Berikut adalah daftar film berdasarkan tahun yang menerima Penghargaan Akademi bersama dengan nominasi lain untuk film pendek dokumenter terbaik. Mengikuti praktik Akademi, tahun yang dicantumkan untuk setiap film adalah tahun peluncurannya: penghargaan diumumkan dan diberikan pada awal tahun berikutnya. Salinan dari setiap film pemenang (bersama dengan salinan dari sebagian besar film yang dinominasikan) dipegang oleh Academy Film Archive.^[1] Lima belas film disaring terlebih dahulu sebelum nominasi diumumkan.

• 1941 - Churchill's Island
  • Adventure in the Bronx
  • Bomber
  • Christmas Under Fire
  • A Letter from Home
  • Life of a Thoroughbred
  • Norway in Revolt
  • Soldiers of the Sky
  • War Clouds in the Pacific
• 1942 - tidak diberikan
• 1943 - December 7th
  • Children of Mars
  • Plan for Destruction
  • Swedes in America
  • To the People of the United States
  • Tomorrow We Fly
  • Youth in Crisis
• 1944 - With the Marines at Tarawa
  • Hymn of the Nations
  • New Americans
• 1945 - Hitler Lives - Gordon Hollingshead
  • Library of Congress
  • To the Shores of Iwo Jima
• 1946 - Seeds of Destiny
  • Atomic Power
  • Life at the Zoo
  • Paramount News Issue#37
  • Traffic with the Devil
• 1947 - First Steps
  • Passport to Nowhere
  • School in the Mailbox
• 1948 - Toward Independence - United States Army
  • Heart to Heart
  • Operation Vittles
• 1949 - (seri):
  • A Chance To Live - Richard de Rochemont
  • So Much for So Little - Edward Selzer
  • 1848
  • The Rising Tide

• 1950 - Why Korea? - Edmund Reek
  • The Fight: Science Against Cancer
  • The Stairs
• 1951 - Benjy - Fred Zinnemann
  • One Who Came Back
  • The Seeing Eye
• 1952 - Neighbours - Norman McLaren
  • Devil Take Us
  • Epeira Diadema
  • Man Alive!
• 1953 - The Alaskan Eskimo - Walt Disney
  • The Living City
  • Operation Blue Jay
  • They Planted a Stone
  • The Word
• 1954 - Thursday's Children
  • Jet Carrier
  • Rembrandt: A Self-Portrait
• 1955 - Men against the Arctic - Walt Disney
  • The Battle of Gettysburg
  • The Face of Lincoln
• 1956 - The True Story of the Civil War - Louis Clyde Stoumen
  • Man in Space
  • A City Decides
  • The Dark Wave
  • The House Without a Name
• 1957 - tidak diberikan
• 1958 - Ama Girls - Ben Sharpsteen
  • Employees Only
  • Journey Into Spring
  • The Living Stone
  • Oeuverture
• 1959 - Glass - Bert Haanstra
  • Donald in Mathmagic Land
  • From Generation to Generation

• 1960 - Giuseppina - James Hill
  • Beyond Silence
  • En by ved navn København
  • George Grosz' Interregnum
  • Universe
• 1961 - Project Hope - Frank P. Bibas
  • Breaking the Language Barrier
  • Cradle of Genius
  • Kahl
  • L'uomo in grigio
• 1962 - Dylan Thomas - Jack Howells
  • The John Glenn Story
  • The Road to the Wall
• 1963 - Chagall - Simon Schiffrin
  • The Five Cities of June
  • The Spirit of America
  • Thirty Million Letters
  • To Live Again
• 1964 - Nine from Little Rock - Charles Guggenheim
  • 140 Days Under the World
  • Breaking the Habit
  • Children Without
  • Eskimo Artist: Kenojuak
• 1965 - To Be Alive! - Francis Thompson
  • Mural on Our Street
  • Nyitany
  • Point of View
  • Yeats Country
• 1966 - A Year Toward Tomorrow - Edmond A. Levy
  • Adolescence
  • Cowboy
  • The Odds Against
  • Részletek J.S. Bach Máté passiójából
• 1967 - The Redwoods - Mark Harris dan Trevor Greenwood
  • Monument to the Dream
  • A Place to Stand
  • See You at the Pillar
  • While I Run This Race
• 1968 - Why Man Creates - Saul Bass
  • The House That Ananda Built
  • The Revolving Door
  • A Space to Grow
  • A Way Out of the Wilderness
• 1969 - Czechoslovakia 1968 - Denis Sanders dan Robert M. Fresco
  • An Impression of John Steinbeck: Writer
  • Jenny Is a Good Thing
  • Leo Beuerman
  • The Magic Machines

