Who Won Documentary Short Oscars?
The Academy Award for Documentary Feature Film was introduced at the 14th Academy Awards in 1942. The first Oscar went to "Churchill's Island". Through the years multiple winners have included Charles Guggenheim and Walt Disney. In the early years, it was common for films produced by the armed forces to win the Oscar for Documentary Short.
| 2024 (96th) |
The Last Repair Shop Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers, producers Other Nominees: The ABCs Of Book Banning; The Barber Of Little Rock; Island In Between; Nai Nai & Wai Po |
| 2023 (95th) |
The Elephant Whisperers Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga Other Nominees: Haulout; How Do You Measure A Year?; The Martha Mitchell Effect; Stranger At The Gate |
| 2022 (94th) |
Queen Of Basketball Ben Proudfoot Other Nominees: Audible; Lead Me Home; Three Songs for Benazir; When We Were Bullies |
| 2021 (93rd) |
Colette Alice Doyard and Anthony Giacchino Other Nominees: A Concerto Is A Conversation; Do Not Split; Hunger Ward; A Love Song For Latasha |
| Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) | Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva |  |
| 2019 | Period. End of Sentence. | Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton |  |
| 2018 | Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 | Frank Stiefel |  |
| 2017 | The White Helmets | Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara |  |
| 2016 | A Girl In The River: The Price Of Forgiveness | Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy |  |
| 2015 | Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 | Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry |  |
| 2014 | The Lady In Number 6: Music Saved My Life | Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed |  |
| 2013 | Inocente | Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine |  |
| 2012 | Saving Face | Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy |  |
| 2011 | Strangers No More | Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon |  |
| 2010 | Music By Prudence | Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett |  |
| 2009 | Smile Pinki | Megan Mylan |  |
| 2008 | Freeheld | Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth |  |
| 2007 | The Blood of Yingzhou District | Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon |  |
| 2006 | A Note Of Triumph: The Golden Age Of Norman Corwin | Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson |  |
| 2005 | Mighty Times: The Children's March | Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston |  |
| 2004 | Chernobyl Heart | Maryann DeLeo |  |
| 2003 | Twin Towers | Bill Guttentag, Robert David Port |  |
| 2002 | Thoth | Sarah Kernochan, Lynn Appelle |  |
| 2001 | Big Mama | Tracy Seretean |  |
| 2000 | King Gimp | Susan Hannah Hadary, William A. Whiteford |  |
| 1999 | The Personals: Improvisations On Romance In The Golden Years | Keiko Ibi |  |
| 1998 | A Story Of Healing | Donna Dewey, Carol Pasternak |  |
| 1997 | Breathing Lessons: The Life And Work Of Mark O'Brien | Jessica Yu |  |
| 1996 | One Survivor Remembers | Kary Antholis |  |
| 1995 | A Time For Justice | Charles Guggenheim |  |
| 1994 | Defending Our Lives | Margaret Lazarus, Renner Wunderlich |  |
| 1993 | Educating Peter | Thomas C. Goodwin and Gerardine Wurzburg, Producers |  |
| 1992 | Deadly Deception | Debra Chasnoff, Producer |  |
| 1991 | Days Of Waiting | Steven Okazaki | |
| 1990 | The Johnstown Flood | Charles Guggenheim | |
| 1989 | You Don't Have To Die | William Guttentag and Malcolm Clarke | |
| 1988 | Young At Heart | Sue Marx and Pamela Conn | |
| 1987 | Women - For America, For The World | Vivienne Verdon-Roe | |
| 1986 | Witness To War: Dr Charlie Clements | David Goodman | |
| 1985 | The Stone Carvers | Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner | |
| 1984 | Flamenco At 5:15 | Cynthia Scott and Adam Symansky |
| 1983 If You Love This Planet | |
| Edward Le Lorrain; Terri Nash | |
| Other Nominees: Gods Of Metal; The Klan: A Legacy Of Hate In America; To Live Or Let Die; Traveling Hopefully | |
| 1982 Close Harmony | |
| Nigel Noble | |
| Other Nominees: Americas In Transition; Journey For Survival; See What I Say; Urge To Build | |
| 1981 Karl Hess: Toward Liberty | |
| Roland Halle; Peter W Ladue | |
| Other Nominees: Don't Mess With Bill; The Eruption Of Mount St Helens; It's The Same World; Luther Metke at 94 | |
| 1980 Paul Robeson: Tribute To An Artist | |
| Saul J Turell | |
| Other Nominees: Dae; Koryo Celadon; Nails; Remember Me | |
| 1979 The Flight of the Gossamer Condor | |
| Jacqueline Phillips Shedd; Ben Shedd | |
| Other Nominees: The Divided Trail: A Native American Odyssey; An Encounter With Faces; Goodnight Miss Ann; Squires of San Quentin | |
| 1978 Gravity Is My Enemy | |
| John Joseph; Jan Stussy | |
| Other Nominees: Agueda Martinez: Our People Our Country; First Edition; Of Time Tombs and Treasure; The Shetland Experience | |
