Entrants are ineligible for Outstanding Informational Series or Special and Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.

## Winners and nominations
### 2000s

| Year | Program | Producers | Network |
| 2005 (57th) |
| 2005 (57th) | Death in Gaza | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Nancy Abraham, supervising producer; James Miller and Saira Shah, producers | HBO |
| 2005 (57th) | Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (American Experience) | Mark Samels and Nick Fraser, executive producers; Robert Stone, producer | PBS |
| 2005 (57th) | Last Letters Home: Voices of American Troops from the Battlefields of Iraq | John Hoffman, Sheila Nevins and Jane Bornemeier, executive producers; Bill Couturié, produced by | HBO |
| 2005 (57th) | With All Deliberate Speed | Steve Carlis, Steve Rosenbaum and Don Baer, executive producers; Peter Gilbert, produced by | Discovery |
| 2006 (58th) |
| 2006 (58th) | Baghdad ER | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill and Joseph Feury, produced by | HBO |
| 2006 (58th) | Two Days in October (American Experience) | Sally Jo Fifer, executive producer; Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, producers; Lois Vossen, series producer | PBS |
| 2006 (58th) | Beslan: Three Days in September | Joe Halderman, produced by; Peter Van Sant, Michael McHugh and Michael Vele, producers | Showtime |
| 2006 (58th) | Combat Diary: The Marines of Lima Company | Nancy Dubuc and Dierdre O'Hearn, executive producers for A&E; Michael Epstein and Jonathan Yellen, produced by | A&E |
| 2006 (58th) | In the Realms of the Unreal (POV) | Sally Jo Fifer and Cara Mertes, executive producers; Jessica Yu and Susan West, producers | PBS |
| 2007 (59th) |
| 2007 (59th) | A Lion in the House (Independent Lens) | Sally Jo Fifer, executive producer; Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, producers; Lois Vossen, series producer | PBS |
| 2007 (59th) | When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Samuel D. Pollard and Spike Lee, producers; Jacqueline Glover, supervising producer | HBO |
| 2007 (59th) | Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Stanley Nelson, producer; Sharon Grimberg, series producer | PBS |
| 2008 (60th) |
| 2008 (60th) | White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Sheila Nevins and Robert Richter, executive producers; Steven Okazaki, producer; Sara Bernstein, supervising producer | HBO |
| 2008 (60th) | Oswald's Ghost (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Sharon Grimberg, senior producer; Robert Stone, producer | PBS |
| 2008 (60th) | Walt Whitman (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Patrick Long and Jamila Wignot, producers; Mark Zwonitzer, filmmaker | PBS |
| 2009 (61st) |
| 2009 (61st) | The Alzheimer's Project: "The Memory Loss Tapes" | Sheila Nevins and Maria Shriver, executive producers; John Hoffman, series producer; Shari Cookson and Nick Doob, produced by | HBO |
| 2009 (61st) | Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Jacqueline Glover, supervising producer; Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill, produced by | HBO |

