LOscar al millor documental (en anglès Academy Award for Documentary Feature) és un premi cinematogràfic estatunidenc atorgat cada any, des de 1942 per l'Acadèmia de les Arts i les Ciències Cinematogràfiques, la qual atorga igualment tots els altres Oscars.
Guanyadors i nominats Seguint les normes de l'Acadèmia, les pel·lícules són a la llista sota l'any que han estat seleccionades. A la pràctica, degut a la naturalesa de la distribució dels documentals, una pel·lícula pot sortir en diferents anys, algunes vegades anys després de completar la producció. Els llorejats són indicats al capdavant de cada categoria i en negreta.
Dècada de 1940 Any Pel·lícula Director/s 1942 The Battle of Midway John Ford Kokoda Front Line Ken G. Hall La derrota de les tropes feixistes alemanyes als afores de Moscou Leonid Varlàmov, Ilià Kopalin Prelude to War Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak Africa, Prelude to Victory Combat Report Conquer by the Clock The Grain That Built a Hemisphere Henry Browne, Farmer High Over the Borders High Stakes in the East Inside Fighting China It's Everybody's War Listen to Britain Little Belgium Little Isles of Freedom Mr. Blabbermouth! Mister Gardenia Jones The New Spirit The Price of Victory A Ship Is Born Twenty-One Miles We Refuse to Die The White Eagle Winning Your Wings La categoria es va separar en dues per llargmetratges i curtmetratges. A continuació es relacionen només els llarmetratges. 1943 Desert Victory Roy Boulting Baptism of Fire The Battle of Russia Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak Report from the Aleutians John Huston War Department Report Oliver Lundquist 1944 The Fighting Lady Edward Steichen Resisting Enemy Interrogation Bernard Vorhaus 1945 The True Glory Garson Kanin, Carol Reed The Last Bomb Frank Lloyd 1946 Premi no atorgat 1947 Design for Death Richard Fleischer Journey Into Medicine Willard Van Dyke The World Is Rich Paul Rotha 1948 The Secret Land The Quiet One Sidney Meyers 1949 Daybreak in Udi Terry Bishop Kenji Comes Home Charles F. Schwep
Dècada de 1950 Any Pel·lícula Director/s 1950 The Titan: Story of Michelangelo Robert J. Flaherty, Richard Lyford, Curt Oertel With These Hands Jack Arnold 1951 Kon-Tiki Thor Heyerdahl I Was a Communist for the FBI Gordon Douglas 1952 The Sea Around Us Irwin Allen The Hoaxters Herman Hoffman, Dore Schary Navajo Norman Foster 1953 The Living Desert James Algar The Conquest of Everest George Lowe A Queen Is Crowned Michael Waldman 1954 The Vanishing Prairie James Algar The Stratford Adventure Morten Parker 1955 Helen Keller in Her Story Nancy Hamilton Crèvecoeur Jacques Dupont 1956 The Silent World Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Louis Malle Hvor bjergene sejler Bjarne Henning-Jensen The Naked Eye Louis Clyde Stoumen 1957 Albert Schweitzer Jerome Hill On the Bowery Lionel Rogosin Torero arlos Velo 1958 White Wilderness James Algar Antarctic Crossing George Lowe The Hidden World Robert Snyder Psychiatric Nursing Lee R. Bobker 1959 Serengeti Shall Not Die Bernhard Grzimek The Race for Space David L. Wolper
Dècada de 1960 Any Pel·lícula Director/s 1960 The Horse with the Flying Tail Larry Lansburgh Rebel in Paradise Robert D. Fraser 1961 Le Ciel et la Boue Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau La grande olimpiade Romolo Marcellini 1962 Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler Louis Clyde Stoumen Alvorada Hugo Niebeling 1963 Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel With the World Shirley Clarke Le Maillon et la Chaîne Jacques Ertaud, Bernard Gorki The Yanks Are Coming Marshall Flaum 1964 Le Monde sans soleil Jacques-Yves Cousteau 14-18 Jean Aurel Alleman Bert Haanstra The Finest Hours Peter Baylis Four Days in November Mel Stuart 1965 The Eleanor Roosevelt Story Richard Kaplan The Battle of the Bulge... The Brave Rifles Laurence E. Mascott The Forth Road Bridge Gordon Lang Let My People Go: The Story of Israel Marshall Flaum Mourir à Madrid Frédéric Rossif 1966 The War Game Peter Watkins The Face of a Genius Alfred R. Kelman Helicopter Canada Peter Jones, Tom Daly The