Films are listed by the year they received the Academy Award for Documentary Feature; the year of production follows the title in parentheses. There is sometimes a gap of more than a year between a film's production and its award, which is often the result of the film's unavailability in translation.
- 2001 Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000)
- 2000 One Day in September (1999)
- 1999 Last Days, The (1998)
- 1998 Long Way Home, The (1997)
- 1997 When We Were Kings (1996)
- 1996 Anne Frank Remembered (1995)
- 1995 Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994)
- 1994 I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School (1993)
- 1993 Panama Deception, The (1992)
- 1992 In the Shadow of the Stars (1991)
- 1991 American Dream (1990)
- 1990 Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)
- 1989 Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988)
- 1988 Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table, The (1987)
- 1987 Down and Out in America (1986)
- Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got (1985)
- 1986 Broken Rainbow (1985)
- 1985 Times of Harvey Milk, The (1984)
- 1984 He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983)
- 1983 Just Another Missing Kid (1982)
- 1982 Genocide (1981)
- 1981 From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1980)
- 1980 Best Boy (1979)
- 1979 Scared Straight! (1978)
- 1978 Who Are the Debolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? (1977)
- 1977 Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976)
- 1976 Man Who Skied Down Everest, The (1975)
- 1975 Hearts and Minds (1974)
- 1974 Great American Cowboy, The (1973)
- 1973 Marjoe (1971)
- 1972 Hellstrom Chronicle, The (1971)
- 1971 Woodstock (1970)
- 1970 Arthur Rubinstein, l'amour de la vie (Arthur Rubinstein - The Love of Life) (1969)
- 1969 Journey Into Self (1968)
- 1968 Anderson Platoon, The (1967)
- 1967 War Game, The (1965)
- 1966 Eleanor Roosevelt Story, The (1965)
- 1965 Jacques-Yves Cousteau's World Without Sun (1964)
- 1964 Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel With the World (1963)
- 1963 Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler (1962)
- 1962 Le Ciel Et La Boue (Sky Above and Mud Beneath) (1960)
- 1961 Horse with the Flying Tail, The (1961)
- 1960 Serengeti darf nicht sterben (Serengeti Shall Not Die) (1959)
- 1959 White Wilderness (1958)
- 1958 Albert Schweitzer (1957)
- 1957 Monde du Silence, Le (Silent World, The) (1956)
- 1956 Helen Keller: In Her Story (1955)
- 1955 Vanishing Prairie, The (1954)
- 1954 Living Desert, The (1953)
- 1953 Sea Around Us, The (1951)
- 1952 Kon-Tiki (1950)
- 1951 Titan: Story of Michelangelo, The (1950)
- 1950 Daybreak in Udi (1949)
- 1949 Secret Land, The (1948)
- 1948 Design for Death (1948)
- 1947 none given for feature-length documentary
- 1946 True Glory, The (1945)
- 1945 Fighting Lady, The (1944)
- 1944 Desert Victory (1943)