• 1970 - Interviews with My Lai Veterans - Joseph Strick
  • The Gifts
  • A Long Way from Nowhere
  • Oisin
  • Time Is Running Out
• 1971 - Sentinels of Silence - Manuel Arango dan Robert Amram
  • Adventures in Perception
  • Art Is...
  • The Numbers Start with the River
  • Somebody Waiting
• 1972 - This Tiny World - Charles Huguenot van der Linden dan Martina Huguenot van der Linden
  • Hundertwassers Regentag
  • K-Z
  • Selling Out
  • The Tide of Traffic
• 1973 - Princeton: A Search for Answers - Julian Krainin dan DeWitt L. Sage, Jr.
  • Background
  • Christo's Valley Curtain
  • Four Stones for Kanemitsu
  • Paisti ag obair
• 1974 - Don't - Robin Lehman
  • City Out of Wilderness
  • Exploratorium
  • John Muir's High Sierra
  • Naked Yoga
• 1975 - The End of the Game - Claire Wilbur dan Robin Lehman
  • Arthur and Lillie
  • Millions of Years Ahead of Man
  • Probes in Space
  • Whistling Smith
• 1976 - Number Our Days - Lynne Littman dan Barbara Myerhoff
  • American Shoeshine
  • Blackwood
  • The End of the Road
  • Universe
• 1977 - Gravity Is My Enemy - John Joseph dan Jan Stussy
  • Agueda Martinez: Our People, Our Country
  • First Edition
  • Of Time, Tombs and Treasures
  • The Shetland Experience
• 1978 - The Flight of the Gossamer Condor - Jacqueline Phillips Shedd dan Ben Shedd
  • The Divided Trail: A Native American Odyssey
  • An Encounter with Faces
  • Goodnight Miss Ann
  • Squires of San Quentin
• 1979 - Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist - Saul J. Turell
  • Dae
  • Koryo Celadon
  • Nails
  • Remember Me

• 1980 - Karl Hess: Toward Liberty - Roland Hallé dan Peter W. Ladue
  • Don't Mess with Bill
  • The Eruption of Mount St. Helens!
  • It's the Same World
  • Luther Metke at 94
• 1981 - Close Harmony - Nigel Noble
  • Americas in Transition
  • Journey for Survival
  • See What I Say
  • Urge to Build
• 1982 - If You Love This Planet - Edward Le Lorrain dan Terri Nash
  • Gods of Metal
  • The Klan: A Legacy of Hate in America
  • To Live or Let Die
  • Traveling Hopefully
• 1983 - Flamenco at 5:15 - Cynthia Scott dan Adam Symansky
  • Ihr zent frei
  • In the Nuclear Shadow: What Can the Children Tell Us?
  • Sewing Woman
  • Spaces: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph
• 1984 - The Stone Carvers - Marjorie Hunt dan Paul Wagner
  • The Children of Soong Ching Ling
  • Code Gray: Ethical Dilemmas in Nursing
  • The Garden of Eden
  • Vospominaniye o Pavlovske
• 1985 - Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements - David Goodman
  • The Courage to Care
  • Keats and His Nightingale: A Blind Date
  • Making Overtures: The Story of a Community Orchestra
  • The Wizard of the Strings
• 1986 - Women--for America, for the World - Vivienne Verdon-Roe
  • Sam
  • Red Grooms: Sunflower in a Hothouse
  • The Master of Disaster
  • Debonair Dancers
• 1987 - Young at Heart - Sue Marx dan Pamela Conn
  • Frances Steloff: Memoirs of a Bookseller
  • In the Wee Wee Hours...
  • Language Says It All
  • Silver Into Gold
• 1988 - You Don't Have to Die - William Guttentag dan Malcolm Clarke
  • Gang Cops
  • Family Gathering
  • The Children's Storefront
  • Portrait of Imogen
• 1989 - The Johnstown Flood - Charles Guggenheim
  • Fine Food, Fine Pastries, Open 6 to 9
  • Yad Vashem: Preserving the Past to Ensure the Future