Really Big Family Alex Grasshoff Le Volcan interdit Haroun Tazieff 1967 The Anderson Platoon Pierre Schoendoerffer Festival Murray Lerner Harvest Carroll Ballard A King's Story Jack Le Vien A Time for Burning William C. Jersey 1968 Journey into Self Bill McGaw A Few Notes on Our Food Problem James Blue Legendary Champions William Cayton Other Voices David H. Sawyer 1969 Arthur Rubinstein – The Love of Life Bernard Chevry Before the Mountain Was Moved Robert K. Sharpe In the Year of the Pig Emile de Antonio The Olympics in Mexico Comité Organizador de los Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada The Wolf Men Irwin Rosten
Dècada de 1970 Any Pel·lícula Director/s 1970 Woodstock Michael Wadleigh Erinnerungen an die Zukunft Harald Reinl Jack Johnson Jimmy Jacobs King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis Sidney Lumet Say Goodbye David H. Vowell 1971 The Hellstrom Chronicle Ed Spiegel, Walon Green Alaska Wilderness Lake Alan Landsburg Le Chagrin et la Pitié Marcel Ophüls On Any Sunday Bruce Brown Ra Lennart Ehrenborg, Thor Heyerdahl 1972 Marjoe Howard Smith, Sarah Kernochan Bij de beesten af Bert Haanstra Malcolm X Arnold Perl Manson Robert Hendrickson, Laurence Merrick The Silent Revolution Eckehard Munck 1973 The Great American Cowboy Kieth Merrill Always a New Beginning John D. Goodell Journey to the Outer Limits Alexander Grasshoff Schlacht um Berlin Franz Baake, Jost von Morr Walls of Fire Herbert Kline, Edmund Penney 1974 Hearts and Minds Peter Davis Antonia: A Portrait of the Woman Judy Collins, Jill Godmilow The Challenge... A Tribute to Modern Art Herbert Kline The 81st Blow David Bergman, Jacques Ehrlich, Haim Gouri The Wild and the Brave Eugene S. Jones 1975 The Man Who Skied Down Everest Bruce Nyznik, Lawrence Schiller The California Reich Keith F. Critchlow, Walter F. Parkes Fighting for Our Lives Glen Pearcy Man: The Incredible Machine Irwin Rosten, Ed Spiegel The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir Shirley MacLaine, Claudia Weill 1976 Harlan County, USA Barbara Kopple Hollywood on Trial David Helpern Off the Edge Michael Firth People of the Wind Anthony Howarth, David Koff Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry Donald Brittain, John Kramer 1977 Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? John Korty The Children of Theatre Street Robert Dornhelm, Earle Mack High Grass Circus Torben Schioler, Tony Ianzelo Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love Harry Rasky Union Maids Jim Klein, Miles Mogulescu, Julia Reichert 1978 Scared Straight! Arnold Shapiro Mysterious Castles of Clay Joan Root, Alan Root Raoni Jean-Pierre Dutilleux, Luiz Carlos Saldanha Le vent des amoureux Albert Lamorisse With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade Lorraine Gray 1979 Best Boy Ira Wohl Generation on the Wind David Vassar Going the Distance Paul Cowan The Killing Ground Steve Singer, Tom Priestley The War at Home Glenn Silber
Dècada de 1980 Any Pel·lícula Director/s 1980 From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China Murray Lerner Agee Ross Spears The Day After Trinity Jon H. Else Front Line David Bradbury Der gelbe Stern – Die Judenverfolgung 1933–1945 Dieter Hildebrandt 1981 Genocide Arnold Schwartzman Against Wind and Tide: A Cuban Odyssey John Brousek Brooklyn Bridge Ken Burns Eight Minutes to Midnight: A Portrait of Dr. Helen Caldicott Mary Benjamin El Salvador: Another Vietnam Glenn Silber, Teté Vasconcellos 1982 Just Another Missing Kid John Zaritsky A Portrait of Giselle Muriel Balash After the Axe Sturla Gunnarsson Ben's Mill Michel Chalufour, John Karol In Our Water Meg Switzgable 1983 He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' Emile Ardolino Children of Darkness Ara Chekmayan, Richard Kotuk First Contact Robin Anderson, Bob Connolly The Profession of Arms Michael Bryans, Tina Viljoen Seeing Red Jim Klein, Julia Reichert 1984 The Times of Harvey Milk Robert Epstein, Richard Schmiechen High Schools Charles Guggenheim In the Name of the People Frank Christopher Marlene Maximilian Schell Streetwise Martin Bell 1985 Broken Rainbow