Critics' Choice Documentary Award for Best Documentary Feature

Last updated October 21, 2025

The Critics' Choice Documentary Award for Best Documentary Feature is one of the awards presented annually by Critics Choice Association since the awards debuted in 2016.

History

In 2022, the top three documentaries of the year are honored, with gold, silver, and bronze awards in the category.^[1]

Winners and nominees

indicates the winner

2010s

Year	Film	Production companies and distributors	Ref.
2016 (1st)	O.J.: Made in America	ESPN and Laylow Films	^[2]^[3]
	13th	Netflix and Kandoo Films
	Cameraperson	Janus Films, Fork Films, and Big Mouth Productions
	Fire at Sea	Kino Lorber, Stemal Entertainment, 21 Unofilm, Cinecittà Luce, Rai Cinema, Les Films d'Ici, and Arte France Cinéma
	Gleason	Open Road Films, Amazon Studios, and Exhibit A
	Life, Animated	A&E IndieFilms, The Orchard, Motto Pictures, and Roger Ross Williams Productions
	Tickled	Magnolia Pictures, A Ticklish Tale, Fumes Production, and Horseshoe Films
	Tower	Kino Lorber, ITVS, Meredith Vieira Productions, GTS Films, and Diana DiMenna Film
	Weiner	Sundance Selects, Motto Pictures, and Edgeline Films
	The Witness	FilmRise and Five More Minutes Productions
2017 (2nd)	Jane	National Geographic Documentary Films, National Geographic Studios, and Public Road Productions	^[4]
	Abacus: Small Enough to Jail	PBS, Blue Ice Films, Mitten Media, Motto Pictures, and Kartemquin Films Production
	Beware the Slenderman	HBO, Warner Bros. Television Distribution, HBO Documentary Films, and Vermilion Films
	Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds	HBO, Bloomfish Pictures, HBO Documentary Films, Insurgent Docs, and RatPac Documentary Films
	California Typewriter	Gravitas Ventures and American Buffalo Pictures
	Chasing Coral	Netflix and Exposure Labs
	City of Ghosts	Amazon Studios, A&E IndieFilms, IFC Films, and Our Time Projects
	Cries from Syria	HBO, Afineevsky – Tolmor Production, Cinepost Barrandov, Levy Entertainment Group, and Studio Malibu
	Dawson City: Frozen Time	Kino Lorber, Hypnotic Pictures, and Picture Palace Pictures
	Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends)	HBO, Live Nation Productions, and Company Name
	Ex Libris: The New York Public Library	Zipporah Films
	Faces Places	Cohen Media Group, Ciné Tamaris, Social Animals, Rouge International, Arte France Cinéma, and Arches Films
	Kedi	Oscilloscope Laboratories, YouTube Red, and Termite Films
	One of Us	Netflix and Loki Films
	Spettacolo	Grasshopper Film and Open Face
	Strong Island	Netflix, Yanceville Films, and Louverture Films
2018 (3rd)	Won't You Be My Neighbor?	Focus Features	^[5]^[6]
	Crime + Punishment	Hulu
	Dark Money	PBS
	Free Solo	National Geographic Documentary Films
	Hal	Oscilloscope
	Hitler's Hollywood	Kino Lorber
	Minding the Gap	Hulu
	RBG	Magnolia Pictures and Participant Media
	Three Identical Strangers	Neon and CNN Films
	Wild Wild Country	Netflix
2019 (4th)	Apollo 11	Neon	^[7]^[8]
	American Factory	Netflix
	The Biggest Little Farm	Neon
	The Cave	National Geographic
	Honeyland	Neon
	The Kingmaker	Showtime
	Knock Down the House	Netflix
	Leaving Neverland	HBO
	Maiden	Sony Pictures Classics
	One Child Nation	Amazon Studios
	They Shall Not Grow Old	Warner Bros.