### 2010s

| Year | Program | Producers | Network |
| 2010 (62nd) |
| 2010 (62nd) | The Betrayal – Nerakhoon (POV) | Simon Kilmurry and Cara Mertes, executive producers; Ellen Kuras and Flora Fernandez-Marengo, produced by | PBS |
| 2010 (62nd) | Brick City | Marc Levin, Mark Benjamin, Forest Whitaker and Mala Chapple, executive producers | Sundance |
| 2010 (62nd) | My Lai (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Barak Goodman], producer | PBS |
| 2010 (62nd) | Patti Smith: Dream of Life (POV) | Simon Kilmurry and Steven Sebring, executive producers; Margaret Smilow, executive producer/producer | PBS |
| 2010 (62nd) | Pressure Cooker | Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann, executive producers; Jennifer Grausman, producer | BET |
| 2010 (62nd) | Sergio | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Nancy Abraham, senior producer; Greg Barker, John Battsek and Julie Goldman, produced by | HBO |
| 2011 (63rd) |
| 2011 (63rd) | Freedom Riders (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Stanley Nelson and Laurens Grant, produced by; Sharon Grimberg, senior producer | PBS |
| 2011 (63rd) | Gasland | Trish Adlesic, Josh Fox and Molly Gandour, producers | HBO |
| 2011 (63rd) | The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (POV) | Rick Goldsmith and Judith Ehrlich, producers | PBS |
| 2012 (64th) |
| 2012 (64th) | Have You Heard from Johannesburg? (Independent Lens) | Sally Jo Fifer, executive producer; Connie Field, producer; Lois Vossen, series senior producer | PBS |
| 2012 (64th) | The Amish (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Sharon Grimberg, senior producer; Callie T. Wiser and David Belton, producers | PBS |
| 2012 (64th) | Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Joe Berlinger and Jonathan Silberberg, producers; Nancy Abraham, senior producers | HBO |
| 2013 (65th) |
| 2013 (65th) | Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Alex Gibney, Alexandra Johnes, Todd Wider and Jedd Wider, producers; Sara Bernstein, supervising producer | HBO |
| 2014 (66th) |
| 2014 (66th) | Life According to Sam | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Nancy Abraham, senior producer; Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, produced by | HBO |
| 2014 (66th) | The Amish: Shunned (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Sharon Grimberg, senior producer; Callie T. Wiser, producer | PBS |
| 2014 (66th) | Brave Miss World | Lati Grobman, executive producer; Cecilia Peck, Inbal B. Lessner and Motty Reif, producers | Netflix |
| 2014 (66th) | Hillsborough (30 for 30 Soccer Stories) | Connor Schell, John Dahl and John Battsek, executive producers; Daniel Gordon and Deirdre Fenton, producers | ESPN |
| 2015 (67th) |
| 2015 (67th) | Citizenfour | Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky, produced by | HBO |
| 2015 (67th) | The Great Invisible (Independent Lens) | Margaret Brown, Jason Orans and Julie Goldman, produced by; Lois Vossen, senior series producer | PBS |
| 2015 (67th) | Hot Girls Wanted | Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus and Rashida Jones, produced by | Netflix |
| 2016 (68th) |
| 2016 (68th) | Cartel Land | Kathryn Bigelow, Molly Thompson and Robert DeBitetto, executive producers; Tom Yellin and Matthew Heineman, producers | A&E |
| 2016 (68th) | Jim: The James Foley Story | Peter Kunhardt, Sheila Nevins and Jacqueline Glover, executive producers; Eva Lipman, George Kunhardt and Teddy Kunhardt, produced by | HBO |
| 2016 (68th) | The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution | Sally Jo Fifer and Lois Vossen, executive producers; Stanley Nelson and Laurens Grant, produced by | PBS |
| 2016 (68th) | The Hunting Ground | Amy Entelis, Vinnie Malhotra and Maria Cuomo Cole, executive producers; Amy Ziering, producer | CNN |
| 2016 (68th) | Racing Extinction | Dieter Paulmann and John Hoffman, executive producers; Olivia Ahnemann and Fisher Stevens, produced by | Discovery |
| 2016 (68th) | Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom | Lati Grobman and David Dinerstein, executive producers; Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor, produced by | Netflix |
| 2017 (69th) |
| 2017 (69th) | LA 92 | T. J. Martin and Daniel Lindsay, a film by; Jonathan Chinn and Simon Chinn, produced by | Nat Geo |
| 2017 (69th) | Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds | Sheila Nevins and Brett Ratner, executive producers; Nancy Abraham, senior producer; Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens, produced by | HBO |
| 2017 (69th) | O.J.: Made in America | Connor Schell and Libby Geist, executive producers; Tamara Rosenberg and Nina Krstic, producers; Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow, produced by | ESPN |
| 2017 (69th) | Oklahoma City (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Susan Bellows, senior producer; Barak Goodman and Emily Singer Chapman, produced by | PBS |
| 2017 (69th) | The White Helmets | Joanna Natasegara, produced by | Netflix |
| 2018 (70th) |
| 2018 (70th) | Strong Island | Joslyn Barnes and Yance Ford, produced by | Netflix |
| 2018 (70th) | City of Ghosts | Alex Gibney, Molly Thompson and Stacey Offman, executive producers; Matthew Heineman, produced by | A&E |
| 2018 (70th) | Jane | Tim Pastore, executive producer; Brett Morgen, Bryan Burk and James Smith, produced by | Nat Geo |
| 2018 (70th) | What Haunts Us | Frank Marshall and Matt Tolmach, executive producers; Paige Goldberg Tolmach and Sarah Gibson, producers | Starz |
| 2019 (71st) |
| 2019 (71st) | RBG | Julie Cohen and Betsy West, produced by; Amy Entelis and Courtney Sexton, executive producers | CNN |
| 2019 (71st) | The Sentence | Sam Bisbee and Jackie Kelman Bisbee, produced by; Rudy Valdez and Theodora Dunlap, executive producers | HBO |
| 2019 (71st) | Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes | Alexis Bloom and Will Cohen, produced by; Molly Thompson and Alex Gibney, executive producers | A&E |
| 2019 (71st) | Hale County This Morning, This Evening | RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim, produced by; Lois Vossen, executive producer | PBS |
| 2019 (71st) | Three Identical Strangers | Becky Read, produced by; Grace Hughes-Hallett, producer | CNN |

