| International Emmy Award for Best Documentary | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Best Documentary |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences |
| First award | 1967 |
| Currently held by | Otto Baxter: Not a F**ing Horror Story |
| Website | www |
The International Emmy Award for Best Documentary has been presented since 1967 by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (IATAS) to the best documentaries produced and initially aired outside the United States. [1]
According to the rules of the International Academy, a documentary is a factual presentation that provides an in-depth analysis of a specific subject or point of view, supported by evidence and informed commentary, on any subject other than art and artists. The program must meet the minimum format length of a televised half-hour time slot. [2]
If the program is part of a continuous series of self-contained episodes (i.e., each episode has its own storyline with a conclusion; or each episode may have a different director and/or producer; or the series has the potential to continue for multiple seasons), then each episode must be submitted as a separate entry.
If the program is a multi-part series with a finite number of episodes (no further episodes planned), covering the same theme, two (2) episodes must be submitted to represent the series as a whole.
If the program contains multiple parts with a continuing storyline beyond one episode or shares the same concept, two (2) episodes must be submitted to represent the series as a whole. The program may employ partial reenactment, stock footage, stills, animation, stop-motion, or other techniques, as long as the emphasis is on fact and not fiction.
| Year | English title | Original title | Production company/Network | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Big Deal at Gothenburg | Tyne Tees Television | ||
| 1968 | The Anderson Platoon | La Section Anderson | Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française | |
| 1969 | The Last Campaign of Robert Kennedy | Swiss Broadcasting and Television | ||
| 1979 | The Secret Hospital – Part 1, Rampton | Yorkshire Television | ||
| Year | English title | Original title | Production company/Network | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Fighting Back | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | ||
| 1981 | Charters to Hell | Charters Pour L'Enfer | TF1 | |
| 1982 | Is There One Who Understands Me? – The World of James Joyce | Raidió Teilifís Éireann | ||
| 1983 | The Miracle of Life | Swedish Television | ||
| 1984 | The Heart of the Dragon: Remembering (Episode 1) | Channel 4 | ||
| 1985 | 28 Up | Granada Television | ||
| 1986 | Chasing a Rainbow: The Life of Josephine Baker | Channel 4 / Csaky Ltd. | ||
| 1987 | The Sword of Islam | Granada Television | ||
| 1988 | The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank | TROS / BRT Belgium Television / AVA | ||
| 1989 | Four Hours in My Lai | Yorkshire TV | ||
| Year | English title | Original title | Production company/Network | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | J'ai Douze Ans et Je Fais la Guerre | CAPA Production / Canal Plus / France 3 | ||
| 1991 | Cambodia – The Betrayal | ITV Central | ||
| El Caso 112 | Televisión Española | |||
| Chasseurs des ténèbres | Antenne 2 / MDI / Nat Geo / Wind Horse | |||
| 1992 [3] | The Fifth Estate: To Sell A War | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | ||
| Inside Story: The Nightrider | BBC Television | |||
| Kwai | Antenne 2 | |||
| 1993 [4] | Disappearing World : "We Are All Neighbours" | Granada Television | ||
| Monika and Jonas – The Face of the Informer State | NHK | |||
| Shackled Children | Metropole Television | |||
| 1994 | Life in the Freezer : "The Big Freeze" | BBC | ||
| 1995 [5] | Anne Frank Remembered | Jon Blair Film Company / BBC / Disney Channel | ||
| Lest We Forget | Contre L’Oubli | France 2 | ||
| The Dead (Twenty-Five Bloody Years) | BBC | |||
| Igor – Child of Chernobyl | Zenith North / Carlton Television | |||
