The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to Kukan and Target for Tonight.[1] They have since been bestowed competitively each year, with the exception of 1946.[2] Copies of every winning film (along with copies of most nominees) are held by the Academy Film Archive.[3]
Following the academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year (that is, the year they were released under the academy's rules for eligibility). In practice, due to the limited nature of documentary distribution, a film may be released in different years in different venues, sometimes years after production is complete.