| Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| First awarded | 2005 |
| Currently held by | When Claude Got Shot (2022) |
| Website | emmys |
The Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking is handed out annually at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony since 2005. Entries are reviewed by a jury on the basis of the "filmmaker's expressed vision, compelling power of storytelling, artistry or innovation of craft, and the capacity to inform, transport, impact, enlighten, and create a moving and indelible work that elevates the art of documentary filmmaking." Entrants are ineligible for Outstanding Informational Series or Special and Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.[1]
| Year | Program | Producers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 (57th) [2] | |||
| Death in Gaza | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Nancy Abraham, supervising producer; James Miller and Saira Shah, producers | HBO | |
| Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (American Experience) | Mark Samels and Nick Fraser, executive producers; Robert Stone, producer | PBS | |
| Last Letters Home: Voices of American Troops from the Battlefields of Iraq | John Hoffman, Sheila Nevins and Jane Bornemeier, executive producers; Bill Couturié, produced by | HBO | |
| With All Deliberate Speed | Steve Carlis, Steve Rosenbaum and Don Baer, executive producers; Peter Gilbert, produced by | Discovery | |
| 2006 (58th) [3] | |||
| Baghdad ER | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill and Joseph Feury, produced by | HBO | |
| Two Days in October (American Experience) | Sally Jo Fifer, executive producer; Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, producers; Lois Vossen, series producer | PBS | |
| Beslan: Three Days in September | Joe Halderman, produced by; Peter Van Sant, Michael McHugh and Michael Vele, producers | Showtime | |
| Combat Diary: The Marines of Lima Company | Nancy Dubuc and Dierdre O'Hearn, executive producers for A&E; Michael Epstein and Jonathan Yellen, produced by | A&E | |
| In the Realms of the Unreal (POV) | Sally Jo Fifer and Cara Mertes, executive producers; Jessica Yu and Susan West, producers | PBS | |
| 2007 (59th) [4] | |||
| A Lion in the House (Independent Lens) | Sally Jo Fifer, executive producer; Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, producers; Lois Vossen, series producer | PBS | |
| When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Samuel D. Pollard and Spike Lee, producers; Jacqueline Glover, supervising producer | HBO | |
| Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Stanley Nelson, producer; Sharon Grimberg, series producer | PBS | |
| 2008 (60th) [5] | |||
| White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Sheila Nevins and Robert Richter, executive producers; Steven Okazaki, producer; Sara Bernstein, supervising producer | HBO | |
| Oswald's Ghost (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Sharon Grimberg, senior producer; Robert Stone, producer | PBS | |
| Walt Whitman (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Patrick Long and Jamila Wignot, producers; Mark Zwonitzer, filmmaker | ||
| 2009 (61st) [6] | |||
| The Alzheimer's Project: "The Memory Loss Tapes" | Sheila Nevins and Maria Shriver, executive producers; John Hoffman, series producer; Shari Cookson and Nick Doob, produced by | HBO | |
| Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Jacqueline Glover, supervising producer; Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill, produced by | HBO |
| Year | Program | Producers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 (62nd) [7] | |||
| The Betrayal – Nerakhoon (POV) | Simon Kilmurry and Cara Mertes, executive producers; Ellen Kuras and Flora Fernandez-Marengo, produced by | PBS | |
| Brick City | Marc Levin, Mark Benjamin, Forest Whitaker and Mala Chapple, executive producers | Sundance | |
| My Lai (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Barak Goodman], producer | PBS | |
| Patti Smith: Dream of Life (POV) | Simon Kilmurry and Steven Sebring, executive producers; Margaret Smilow, executive producer/producer | ||
| Pressure Cooker | Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann, executive producers; Jennifer Grausman, producer | BET | |
| Sergio | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Nancy Abraham, senior producer; Greg Barker, John Battsek and Julie Goldman, produced by | HBO | |
| 2011 (63rd) [8] | |||
| Freedom Riders (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Stanley Nelson and Laurens Grant, produced by; Sharon Grimberg, senior producer | PBS | |
| Gasland | Trish Adlesic, Josh Fox and Molly Gandour, producers | HBO | |
| The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (POV) | Rick Goldsmith and Judith Ehrlich, producers | PBS | |
| 2012 (64th) [9] | |||
| Have You Heard from Johannesburg? (Independent Lens) | Sally Jo Fifer, executive producer; Connie Field, producer; Lois Vossen, series senior producer | PBS | |
| The Amish (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Sharon Grimberg, senior producer; Callie T. Wiser and David Belton, producers | PBS | |
| Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Joe Berlinger and Jonathan Silberberg, producers; Nancy Abraham, senior producers | HBO | |
| 2013 (65th) [10] | |||
| Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Alex Gibney, Alexandra Johnes, Todd Wider and Jedd Wider, producers; Sara Bernstein, supervising producer | HBO | |
| 2014 (66th) [11] | |||
| Life According to Sam | Sheila Nevins, executive producer; Nancy Abraham, senior producer; Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, produced by | HBO | |