| 1996 | The Pelican of Ramzan the Red | Boreales / Canal + / Docstar / Premiere | ||
| People's Century - "1933: The Master Race" | BBC Television / WGBH | |||
| The Saga of Life: The Unknown World | Sveriges Television / Eriksson Television / Wanngard | |||
| 1997 | Gerrie & Louise | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation | ||
| 1998 [6] | Exile in Sarajevo | Exile Productions | ||
| Futebol | GNT / Globosat / Videofilmes | |||
| Endgame: The Untold Story of the Hostage Crisis in Peru | NHK | |||
| 1999 | Born in the USSR: 14 Up | Granada Television / BBC | ||
| Just Like Anyone Else | Mainichi Broadcasting System | |||
| Year | English title | Original title | Production company/Network | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 [7] [8] | Kapo | RAI 3 / Spiegel TV / TEL-AD TV | ||
| Stolen Generations | Jotz Productions | |||
| Playing the China Card: Nixon and Mao | Channel 4 / WGBH-TV | |||
| 2001 [9] [10] | Welcome to North Korea | KRO Television | ||
| Challenger: Go for Launch | BBC Two | |||
| La liste Golda | Golda's List | France 3 | ||
| For My Baby | Mainichi | |||
| 2002 [11] [12] | Nicholas Winton - The Power of Good | WIP / Czech Television / Slovak Television | ||
| Offspring | Barna-Alper Productions / CBC Television | |||
| Decision at Age 18 - Israeli Youths Refuse To Fight | NHK | |||
| City Slickers: A Tale of Two African Penguins | Pelican Pictures | |||
| 2003 [13] [14] | Like Goes On | Das Leben geht weiter | StarCrest Media GmbH | |
| Avenging Terror | Channel 4 | |||
| The Last Peasants | ||||
| Stalingrad | ZDF | |||
| 2004 [15] [16] | The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off | Channel 4 | ||
| Testigo | Canal 13 | |||
| Seven Wonders of the Industrial World : "Hoover Dam" | BBC Two | |||
| The Origins of AIDS | Les Origines du Sida | Galafilm / MFP / Pathe Archives | ||
| 2005 [17] [18] | The Drama of Dresden | BROADVIEW TV GmbH / ZDF | ||
| Contacto: "Paul Schafer: Se Busca" | Canal 13 | |||
| The House of Saud | Arte France / Alegria / Starling / BBC / WGBH Boston | |||
| Prostitution Behind the Veil | Prostitution bakom slojan | COSMO DOC APS / SVT | ||
| 2006 [19] [20] | Hiroshima | BBC / TF1 / ZDF / Discovery Channel | ||
| How Putin Came To Power | Arte | |||
| 9/11: The Falling Man | Channel 4 | |||
| The Search for Happiness | WRD | |||
| 2007 [21] [22] | Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive | IWC Media / BBC Scotland | ||
| In God's Hands | RCN Televisión | |||
| Dinosaurs vs. Mammals – Secrets of Mammalian Survival | NHK | |||
| Smiling in a War Zone | Cosmo Doc / ZDF / SVT | |||
| 2008 [23] | The Beckoning Silence | Channel 4 | ||
| Asian Corridor in Heaven (Tea-Horse Old Road) | KBS | |||
| Collision over the Amazon | Colisão sobre a Amazônia | Discovery Channel / US Hispanic | ||
| Please Vote for Me | Steps International | |||
| 2009 [24] [25] | The Ascent of Money | Chimerica Media Limited / Channel 4 | ||
| Pancho Villa: Aqui y Alli | History Channel Latin America / Anima Films | |||
| Shooting the Messenger | Al Jazeera English | |||
| Cityboy – The Life of Investment Banker Geraint Anderson | United Docs / ECO Media / WDR | |||
| Year | English title | Original title | Production company/Network | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 [26] | Mom and the Red Bean Cake | Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation | ||
| 9/11: Phone Calls from the Towers | Channel 4 | |||
| Kuarup: The Lost Soul Will Return | Kuarup: A alma perdida vai voltar | TV Globo | ||
| You Die as You Lived: Roterdam Hospice | Je gaat dood zoals je geleefd hebt | KRO Broadcasting Company | ||
| 2011 [27] [28] | Life with Murder | JS Kastner Productions / National Film Board of Canada | ||
| Confesiones de un Sicario | Turner Argentina / Anima Films | |||
| The Nonfiction: Family Meeting - 7 Years in the Tanaka Family | Fuji TV | |||
| Wild Japan | GmbH / ORF / ARTE / National Geographic / Parthenon Entertainment | |||