2020s

Year	Film	Production companies and distributors	Ref.
2020 (5th)	Dick Johnson Is Dead	Netflix	^[9]^[10]
	Athlete A	Netflix
	Belushi	Showtime
	Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution	Netflix
	Feels Good Man	Giant Pictures
	The Fight	Magnolia Pictures
	The Go-Go's	Showtime
	Gunda	Neon
	Mr. Soul!	Shoes in the Bed Productions
	My Octopus Teacher	Netflix
	The Painter and the Thief	Neon
	A Secret Love	Netflix
	The Social Dilemma	Netflix
	Time	Amazon Studios
2021 (6th)	Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)	Searchlight Pictures and Hulu	^[11]
	Ascension	MTV Documentary Films
	Attica	Showtime
	Becoming Cousteau	Picturehouse and National Geographic Documentary Films
	The Crime of the Century	HBO Documentary Films
	A Crime on the Bayou	Shout! Studios
	Flee	Neon and Participant
	Introducing, Selma Blair	Discovery+
	The Lost Leonardo	Sony Pictures Classics
	My Name Is Pauli Murray	Amazon Studios
	Procession	Netflix
	The Rescue	National Geographic Documentary Films
2022 (7th)	Good Night Oppy (gold)	Amazon Studios	^[1]
	Fire of Love (silver)	National Geographic Documentary Films and Neon
	Navalny (bronze)	HBO and CNN and Warner Bros. Pictures
	Aftershock	Hulu
	The Automat	A Slice of Pie Productions
	Descendant	Netflix
	Gabby Giffords Won't Back Down	Briarcliff Entertainment
	The Janes	HBO
	Moonage Daydream	HBO and Neon
	Sidney	Apple TV+
2023 (8th)	Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie	Apple TV+	^[12]
	20 Days in Mariupol	PBS
	American Symphony	Netflix
	Beyond Utopia	Roadside Attractions
	The Deepest Breath	Netflix
	The Eternal Memory	MTV Documentary Films
	Judy Blume Forever	Amazon Studios
	Kokomo City	Magnolia Pictures
	The Mission	National Geographic
	Stamped from the Beginning	Netflix
2024 (9th)	Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story	Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios, HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films	^[13]^[14]
	Will & Harper	Netflix
	Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story	National Geographic
	Daughters	Netflix
	The Greatest Night in Pop	Netflix
	Jim Henson Idea Man	Disney+
	Music by John Williams	Disney+
	Piece by Piece	Focus Features
	The Remarkable Life of Ibelin	Netflix
	Sugarcane	National Geographic
2025 (10th)	2000 Meters to Andriivka	Frontline Features / The Associated Press	^[15]
	The Alabama Solution	HBO Max
	Apocalypse in the Tropics	Netflix
	Cover-Up	Netflix
	Deaf President Now!	Apple TV+
	Orwell: 2+2=5	Neon
	Pee-wee as Himself	HBO Max
	The Perfect Neighbor	Netflix
	Riefenstahl	Kino Lorber
	The Tale of Silyan	National Geographic