• 1990 - Days of Waiting - Steven Okazaki
  • Rose Kennedy: A Life to Remember
  • Chimps: So Like Us
  • Burning Down Tomorrow
  • Journey Into Life: The World of the Unborn
• 1991 - Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment - Debra Chasnoff
  • A Little Vicious
  • The Mark of the Maker
  • Birdnesters of Thailand
  • Memorial: Letters from American Soldiers
• 1992 - Educating Peter - Thomas C. Goodwin dan 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 dan Sally Bochner
• 1993 - Defending Our Lives - Margaret Lazarus, Renner Wunderlich
  • Chicks in White Satin
  • Blood Ties: The Life and Work of Sally Mann
• 1994 - A Time for Justice - Charles Guggenheim
  • 89 mm od Europy
  • Blues Highway
  • School of the Americas Assassins
  • Straight from the Heart
• 1995 - One Survivor Remembers - Kary Antholis
  • Jim Dine: A Self-Portrait on the Walls
  • The Shadow of Hate
  • The Living Sea
  • Never Give Up: The 20th Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper
• 1996 - Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien - Jessica Yu
  • Cosmic Voyage
  • Special Effects: Anything Can Happen
  • The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage
  • An Essay on Matisse
• 1997 - A Story of Healing - Donna Dewey, Carol Pasternak
  • Alaska: Spirit of the Wild
  • Amazon
  • Family Video Diaries: Daughter of the Bride
  • Still Kicking: The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies
• 1998 - The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years - Keiko Ibi
  • A Place in the Land
  • Sunrise Over Tiananmen Square - National Film Board of Canada
• 1999 - King Gimp - Susan Hannah Hadary, William A. Whiteford
  • Eyewitness
  • The Wildest Show in the South: The Angola Prison Rodeo

• 2000 - Big Mama - Tracy Seretean
  • Curtain Call
  • Dolphins
  • On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom
  • The Man on Lincoln's Nose
• 2001 - Thoth - Sarah Kernochan dan Lynn Appelle
  • Artists and Orphans: A True Drama
  • Sing!
• 2002 - Twin Towers - Bill Guttentag, Robert David Port, Robert Port
  • The Collector of Bedford Street - Welcome Change Productions - Alice Elliott
  • Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks - Tell the Truth Pictures - Robert Hudson - Robert Houston
  • Why Can't We Be a Family Again? - Roger Weisberg, Murray Nossel
• 2003 - Chernobyl Heart - Maryann DeLeo
  • Asylum - Sandy McLeod dan Gini Reticker
  • Ferry Tales - Katja Esson
• 2004 - Mighty Times: The Children's March – Robert Hudson dan Bobby Houston
  • Autism Is a World – Gerardine Wurzburg
  • The Children of Leningradsky – Hanna Polak dan Andrzej Celinski
  • Hardwood – Hubert Davis dan Erin Faith Young
  • Sister Rose's Passion – Oren Jacoby dan Steve Kalafer
• 2005 - A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin
  • The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club
  • God Sleeps in Rwanda
  • The Mushroom Club
• 2006 - The Blood of Yingzhou District
  • Two Hands: The Leon Fleisher Story
  • Recycled Life
  • Rehearsing a Dream
• 2007 - Freeheld
  • La Corona
  • Salim Baba
  • Sari's Mother
• 2008 - Smile Pinki
  • The Conscience of Nhem En
  • The Final Inch
  • The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