### 2020s

| Year | Program | Producers | Network |
| 2020 (72nd) |
| 2020 (72nd) | The Cave | Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær, produced by; Pernille Rose Grønkjær, Eva Mulvad, Carolyn Berstein, Ryan Harrington and Matt Renner, executive producers | Nat Geo |
| 2020 (72nd) | Chasing the Moon (American Experience) | Robert Stone, produced by; Ray Rothrock, Daniel Aegerter and Keith Haviland, producers; Susan Bellows, senior producer; Mark Samels, executive producer | PBS |
| 2020 (72nd) | Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements | Tahria Sheather and Irene Taylor Brodsky, produced by; Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sheila Nevins and Sara Bernstein, executive producers | HBO |
| 2020 (72nd) | One Child Nation | Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements and Carolyn Hepburn, produced by; Sally Jo Fifer and Lois Vossen, executive producers | PBS |
| 2021 (73rd) |
| 2021 (73rd) | 76 Days | Hao Wu and Jean Tsien, produced by | Pluto TV |
| 2021 (73rd) | Dick Johnson Is Dead | Katy Chevigny and Marilyn Ness, producers; Kirsten Johnson, produced by | Netflix |
| 2021 (73rd) | Welcome to Chechnya | Alice Henty, David France, Joy A. Tomchin, Askold Kurov and Igor Myakotin, produced by | HBO |
| 2022 (74th) |
| 2022 (74th) | When Claude Got Shot | Lois Vossen, executive producer; Brad Lichtenstein, Steven Cantor and Jamie Schutz, producers | PBS |
| 2022 (74th) | Changing the Game | Clare Tucker and Alex Schmider, produced by | Hulu |
| 2022 (74th) | Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches | Henry Louis Gates Jr., Dyllan McGee, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Sara Rodriguez, executive producers; Oluwaseun Babalola, producer | HBO |
| 2023 (75th) |
| 2023 (75th) | The Territory | Alex Pritz, Darren Aronofsky, Sigrid Dyekjær, Will N. Miller, Gabriel Uchida and Lizzie Gillett, produced by; Txai Suruí, executive producer | Nat Geo |
| 2023 (75th) | The Accused: Damned or Devoted? | Mohammed Ali Naqvi, produced by/directed by | PBS |
| 2023 (75th) | Aftershock | Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee, a film by | Hulu |
| 2023 (75th) | Last Flight Home | Ondi Timoner and David Turner, produced by | Paramount+ |
| 2024 (76th) |
| 2024 (76th) | Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project | Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson and Tommy Oliver, produced by | HBO |
| 2024 (76th) | Beyond Utopia (Independent Lens) | Lois Vossen, executive producer; Jana Edelbaum, Rachel Cohen and Sue Mi Terry, producers; Madeleine Gavin, director | PBS |
| 2024 (76th) | Stamped from the Beginning | Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, Geoff Martz, Mara Brock Akil and Susie Fitzgerald, executive producers; Alisa Payne, Roger Ross Williams and David Teague, producers | Netflix |

## Total awards by network

* HBO – 10
* PBS – 5
* Nat Geo – 3
* A&E – 1
* CNN – 1
* Netflix – 1
* Pluto - 1