| The Amish: Shunned (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Sharon Grimberg, senior producer; Callie T. Wiser, producer | PBS | |
| Brave Miss World | Lati Grobman, executive producer; Cecilia Peck, Inbal B. Lessner and Motty Reif, producers | Netflix | |
| Hillsborough (30 for 30 Soccer Stories) | Connor Schell, John Dahl and John Battsek, executive producers; Daniel Gordon and Deirdre Fenton, producers | ESPN | |
| 2015 (67th) [12] | |||
| Citizenfour | Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky, produced by | HBO | |
| The Great Invisible (Independent Lens) | Margaret Brown, Jason Orans and Julie Goldman, produced by; Lois Vossen, senior series producer | PBS | |
| Hot Girls Wanted | Jill Bauer, Ronna Gradus and Rashida Jones, produced by | Netflix | |
| 2016 (68th) [13] | |||
| Cartel Land | Kathryn Bigelow, Molly Thompson and Robert DeBitetto, executive producers; Tom Yellin and Matthew Heineman, producers | A&E | |
| Jim: The James Foley Story | Peter Kunhardt, Sheila Nevins and Jacqueline Glover, executive producers; Eva Lipman, George Kunhardt and Teddy Kunhardt, produced by | HBO | |
| The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution | Sally Jo Fifer and Lois Vossen, executive producers; Stanley Nelson and Laurens Grant, produced by | PBS | |
| The Hunting Ground | Amy Entelis, Vinnie Malhotra and Maria Cuomo Cole, executive producers; Amy Ziering, producer | CNN | |
| Racing Extinction | Dieter Paulmann and John Hoffman, executive producers; Olivia Ahnemann and Fisher Stevens, produced by | Discovery | |
| Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom | Lati Grobman and David Dinerstein, executive producers; Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor, produced by | Netflix | |
| 2017 (69th) [14] | |||
| LA 92[15] | T. J. Martin and Daniel Lindsay, a film by; Jonathan Chinn and Simon Chinn, produced by | Nat Geo | |
| Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds | Sheila Nevins and Brett Ratner, executive producers; Nancy Abraham, senior producer; Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens, produced by | HBO | |
| O.J.: Made in America | Connor Schell and Libby Geist, executive producers; Tamara Rosenberg and Nina Krstic, producers; Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow, produced by | ESPN | |
| Oklahoma City (American Experience) | Mark Samels, executive producer; Susan Bellows, senior producer; Barak Goodman and Emily Singer Chapman, produced by | PBS | |
| The White Helmets | Joanna Natasegara, produced by | Netflix | |
| 2018 (70th) [16] | |||
| Strong Island[17] | Joslyn Barnes and Yance Ford, produced by | Netflix | |
| City of Ghosts | Alex Gibney, Molly Thompson and Stacey Offman, executive producers; Matthew Heineman, produced by | A&E | |
| Jane | Tim Pastore, executive producer; Brett Morgen, Bryan Burk and James Smith, produced by | Nat Geo | |
| What Haunts Us | Frank Marshall and Matt Tolmach, executive producers; Paige Goldberg Tolmach and Sarah Gibson, producers | Starz | |
| 2019 (71st) [18] | |||
| RBG | Julie Cohen and Betsy West, produced by; Amy Entelis and Courtney Sexton, executive producers | CNN | |
| The Sentence | Sam Bisbee and Jackie Kelman Bisbee, produced by; Rudy Valdez and Theodora Dunlap, executive producers | HBO | |
| Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes | Alexis Bloom and Will Cohen, produced by; Molly Thompson and Alex Gibney, executive producers | A&E | |
| Hale County This Morning, This Evening | RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim, produced by; Lois Vossen, executive producer | PBS | |
| Three Identical Strangers | Becky Read, produced by; Grace Hughes-Hallett, producer | CNN |
| Year | Program | Producers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 (72nd) [19] | |||
| The Cave | Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær, produced by; Pernille Rose Grønkjær, Eva Mulvad, Carolyn Berstein, Ryan Harrington and Matt Renner, executive producers | Nat Geo | |
| Chasing the Moon (American Experience) | Robert Stone, produced by; Ray Rothrock, Daniel Aegerter and Keith Haviland, producers; Susan Bellows, senior producer; Mark Samels, executive producer | PBS | |
| Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements | Tahria Sheather and Irene Taylor Brodsky, produced by; Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sheila Nevins and Sara Bernstein, executive producers | HBO | |
| One Child Nation | Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements and Carolyn Hepburn, produced by; Sally Jo Fifer and Lois Vossen, executive producers | PBS | |
| 2021 (73rd) [20] | |||
| 76 Days | Hao Wu and Jean Tsien, produced by | Pluto | |
| Dick Johnson Is Dead | Katy Chevigny and Marilyn Ness, producers; Kirsten Johnson, produced by | Netflix | |
| Welcome to Chechnya | Alice Henty, David France, Joy A. Tomchin, Askold Kurov and Igor Myakotin, produced by | HBO | |
| 2022 (74th) [21] | |||
| When Claude Got Shot | Lois Vossen, executive producer; Brad Lichtenstein, Steven Cantor and Jamie Schutz, producers | PBS | |
| Changing the Game | Clare Tucker and Alex Schmider, produced by | Hulu | |
| Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches | Henry Louis Gates Jr., Dyllan McGee, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Sara Rodriguez, executive producers; Oluwaseun Babalola, producer | HBO | |
| 2023 (75th) [22] | |||
| The Accused: Damned or Devoted? | Mohammed Ali Naqvi, produced by/directed by | PBS | |
| Aftershock | Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee, a film by | Hulu | |
| Last Flight Home | Ondi Timoner and David Turner, produced by | Paramount+ | |
| The Territory | Alex Pritz, Darren Aronofsky, Sigrid Dyekjær, Will N. Miller, Gabriel Uchida and Lizzie Gillett, produced by; Txai Suruí, executive producer | Nat Geo |