References

1 2 Nordyke, Kimberly (November 13, 2022). "'Good Night Oppy' Wins Top Prize at Critics Choice Documentary Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 27, 2023.
↑ Hammond, Pete (October 10, 2016). "'13th,' 'O.J.: Made In America' & 'Gleason' Lead Nominations For First Critics' Choice Documentary Awards". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ Tapley, Kristopher (November 3, 2016). "'O.J.: Made in America,' '13th' Top First Annual Critics' Choice Documentary Awards". Variety . Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ Chuba, Kirsten (October 11, 2017). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards: 'Kedi' Leads Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ Erbland, Kate (October 15, 2018). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominees Announced: 'Free Solo,' 'Minding the Gap,' and 'Wild Wild Country' Lead Nods". IndieWire . Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ Lewis, Hilary (November 10, 2018). "Mr. Rogers Film 'Won't You Be My Neighbor?' Tops Critics' Choice Documentary Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ Gray, Tim (October 14, 2019). "'Biggest Little Farm' Nabs Seven Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ Nordyke, Kimberly; Howard, Annie (November 10, 2019). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards: 'Apollo 11' Tops Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ Hammond, Pete (October 26, 2020). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations: 'Mr. Soul', 'Gunda', 'Crip Camp' And 'Totally Under Control' Top List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ Moreau, Jordan (November 16, 2020). "'Dick Johnson Is Dead' Wins Best Feature at Critics Choice Documentary Awards". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ Feinberg, Scott (October 18, 2021). "Critics Choice Documentary Awards: 'Summer of Soul' and 'Ascension' Lead With 6 Nominations Each". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved October 18, 2021.
↑ Zilko, Christian (November 12, 2023). "'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie' Sweeps the Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Complete Winners List)". IndieWire . Retrieved October 14, 2024.
↑ Hammond, Pete (October 14, 2024). "'Sugarcane', 'Super/Man', 'Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story' Lead Critics Choice Documentary Award Nominations". Deadline. Archived from the original on February 11, 2025. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
↑ Lewis, Hilary (November 10, 2024). "Critics Choice Documentary Awards: 'Super/Man' and 'Will & Harper' Tie for Best Feature". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on March 3, 2025. Retrieved November 11, 2024.
↑ Davis, Clayton (2025-10-14). "'Orwell: 2+2=5' and 'The Perfect Neighbor' Lead Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 2025-10-20.

External links

Official website

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[2023-awards-1] 1 2 Nordyke, Kimberly (November 13, 2022). "'Good Night Oppy' Wins Top Prize at Critics Choice Documentary Awards". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 27, 2023.

[2] Hammond, Pete (October 10, 2016). "'13th,' 'O.J.: Made In America' & 'Gleason' Lead Nominations For First Critics' Choice Documentary Awards". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[3] Tapley, Kristopher (November 3, 2016). "'O.J.: Made in America,' '13th' Top First Annual Critics' Choice Documentary Awards". Variety . Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[4] Chuba, Kirsten (October 11, 2017). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards: 'Kedi' Leads Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[5] Erbland, Kate (October 15, 2018). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominees Announced: 'Free Solo,' 'Minding the Gap,' and 'Wild Wild Country' Lead Nods". IndieWire . Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[6] Lewis, Hilary (November 10, 2018). "Mr. Rogers Film 'Won't You Be My Neighbor?' Tops Critics' Choice Documentary Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[7] Gray, Tim (October 14, 2019). "'Biggest Little Farm' Nabs Seven Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[8] Nordyke, Kimberly; Howard, Annie (November 10, 2019). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards: 'Apollo 11' Tops Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[9] Hammond, Pete (October 26, 2020). "Critics' Choice Documentary Awards Nominations: 'Mr. Soul', 'Gunda', 'Crip Camp' And 'Totally Under Control' Top List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[10] Moreau, Jordan (November 16, 2020). "'Dick Johnson Is Dead' Wins Best Feature at Critics Choice Documentary Awards". Variety. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[11] Feinberg, Scott (October 18, 2021). "Critics Choice Documentary Awards: 'Summer of Soul' and 'Ascension' Lead With 6 Nominations Each". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved October 18, 2021.

[12] Zilko, Christian (November 12, 2023). "'Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie' Sweeps the Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Complete Winners List)". IndieWire . Retrieved October 14, 2024.

[13] Hammond, Pete (October 14, 2024). "'Sugarcane', 'Super/Man', 'Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story' Lead Critics Choice Documentary Award Nominations". Deadline. Archived from the original on February 11, 2025. Retrieved October 14, 2024.

[14] Lewis, Hilary (November 10, 2024). "Critics Choice Documentary Awards: 'Super/Man' and 'Will & Harper' Tie for Best Feature". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on March 3, 2025. Retrieved November 11, 2024.

[15] Davis, Clayton (2025-10-14). "'Orwell: 2+2=5' and 'The Perfect Neighbor' Lead Critics Choice Documentary Awards Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 2025-10-20.

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