Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject)
| Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) | |
|---|---|
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| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
| Currently held by | Ellen Goosenberg Kent Dana Perry Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (2014) |
| Official website | www.oscars.org |
This is a list of films by year that have received an Oscar together with the other nominations for best documentary short subject. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announced and presented early in the following year.
Contents
Rules & Eligibility
Per the recent rules of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), a Short Subject Documentary is defined as a nonfiction motion picture "dealing creatively with cultural, artistic, historical, social, scientific, economic or other subjects".[1] It may be photographed in actual occurrence, or may employ partial reenactment, stock footage, stills, animation, stop-motion or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact, and not on fiction. It must have a run time of no more than 40 minutes and released during a special eligibility period which may vary from year to year, but generally begins the month of September of the prior year and ends in August of award year. (This eligibility differs from most other Academy Award categories which only includes films released between January and December of the award year). The documentary's release must also occur within 2 years of the film's completion, and there are also rules governing the formatting of audio and video used to produce and exhibit the picture.
In addition, to be eligible the film must meet one of the following criteria:
- complete a commercial showing of at least 7 days in either Los Angeles County, California or the borough of Manhattan, New York before being released to other non-theatrical venues such as DVD or TV; or,
- regardless of any public exhibition or nontheatrical release the film must have won a qualifying award at a competitive film festival, as specified by the Academy; or
- win a Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal award in the Academy’s Student Academy Award Competition.
The film must run daily for 7 days, open to the public for paid admission, and must be advertised in one of the city's major circulars during its run. The film must have narration or dialogue primarily in English or with English subtitles, and must be the whole of an original works. Partial edits from larger works and episodes from serialized films are not eligible.[1]
Eligibility rules for prior years may have differed from these.
Nomination Process
The Documentary Branch of the Academy first votes to select ten pictures for preliminary nomination, after which a second round of balloting is conducted to select the five documentary nominees. The entire Academy membership will then vote for one of these five for The Oscar. A maximum of two people involved with the production of the documentary may be nominated for the award, one of whom must be the film's credited director. One producer may also be nominated, but if more than one non-director producer is credited the Academy Documentary Branch will vet the producers to select the one they believe was most involved in the creation of the film.[1]
List of winners and nominees
1940s
- 1941 – Churchill's Island – National Film Board of Canada
- 1942 – At the 15th Academy Awards, 25 films were nominated and four special awards presented in the Documentary category, in recognition of the Allied war in effort in World War II:[2]
- The Battle of Midway – United States Navy
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- "A special award to Battle of Midway for the historical value of its achievement in offering a camera record of one of the decisive battles of the world – a record unique both for the courage of those who made it under fire, and for its magnificent portrayal of the gallantry of our armed forces in battle."[2]
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- Kokoda Front Line! – Australian News & Information Bureau
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- "A special award to Kokoda Front Line! for its effectiveness in portraying, simply yet forcefully, the scene of war in New Guinea and for its moving presentation of the bravery and fortitude of our Australian comrades in arms."[2]
-
- Moscow Strikes Back – Artkino
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- "A special award to Moscow Strikes Back for its vivid presentation of the heroism of the Russian Army and of the Russian people in the defense of Moscow, and for its achievement in so doing under conditions of extreme difficulty and danger."[2]
-
- Prelude to War – United States Army Special Services
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- "A special award to Prelude to War for its trenchant conception and authentic and stirring dramatization of the events which forced our nation into the war and of the ideals for which we fight."[2]
- Africa, Prelude to Victory – The March of Time
- Combat Report – United States Army Signal Corps
- Conquer by the Clock – Frederic Ullman, Jr., Producer
- The Grain That Built a Hemisphere – Walt Disney, Producer – Walt Disney Productions
- Henry Browne, Farmer – United States Department of Agriculture
- High over the Borders – National Film Board of Canada
- High Stakes in the East – The Netherlands Information Bureau
- Inside Fighting China – National Film Board of Canada
- It's Everybody's War – United States Office of War Information
- Listen to Britain – British Ministry of Information
- Little Belgium – Belgian Ministry of Information
- Little Isles of Freedom – Victor Stoloff and Edgar Loew, Producers
- Mr. Blabbermouth!—United States Office of War Information
- Mr. Gardenia Jones—United States Office of War Information
- The New Spirit – Walt Disney, Producer – Walt Disney Productions
- The Price of Victory – William H. Pine, Producer
- A Ship Is Born – United States Merchant Marine
- Twenty-One Miles—British Ministry of Information
- We Refuse to Die – William C. Thomas, Producer
- The White Eagle – Concanen Films
- Winning Your Wings – United States Army Air Forces
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- 1943 – December 7th – United States Navy
