1932-present: Wikipedia
1932-present: Wikipedia
1941-present: Wikipedia
| Year | Movie | Producers |
| 2022 | The Elephant Whisperers | Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga |
| 2021 | The Queen of Basketball | Ben Proudfoot |
| 2020 | Colette | Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard |
| 2019 | Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) | Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva |
| 2018 | Period. End of Sentence. | Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton |
| 2017 | Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 | Frank Stiefel |
| 2016 | The White Helmets | Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara |
| 2015 | A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness | Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy |
| 2014 | Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 | Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry |
| 2013 | The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life | Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed |
| 2012 | Inocente | Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine |
| 2011 | Saving Face | Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy |
| 2010 | Strangers No More | Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon |
| 2009 | Music by Prudence | Roger Ross Williams |
| 2008 | Smile Pinki | Megan Mylan |
| 2007 | Freeheld | Vanessa Roth, Matthew Syrett, and Cynthia Wade |
| 2006 | The Blood of Yingzhou District | Thomas F. Lennon and Ruby Yang |
| 2005 | A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin | Eric Simonson |
| 2004 | Mighty Times: The Children's March | Robert Houston and Robert Hudson |
| 2003 | Chernobyl Heart | Maryann DeLeo |
| 2002 | Twin Towers | Bill Guttentag and Robert David Port |
| 2001 | Thoth | Sarah Hernochan and Lynn Appelle |
| 2000 | Big Mama | Tracy Seretean |
| 1999 | King Gimp | Susan Hannah Hadary and William A. Whiteford |
| 1998 | The Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the Golden Years | Keiko Ibi |
| 1997 | A Story of Healing | Donna Dewey and Carol Pasternak |
| 1996 | Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien | Jessica Yu |
| 1995 | One Survivor Remembers | Kary Antholis |
| 1994 | A Time for Justice | Charles Guggenheim |
| 1993 | Defending Our Lives | Margaret Lazarus and Renner Wunderlich |
| 1992 | Educating Peter | Thomas C. Goodwin and Gerardine Wurzburg |
| 1991 | Deadly Deception: General Electric, Nuclear Weapons, and Our Environment | Debra Chasnoff |
| 1990 | Days of Waiting | Steven Okazaki |
| 1989 | The Johnstown Flood | Charles Guggenheim |
| 1988 | You Don't Have to Die | William Guttentag and Malcolm Clarke |
| 1987 | Young at Heart | Sue Marx and Pamela Conn |
| 1986 | Women -- for America, for the World | Vivienne Verdon-Roe |
| 1985 | Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements | David Goodman |
| 1984 | The Stone Carvers | Marjorie Hunt and Paul Wagner |
| 1983 | Flamenco at 5:15 | Cynthia Scott and Adam Symansky, National Film Board of Canada |
| 1982 | If You Love This Planet | Edward Le Lorrain and Terre Nash, National Film Board of Canada |
| 1981 | Close Harmony | Nigel Noble |
| 1980 | Karl Hess: Toward Liberty | Roland Hallé and Peter W. Ladue |
| 1979 | Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist | Saul J. Turell |
| 1978 | The Flight of the Gossamer Condor | Jacqueline Phillips Shedd and Ben Shedd |
| 1977 | Gravity Is My Enemy | John C. Joseph and Jan Stussy |
| 1976 | Number Our Days | Lynne Littman and Barbara Myerhoff |
| 1975 | The End of the Game | Claire Wilbur and Robin Lehman |
| 1974 | Don't | Robin Lehman |
| 1973 | Princeton: A Search for Answers | Julian Krainin and DeWitt L. Sage, Jr. |
| 1972 | This Tiny World | Charles Huguenot van der Linden and Martina Huguenot van der Linden |
| 1971 | Sentinels of Silence | Manuel Arango and Robert Amram |
| 1970 | Interviews with My Lai Veterans | Joseph Strick |
| 1969 | Czechoslovakia 1918-1968 | Denis Sanders and Robert M. Fresco |
| 1968 | Why Man Creates | Saul Bass |
| 1967 | The Redwoods | Mark Harris and Trevor Greenwood |
| 1966 | A Year Toward Tomorrow | Edmond A. Levy |
| 1965 | To Be Alive! | Francis Thompson |
| 1964 | Nine from Little Rock | Charles Guggenheim |
| 1963 | Chagall | Simon Schiffrin |
| 1962 | Dylan Thomas | Jack Howells |
| 1961 | Project Hope | Frank P. Bibas |
| 1960 | Giuseppina | James Hill |
| 1959 | Glass | Bert Haanstra |
| 1958 | Ama Girls | Ben Sharpsteen |
| 1957 | NO AWARD GIVEN | |
| 1956 | The True Story of the Civil War | Louis Clyde Stoumen |
| 1955 | Men Against the Arctic | Walt Disney |
| 1954 | Thursday's Children | World Wide Pictures and Morse Films |
| 1953 | The Alaskan Eskimo | Walt Disney |
| 1952 | Neighbours | Norman McLaren, National Film Board of Canada |
| 1951 | Benjy | Fred Zinnemann |
| 1950 | Why Korea? | Edmund Reek |
| 1949 (TIE) | A Chance to Live | Richard de Rochemont |
| 1949 (TIE) | So Much for So Little | Edward Selzer |
| 1948 | Toward Independence | United States Army |
| 1947 | First Steps | United Nations Division of Films and Visual Information |
| 1946 | Seeds of Destiny | United States Department of War |
| 1945 | Hitler Lives | Gordon Hollingshead |
| 1944 | With the Marines at Tarawa | United States Marine Corps |
| 1943 | December 7th | United States Navy |
| 1942* | The Battle of Midway | United States Navy |
| 1942* | Kokoda Front Line! | Australian News & Information Bureau |
| 1942* | Moscow Strikes Back | Artkino |
| 1942* | Prelude to War | United States Army Special Services |
| 1941 | Churchill's Island | National Film Board of Canada |
*25 films were nominated and four special awards presented in the Documentary category, in recognition of the Allied war effort