Maria Florio, Victoria Mudd Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo Susana Blaustein Muñoz, Lourdes Portillo Soldiers in Hiding Malcolm Clarke The Statue of Liberty Ken Burns Unfinished Business Steven Okazaki 1986 Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got Brigitte Berman Down and Out in America Lee Grant Chile: Hasta Cuando? David Bradbury Isaac in America: A Journey with Isaac Bashevis Singer Amram Nowak Witness to Apartheid Sharon I. Sopher 1987 The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table Aviva Slesin Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years/Bridge to Freedom 1965 Henry Hampton Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima Michael Camerini, John Junkerman, James MacDonald Radio Bikini Robert Stone A Stitch for Time Nigel Noble 1988 Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie Marcel Ophüls The Cry of Reason: Beyers Naude – An Afrikaner Speaks Out Robert Bilheimer Let's Get Lost Bruce Weber Promises to Keep Ginny Durrin Who Killed Vincent Chin? Christine Choy, Renee Tajima-Peña 1989 Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman Adam Clayton Powell Richard Kilberg Crack USA: County Under Siege Vince DiPersio, Bill Guttentag For All Mankind Al Reinert Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren Bill Jersey, Judith Leonard
Dècada de 1990 Any Pel·lícula Director/s 1990 American Dream Barbara Kopple Berkeley in the Sixties Mark Kitchell Building Bombs Mark Mori, Susan J. Robinson Forever Activists: Stories from the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Connie Field, Judith Montell Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey Eugene Corr, Robert Hillmann 1991 In the Shadow of the Stars Allie Light, Irving Saraf Death on the Job Vince DiPersio, Bill Guttentag Doing Time: Life Inside the Big House Alan Raymond The Restless Conscience: Resistance to Hitler Within Germany 1933–1945 Hava Kohav Beller Wild by Law Lawrence Hott, Diane Garey 1992 The Panama Deception Barbara Trent Changing Our Minds: The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker Richard Schmiechen Fires of Kuwait David Douglas Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II William Miles, Nina Rosenblum Music for the Movies: Bernard Herrmann Joshua Waletzky 1993 I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School Susan Raymond The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter Arthur Ginsberg, David Paperny Children of Fate Andrew Young, Susan Todd For Better or For Worse David Collier, Betsy Thompson The War Room Chris Hegedus, D. A. Pennebaker 1994 Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision Freida Lee Mock Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter Deborah Hoffmann D-Day Remembered Charles Guggenheim Freedom on My Mind Connie Field, Marilyn Mulford A Great Day in Harlem Jean Bach 1995 Anne Frank Remembered Jon Blair The Battle Over Citizen Kane Michael Epstein, Thomas Lennon Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream Michael Tollin Small Wonders Allan Miller Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern Steven Ascher, Jeanne Jordan 1996 When We Were Kings Leon Gast The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story Susan Warms Dryfoos Mandela Angus Gibson, Jo Menell Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse Anne Belle, Deborah Dickson Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press Rick Goldsmith 1997 The Long Way Home Mark Jonathan Harris Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life Michael Paxton Colors Straight Up Michèle Ohayon 4 Little Girls Spike Lee Waco: The Rules of Engagement William Gazecki 1998 The Last Days James Moll The Dancemaker Matthew Diamond The Farm: Angola, U.S.A. Liz Garbus, Wilbert Rideau, Jonathan Stack Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth Robert B. Weide Regret to Inform Barbara Sonneborn 1999 One Day in September Kevin Macdonald Buena Vista Social Club Wim Wenders Genghis Blues Roko Belic On the Ropes Nanette Burstein, Brett Morgen Speaking in Strings Paola di Florio
Dècada de 2000