- 1944 – With the Marines at Tarawa – United States Marine Corps
- 1945 – Hitler Lives – Gordon Hollingshead, Producer
- 1946 – Seeds of Destiny – United States Department of War
- 1947 – First Steps – United Nations Division of Films and Visual Information
- 1948 – Toward Independence – United States Army
- 1949 – (tie):
- A Chance To Live – Richard de Rochemont, Producer
- So Much for So Little – Edward Selzer, Producer
- 1848
- The Rising Tide
1950s
- 1950 – Why Korea? – Edmund Reek, Producer
- 1951 – Benjy – Made by Fred Zinnemann with the cooperation of Paramount Pictures Corporation for the Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital
- 1952 – Neighbours – Norman McLaren, Producer – National Film Board of Canada
- 1953 – The Alaskan Eskimo – Walt Disney, Producer – Walt Disney Productions
- 1954 – Thursday's Children – World Wide Pictures and Morse Films
- 1955 – Men against the Arctic – Walt Disney, Producer – Walt Disney Productions
- 1956 – The True Story of the Civil War – Louis Clyde Stoumen, Producer
- 1957 – none given
- 1958 – Ama Girls – Ben Sharpsteen, Producer
- 1959 – Glass – Bert Haanstra, Producer
Note: A press release issued by AMPAS in 2005 states that "Documentary Short Subject winners Benjy (1951) and Neighbours (1952) are among a group of films that not only competed, but won Academy Awards in what were clearly inappropriate categories. Benjy, directed by Fred Zinnemann and narrated by Henry Fonda, is the fictional tale of a crippled boy. The film was used as a fundraiser for the Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital. ... Norman McLaren's Neighbours, which today would compete in the Animated Short category, used "pixilation" – animation using living people – to create an allegory of war." [3]
1960s
- 1960 – Giuseppina – James Hill, Producer
- 1961 – Project Hope – Frank P. Bibas, Producer
- 1962 – Dylan Thomas – Jack Howells, Producer
- 1963 – Chagall – Simon Schiffrin, Producer
- 1964 – Nine from Little Rock – Charles Guggenheim, Producer
- 1965 – To Be Alive! – Francis Thompson, Producer
- 1966 – A Year Toward Tomorrow – Edmond A. Levy, Producer
- 1967 – The Redwoods – Mark Harris and Trevor Greenwood, Producers
- 1968 – Why Man Creates – Saul Bass, Producer
- 1969 – Czechoslovakia 1968 – Denis Sanders and Robert M. Fresco, Producers
1970s
- 1970 – Interviews with My Lai Veterans – Joseph Strick, Producer
- 1971 – Sentinels of Silence – Manuel Arango and Robert Amram, Producers
- 1972 – This Tiny World – Charles Huguenot van der Linden and Martina Huguenot van der Linden, Producers
- 1973 – Princeton: A Search for Answers – Julian Krainin and DeWitt L. Sage, Jr., Producers
- 1974 – Don't – Robin Lehman, Producer
- 1975 – The End of the Game – Claire Wilbur and Robin Lehman, Producers
- 1976 – Number Our Days – Lynne Littman and Barbara Myerhoff, Producers
- 1977 – Gravity Is My Enemy – John C. Joseph and Jan Stussy, Producers
- 1978 – The Flight of the Gossamer Condor – Jacqueline Phillips Shedd and Ben Shedd, Producers
- 1979 – Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist – Saul J. Turell, Producer
1980s
- 1980 – Karl Hess: Toward Liberty – Roland Hallé and Peter W. Ladue, Producer
- 1981 – Close Harmony – Nigel Noble, Producer
- 1982 – If You Love This Planet – Edward Le Lorrain and Terre Nash, Producers – National Film Board of Canada
- 1983 – Flamenco at 5:15 – Cynthia Scott and Adam Symansky, Producers – National Film Board of Canada
- 1984 – The Stone Carvers – Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner, Producers
- 1985 – Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements – David Goodman, Producer
- 1986 – Women – for America, for the World – Vivienne Verdon-Roe, Producer
- 1987 – Young at Heart – Sue Marx and Pamela Conn, Producers
- 1988 – You Don't Have to Die – William Guttentag and Malcolm Clarke, Producers
- 1989 – The Johnstown Flood – Charles Guggenheim, Producer
1990s
- 1990 – Days of Waiting – Steven Okazaki, Producer
- 1991 – Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment – Debra Chasnoff, Producer
- 1992 – Educating Peter – Thomas C. Goodwin (posthumous win) and Gerardine Wurzburg
- When Abortion Was Illegal: Untold Stories – Dorothy Fadiman
- At the Edge of Conquest: The Journey of Chief Wai-Wai – Geoffrey O'Connor
- Beyond Imagining: Margaret Anderson and the 'Little Review' – Wendy L. Weinberg
- The Colours of My Father: A Portrait of Sam Borenstein – Richard Elson & Sally Bochner
- 1994 – A Time for Justice – Charles Guggenheim
- 1995 – One Survivor Remembers – Kary Antholis
- 1996 – Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien – Jessica Yu director, producer, writer and editor
- 1997 – A Story of Healing – Donna Dewey, Carol Pasternak
- 1999 – King Gimp – Susan Hannah Hadary, William A. Whiteford
2000s
- 2000 – Big Mama – Tracy Seretean
- 2002 – Twin Towers – Bill Guttentag, Robert David Port, directors
- The Collector of Bedford Street – Welcome Change Productions – Alice Elliott producer and director
- Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks – Tell the Truth Pictures – Robert Hudson producer – Robert Houston director
- Why Can't We Be a Family Again? – Roger Weisberg, Murray Nossel directors
- 2003 – Chernobyl Heart – Maryann DeLeo
2010s
- 2010 – Strangers No More – Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
- Killing in the Name – Jed Rothstein
- Poster Girl – Sara Nesson and Mitchell Block
- Sun Come Up – Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
- The Warriors of Qiugang – Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon
- 2011 – Saving Face – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
- 2012 – Inocente – Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
- Kings Point – Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
- Mondays at Racine – Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
- Open Heart – Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
- Redemption – Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
- 2013 – The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life – Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
- 2014 – Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 – Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
- Joanna – Aneta Kopacz
- Our Curse – Tomasz Śliwiński and Maciej Ślesicki
- The Reaper (La Parka) – Gabriel Serra Arguello
- White Earth – J. Christian Jensen
