The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is one of the most important awards for documentary movies.

Winners and nominees

1940s
In 1942, there was one Documentary category and four winners.
 1942
 The Battle of Midway
 Kokoda Front Line!
 Moscow Strikes Back
 Prelude to War
From 1943 there were two separate documentary categories (features and short films)
 1943 - Desert Victory
 Baptism of Fire
 The Battle of Russia
 Report from the Aleutians
 War Department Report
 1944 - The Fighting Lady
 Resisting Enemy Interrogation
 1945 - The True Glory
 The Last Bomb
 1946 - none given
 1947 - Design for Death
 Journey Into Medicine
 The World Is Rich
 1948 - The Secret Land
 The Quiet One
 1949 - Daybreak in Udi
 Kenji Comes Home

1950s
 1950 - The Titan: Story of Michelangelo
 With These Hands
 1951 - Kon-Tiki
 I Was a Communist for the FBI
 1952 - The Sea Around Us
 The Hoaxters
 Navajo
 1953 - The Living Desert
 The Conquest of Everest
 A Queen Is Crowned
 1954 - The Vanishing Prairie
 The Stratford Adventure
 1955 - Helen Keller in Her Story (also known as The Unconquered)
 Crèvecoeur
 1956 - The Silent World
 Where Mountains Float ()
 The Naked Eye
 1957 - Albert Schweitzer
 On the Bowery
 Torero
 1958 - White Wilderness
 Antarctic Crossing
 The Hidden World
 Psychiatric Nursing
 1959 - Serengeti Shall Not Die
 The Race for Space
 From Generation to Generation

1960s
 1960 - The Horse with the Flying Tail
 Rebel in Paradise
 1961 - Sky Above and Mud Beneath, directed by Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau
 La grande olimpiade, directed by Romolo Marcellini
 1962 - Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler
 Alvorada
 1963 - Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World
 Le Maillon et la chaîne
 The Yanks Are Coming
 1964 - World Without Sun
 14-18
 Alleman
 The Finest Hours
 Four Days in November
 1965 - The Eleanor Roosevelt Story
 The Battle of the Bulge... The Brave Rifles
 The Forth Road Bridge
 Let My People Go: The Story of Israel
 Mourir à Madrid
 1966 - The War Game
 The Face of a Genius
 Helicopter Canada
 The Really Big Family
 Le Volcan interdit
 1967 - The Anderson Platoon
 Festival
 Harvest
 A King's Story
 A Time for Burning
 1968 - Journey into Self
 Note: At the 41st Awards ceremony on April 14, 1969, Young Americans was announced as the winner of the Documentary Feature Oscar. On May 7, 1969, it was revealed that the film had played in October 1967, which rendered it ineligible for a 1968 Award. The first runner-up, Journey Into Self, was awarded the statuette on May 8, 1969.
 A Few Notes on Our Food Problem
 Legendary Champions
 Other Voices
 1969 - Arthur Rubinstein – The Love of Life
 Before the Mountain Was Moved
 In the Year of the Pig
 Olimpiada en México
 The Wolf Men

1970s
 1970 - Woodstock
 Erinnerungen an die Zukunft (Released in English language version under title "Chariots of the Gods?")
 Jack Johnson
 King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
 Say Goodbye
 1971 - The Hellstrom Chronicle
 Alaska Wilderness Lake
 Le chagrin et la pitié
 On Any Sunday
 Ra
 1972 - Marjoe
 Bij de beesten af
 Malcolm X
 Manson
 The Silent Revolution
 1973 - The Great American Cowboy
 Always a New Beginning
 Journey to the Outer Limits
 Schlacht um Berlin
 Walls of Fire
 1974 - Hearts and Minds
 Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman
 The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art
 The 81st Blow
 The Wild and the Brave
 1975 - The Man Who Skied Down Everest
 The California Reich
 Fighting for Our Lives
 The Incredible Machine
 The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir
 1976 - Harlan County, USA
 Hollywood on Trial
 Off the Edge
 People of the Wind
 Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry
 1977 - Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids?
 The Children of Theatre Street
 High Grass Circus
 Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love
 Union Maids
 1978 - Scared Straight!
 Mysterious Castles of Clay
 Raoni
 Le vent des amoureux
 With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade
 1979 - Best Boy
 Generation on the Wind
 Going the Distance
 The Killing Ground
 The War at Home

1980s
 1980 From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China directed by Murray Lerner
 Agee
 The Day After Trinity
 Front Line
 The Yellow Star – The Persecution of the Jews in Europe 1933-45
 1981 Genocide directed by Arnold Schwartzman
 Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey
 Brooklyn Bridge
 Eight Minutes to Midnight: A Portrait of Dr. Helen Caldicott
 El Salvador: Another Vietnam
 1982 Just Another Missing Kid directed by John Zaritsky
 A Portrait of Giselle
 After the Axe
 Ben's Mill
 In Our Water
 1983 He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' directed by Emile Ardolino
 Children of Darkness
 First Contact
 The Profession of Arms
 Seeing Red
 1984 The Times of Harvey Milk directed by Rob Epstein and Richard Schmiechen
 High Schools
 In the Name of the People
 Marlene
 Streetwise
 1985 Broken Rainbow directed by Maria Florio and Victoria Mudd
 The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo
 Soldiers in Hiding
 The Statue of Liberty
 Unfinished Business
 1986 - (tie): Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got and  Down and Out in America
 Chile: Hasta Cuando?
 Isaac in America: A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer
 Witness to Apartheid
 1987 The Ten-Year Lunch
 Eyes on the Prize
 Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima
 Radio Bikini
 A Stitch for Time
 1988  Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie
 The Cry of Reason: Beyers Naude – An Afrikaner Speaks Out
 Let's Get Lost
 Promises to Keep
 Who Killed Vincent Chin?
 1989 Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
 Adam Clayton Powell
 Crack USA: County Under Siege
 For All Mankind
 Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren

1990s
 1990 American Dream directed by Barbara Kopple
 Berkeley in the Sixties
 Building Bombs
 Forever Activists: Stories from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade
 Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey
 1991 In the Shadow of the Stars directed by Allie Light and Irving Saraf
 Death on the Job
 Doing Time: Life Inside the Big House
 The Restless Conscience: Resistance to Hitler Within Germany 1933-1945
 Wild by Law
 1992 The Panama Deception directed by Barbara Trent and David Kasper
 Changing Our Minds: The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker
 Fires of Kuwait
 Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II
 Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann
 1993 I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School directed by Susan Raymond
 The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter
 Children of Fate
 For Better or For Worse
 The War Room
 1994 Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision directed by Freida Lee Mock
 Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter
 D-Day Remembered
 Freedom on My Mind
 A Great Day in Harlem
 1995 Anne Frank Remembered directed by Jon Blair
 The Battle Over Citizen Kane
 Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream
 Small Wonders
 Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern
 1996 When We Were Kings directed by Leon Gast
 The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story
 Mandela
 Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse
 Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press
 1997 The Long Way Home directed by Mark Jonathan Harris
 Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life
 Colors Straight Up
 4 Little Girls
 Waco: The Rules of Engagement
 1998 The Last Days directed by James Moll
 Dancemaker
 The Farm: Angola, U.S.A.
 Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth
 Regret to Inform
 1999 One Day in September by Kevin MacDonald
 Buena Vista Social Club
 Genghis Blues
 On the Ropes
 Speaking in Strings

2000s
 2000: Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport – Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah Oppenheimer
 Legacy – Tod Lending
 Long Night's Journey into Day – Deborah Hoffmann and Frances Reid
 Scottsboro: An American Tragedy – Daniel Anker and Barak Goodman
 Sound and Fury – Josh Aronson and Roger Weisberg
 2001: Murder on a Sunday Morning (Un coupable idéal) – Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and Denis Poncet
 Children Underground – Edet Belzberg
 LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton – Deborah Dickson and Susan Frömke
 Promises – B.Z. Goldberg and Justine Shapiro
 War Photographer – Christian Frei
 2002: Bowling for Columbine – Michael Moore and Michael Donovan
 Daughter from Danang – Gail Dolgin and Vicente Franco
 Prisoner of Paradise – Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender
 Spellbound – Jeffrey Blitz and Sean Welch
 Winged Migration (Le peuple migrateur) – Jacques Perrin
 2003: The Fog of War – Errol Morris and Michael Williams
 Balseros – Carlos Bosch and Josep Maria Domenech
 Capturing the Friedmans – Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling
 My Architect – Nathaniel Kahn and Susan R. Behr
 The Weather Underground – Sam Green and Bill Siegel
 2004: Born into Brothels – Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski
 The Story of the Weeping Camel (Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel) – Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni
 Super Size Me – Morgan Spurlock
 Tupac: Resurrection – Karolyn Ali and Lauren Lazin
 Twist of Faith – Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt
 2005: March of the Penguins (La marche de l'empereur) – Luc Jacquet
 Darwin's Nightmare – Hubert Sauper
 Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot
 Murderball – Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
 Street Fight – Marshall Curry
 2006: An Inconvenient Truth – Davis Guggenheim
 Deliver Us from Evil – Amy Berg and Frank Donner and Matthew Cooke
 Iraq in Fragments – James Longley and Yahya Sinno
 Jesus Camp – Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
 My Country, My Country – Jocelyn Glatzer and Laura Poitras
 2007: Taxi to the Dark Side – Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
 No End in Sight – Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
 Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience – Richard Robbins
 Sicko – Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara
 War/Dance – Sean Fine and Andrea Nix
 2008: Man on Wire – Simon Chinn and James Marsh
 The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) – Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
 Encounters at the End of the World – Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
 The Garden – Scott Hamilton Kennedy
 Trouble the Water – Carl Deal and Tia Lessin
 2009: The Cove – Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
 Burma VJ – Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
 Food, Inc. – Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
 The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers – Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
 Which Way Home – Rebecca Cammisa

2010s
 2010: Inside Job – Charles H. Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
 Exit Through the Gift Shop – Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
 Gasland – Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
 Restrepo – Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
 Waste Land – Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley
 2011: Undefeated – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
 Hell and Back Again – Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
 If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
 Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
 Pina – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

Other websites
 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences official site

Documentary Feature
1944 establishments
Academy Awards