| 1977 Number Our Days | |
| Lynne Littman | |
| Other Nominees: American Shoeshine; Blackwood; The End Of The Road; Universe | |
| 1976 The End Of The Game | |
| Claire Wilbur; Robin Lehman | |
| Other Nominees: Arthur and Lillie; Millions of Years Ahead of Man; Probes In Space; Whistling Smith | |
| 1975 Don't | |
| Robin Lehman | |
| Other Nominees: City Out Of Wilderness; Exploratorium; John Muir's High Sierra; Naked Yoga | |
| 1974 Princeton: A Search For Answers | |
| Julian Krainin; DeWitt L Sage Jr | |
| Other Nominees: Background; Children At Work; Christo's Valley Curtain; Four Stones for Kanemitsu | |
| 1973 This Tiny World | |
| Charles Huguenot van der Linden; Martina Huguenot van der Linden | |
| Other Nominees: Hundertwasser's Rainy Day; K-Z; Selling Out; The Tide of Traffic | |
| 1972 Sentinels of Silence | |
| Manuel Arango; Robert Amram | |
| Other Nominees: Adventures in Perception; Art Is; The Numbers Start With the River; Somebody Waiting | |
| 1971 Interviews With My Lai Veterans | |
| Joseph Strick | |
| Other Nominees: The Gifts; A Long Way From Nowhere; Oisin; Time Is Running Out | |
| 1970 Czechoslovakia 1968 | |
| Denis Sanders; Robert M Fresco | |
| Other Nominees: An Impression of John Steinbeck: Writer; Jenny Is A Good Thing; Leo Beuerman; The Magic Machines | |
| 1969 Why Man Creates | |
| Saul Bass | |
| Other Nominees: The House that Ananda Built; The Revolving Door; A Space To Grow; A Way Out of the Wilderness | |
| 1968 The Redwoods | |
| Mark Harris; Trevor Greenwood | |
| Other Nominees: Monument to the Dream; A Place To Stand; See You at the Pillar; While I Run This Race | |
| 1967 A Year Toward Tomorrow | |
| Edmond A Levy | |
| Other Nominees: Adolescence; Cowboy; The Odds Against; Saint Matthew Passion | |
| 1966 To Be Alive! | |
| Francis Thompson | |
| Other Nominees: Mural On Our Street; Ouverture; Point Of View; Yeats Country | |
| 1965 Nine From Little Rock | |
| Charles Guggenheim | |
| Other Nominees: Breaking the Habit; Children Without; Kenojuak; 140 Days Under the World | |
| 1964 Chagall | |
| Simon Schiffrin | |
| Other Nominees: The Five Cities of June; The Spirit of America; Thirty Million Letters; To Live Again | |
| 1963 Dylan Thomas | |
| Jack Howells | |
| 1962 Project Hope | |
| Frank P Bibas | |
| Other Nominees: Breaking the Language Barrier; Cradle of Genius; Kahl; L'Uomo in Grigio | |
| 1961 Giuseppina | |
| James Hill | |
| Other Nominees: Beyond Silence; A City Called Copenhagen; George Grosz' Interregnum; Universe | |
| 1960 Glass | |
| Bert Haanstra | |
| Other Nominees: Donald in Mathmagic Land; From Generation to Generation | |
| 1959 Ama Girls | |
| Ben Sharpsteen | |
| Other Nominees: Employees Only; Journey Into Spring; The Living Stone; Overture | |
| 1958 NONE | |
| 1957 The True Story of the Civil War | |
| Louis Clyde Stoumen | |
| Other Nominees: A City Decides; The Dark Wave; The House Without A Name; Man In Space | |
| 1956 Men Against The Arctic | |
| Walt Disney | |
| Other Nominees: The Battle of Gettysburg; The Face of Lincoln | |
| 1955 Thursday's Children | |
| World Wide Pictures and Morse Films | |
| Other Nominees: Jet Carrier; Rembrandt: A Self Portrait | |
| 1954 The Alaskan Eskimo | |
| Walt Disney | |
| Other Nominees: The Living City; Operation Blue Jay; They Planted A Stone; The Word | |
| 1953 Neighbours | |
| Norman McLaren | |
| Other Nominees: Devil Take Us; The Garden Spider; Man Alive! | |
| 1952 Benjy | |
| Fred Zinnemann | |
| Other Nominees: One Who Came Back; The Seeing Eye | |
| 1951 Why Korea? | |
| Edmund Reek | |
| Other Nominees: The Fight: Science Against Cancer; The Stairs | |
| 1950 A Chance To Live | |
| Richard de Rochemont | |
| Other Nominees: 1848; The Rising Tide | |
| 1950 So Much For So Little | |
| Edward Selzer | |
| Other Nominees: 1848; The Rising Tide | |
| 1949 Toward Independence | |
| United States Army | |
| Other Nominees: Heart To Heart; Operation Vittles | |
| 1948 First Steps | |
| United Nations Division of Films | |
| Other Nominees: Passport To Nowhere; School In the Mailbox | |
| 1947 Seeds of Destiny | |
| United States Department of War | |
| Other Nominees: Atomic Power; Life at the Zoo; Paramount News Issue #37; Traffic with the Devil | |
| 1946 Hitler Lives? | |
| Gordon Hollingshead | |
| Other Nominees: Library of Congress; To the Shores of Iwo Jima | |
| 1945 With the Marines at Tarawa | |
| United States Marine Corps | |
| Other Nominees: Arturo Toscanini; New Americans | |
| 1944 December 7th | |
| United States Navy | |
| Other Nominees: Children of Mars; The Dutch Tradition; Plan for Destruction; Swedes in America; To the People of the United States; Tomorrow We Fly; Youth In Crisis | |
| 1942 Churchill's Island | |
| National Film Board of Canada | |
| Other Nominees: Adventure in the Bronx; Bomber; Christmas Under Fire; Letter From Home; Life Of A Thoroughbred; Norway In Revolt; A Place To Live; Russian Soil; Soldiers Of the Sky; War Clouds in the Pacific | |