| 2012 [29] [30] | Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die | BBC / KEO Films | ||
| Across Land, Across Sea | The Chosun Ilbo | |||
| Hitler's Scape | El escape de Hitler | History Channel Latin America / Anima Films | ||
| Race to the South Pole | Der Wettlauf zum Südpol | Loopfilm GmbH / ZDF | ||
| 2013 [31] [32] | 5 Broken Cameras | Alegria Productions / Guy DVD Films / Burnat Films Palestine / France Télévisions | ||
| The Golden Hour | Desert Road / TVNZ | |||
| My Mother, Lady Bondong | MBC | |||
| 5 de Mayo, Un Dia de Gloria | Discovery Channel Latin America / Cactus Films | |||
| 2014 [33] [34] | No Burqas Behind Bars | Frihet bakom galler | Nima Film / SVT / NHK / Ikon / DRTV / NRK | |
| Going Back | De Volta | Canal Futura / COOPAS | ||
| No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka | Outsider Films / Channel 4 | |||
| Phantoms of the Border | TV Chosun | |||
| 2015 [35] | Miners Shot Down | Uhuru Productions | ||
| Africa's Wild West - Stallions of the Namib Desert | Interspot Film / ORF / ARTE / NDR | |||
| Before We Are Forgotten | Antes de que Nos Olviden | HBO Latin America | ||
| Growing Up Down's | Maverick Television / Dartmouth Films | |||
| 2016 [36] | War of Lies | Krieg der Lügen | Zischlermann Filmproduktion | |
| Mothers of Plaza de Mayo - The Story | Madres de Plaza de Mayo | El Perro en la Luna | ||
| Mom & Clarinet | KBS / Upright Media | |||
| My Son the Jihadi | True Vision Productions | |||
| 2017 [37] | EXODUS: Our Journey to Europe | KEO Films / BBC 2 | ||
| The Phone of the Wind: Whispers to Lost Families | NHK | |||
| Terror Studios | Le Studio de la Terreur | Capa Presse / Canal+ | ||
| Tempestad | Pimienta Films / Cactus Films / Terminal | |||
| 2018 [38] | Goodbye Aleppo | BBC Arabic | ||
| This Is Me | Eu Sou Assim | GNT / TV Zero | ||
| Puck's World | De Wereld van Puck | KURTA / EO Television | ||
| Who I Am (Season 2) | WOWOW / Acrobat Film | |||
| 2019 [39] | Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World | Submarine Amsterdam / VPRO | ||
| The First Stone – The Rise of Lynching in Brazil | A Primeira Pedra | Canal Futura / Couro de Rato | ||
| Louis Theroux's Altered States | BBC Studios | |||
| Witness: India's Forbidden Love | Grain Media / AJE Witness | |||
| Year | English title | Original title | Production company/Network | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 [40] | For Sama | Channel 4 | ||
| The Witness | El testigo | Caracol Televisión | ||
| Granni-E-minem | KBS | |||
| Back to Rwanda | Terug naar Rwanda | De Chinezen / VRT Belgium | ||
| 2021 [41] | Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice | 2050 Productions / Netflix | ||
| Sieged | Cercados | Original Globoplay / Globo Jornalism | ||
| They Call Me Babu | Pieter van Huystee Film | |||
| Toxic Beauty | White Pine Pictures | |||
| 2022 [42] | Iraq's Lost Generation | Enfants de Daech, Les Damnés de la Guerre | Cinétévé / France Televisions / LCP / RTS / DR / NRK / SVT / Région Ile-de-France / CNC / PROCIREP – ANGOA | |
| Myanmar Coup: Digital Resistance | NHK | |||
| The Return: Life After ISIS | Sky / Alba Sotorra Productions / MetFilm | |||
| The Evandro Case: A Devilish Plot | O Caso Evandro | Globoplay / Glaz Entretenimento | ||
| 2023 [43] [44] | Mariupol: The People's Story | Top Hat Productions / Hayloft Productions / BBC | ||
| Dossiê Chapecó – O Jogo Por Trás Da Tragédia | Warner Bros. Discovery / Pacha Films | |||
| Nazi Hunter – Journey Into Darkness | Nazijäger – Reise In Die Finsternis | Spiegel TV | ||
| Witness : "Serigne vs. The EU" | Zungu / Al Jazeera English | |||
| 2024 [45] | Otto Baxter: Not a F**ing Horror Story | Story Films / Archface Films / Sky Documentaries | ||
| The Billionaire, the Butler and the Boyfriend | L'affaire Bettencourt : Scandale chez la femme la plus riche du monde | Quadbox / Netflix | ||
| The Exiles | Mediacorp | |||
| Transo | FRM / Canal Futura / LateForCake | |||
United Kingdom has the most awards for this category with 23 (including wins for both BBC and Channel 4).