• 2010 — Strangers No More - Karen Goodman dan Kirk Simon
  • Killing in the Name - Jed Rothstein
  • Poster Girl - Sara Nesson dan Mitchell Block
  • Sun Come Up - Jennifer Redfearn dan Tim Metzger
  • The Warriors of Qiugang - Ruby Yang dan Thomas Lennon
• 2011 — Saving Face - Daniel Junge dan Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
  • The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement - Robin Fryday dan Gail Dolgin
  • God Is the Bigger Elvis - Rebecca Cammisa dan Julie Anderson
  • Incident in New Baghdad - James Spione
  • The Tsunami dan the Cherry Blossom - Lucy Walker dan Kira Carstensen
• 2012 — Inocente - Sean Fine dan Andrea Nix Fine
  • Kings Point - Sari Gilman dan Jedd Wider
  • Mondays at Racine - Cynthia Wade dan Robin Honan
  • Open Heart - Kief Davidson dan Cori Shepherd Stern
  • Redemption - Jon Alpert dan Matthew O'Neill
• 2013 — The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life - Malcolm Clarke dan Nicholas Reed
  • CaveDigger - Jeffrey Karoff
  • Facing Fear - Jason Cohen
  • Karama Has No Walls - Sara Ishaq
  • Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall - Edgar Barens
• 2014 — Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 - Ellen Goosenberg Kent dan Dana Perry
  • Joanna - Aneta Kopacz
  • Our Curse - Tomasz Śliwiński dan Maciej Ślesicki
  • The Reaper (La Parka) - Gabriel Serra Arguello
  • White Earth - J. Christian Jensen
• 2015 — A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness - Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
  • Body Team 12 - David Darg dan Bryn Mooser
  • Chau, Beyond the Lines - Courtney Marsh dan Jerry Franck
  • Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah - Adam Benzine
  • Last Day of Freedom - Dee Hibbert-Jones dan Nomi Talisman
• 2016^[2] — The White Helmets - Orlando von Einsiedel dan Joanna Natasegara
  • Extremis - Dan Krauss
  • 4.1 Miles - Daphne Matziaraki
  • Joe's Violin - Kahane Cooperman dan Raphaela Neihausen
  • Watani: My Homeland - Marcel Mettelsiefen dan Stephen Ellis
• 2017^[3] — Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405 - Frank Stiefel
  • Edith+Eddie - Laura Checkoway dan Thomas Lee Wright
  • Heroin(e) - Elaine McMillion Sheldon dan Kerrin Sheldon
  • Knife Skills - Thomas Lennon
  • Traffic Stop - Kate Davis dan David Heilbroner
• 2018 — Period. End of Sentence. - Rayka Zehtabchi dan Melissa Berton
  • Black Sheep - Ed Perkins dan Jonathan Chinn
  • End Game - Rob Epstein dan Jeffrey Friedman
  • Lifeboat - Skye Fitzgerald dan Bryn Mooser
  • A Night at the Garden - Marshall Curry
• 2019 — Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) - Carol Dysinger dan Elena Andreicheva
  • In the Absence - Yi Seung-Jun dan Gary Byung-Seok Kam
  • Life Overtakes Me - John Haptas dan Kristine Samuelson
  • St. Louis Superman - Smriti Mundhra dan Sami Khan
  • Walk Run Cha-Cha - Laura Nix dan Colette Sandstedt

• 2020 — Colette - Anthony Giacchino dan Alice Doyard
  • A Concerto Is a Conversation - Ben Proudfoot dan Kris Bowers
  • Do Not Split - Anders Hammer dan Charlotte Cook
  • Hunger Ward - Skye Fitzgerald dan Michael Scheuerman
  • A Love Song for Latasha - Sophia Nahli Allison dan Janice Duncan

• 2021 — The Queen of Basketball - Ben Proudfoot
  • Audible - Matthew Ogens dan Geoff McLean
  • Lead Me Home - Pedro Kos dan Jon Shenk
  • Three Songs for Benazir - Elizabeth Mirzaei dan Gulistan Mirzaei
  • When We Were Bullies - Jay Rosenblatt

• 2022 — The Elephant Whisperers - Kartiki Gonsalves dan Guneet Monga
  • Haulout - Evgenia Arbugaeva dan Maxim Arbugaev
  • How Do You Measure a Year? - Jay Rosenblatt
  • The Martha Mitchell Effect - Anne Alvergue dan Beth Levison
  • Stranger at the Gate - Joshua Seftel dan Conall Jones