Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| Currently held by | Kirsten Johnson, Dick Johnson Is Dead (2021) |
| Website | emmys |
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program is awarded to one program each year. The category was split in 2018 to separately recognize documentary/nonfiction and reality programs.[1]
In the following list, the first titles listed in gold are the winners; those not in gold are nominees, which are listed in alphabetical order. The years given are those in which the ceremonies took place:
Winners and nominations[]
1970s[]
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[2][note 1] | |||
| Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? | John Korty | ABC | ||
1980s[]
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[3][note 2] | |||
| The Body Human: The Living Code | Charles A. Bangert and Alfred R. Kelman | PBS | ||
| 1984 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[4][note 3] | |||
| He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' | Emile Ardolino | PBS | ||
| A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers | "Marshall, Texas" | David Grubin | PBS | |
| 1986 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[5][note 4] | |||
| The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn | David Heeley | PBS | ||
| 1987 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming - Directing[6][note 5] | |||
| American Masters | "Unknown Chaplin" | Kevin Brownlow and David Gill | PBS | |
| Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente | Richard Schickel | |||
| 1989 | Outstanding Directing in Informational Programming[7][note 6] | |||
| Destined to Live | Linda Otto | NBC | ||
| Entertainment Tonight | "Lucille Ball Memorial" | Ron de Moraes | Syndicated | |
1990s[]
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[8][note 7] | |||
| American Masters | "W. Eugene Smith: Photography Made Difficult" | Gene Lasko | PBS | |
| The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic | Jack Haley Jr. | CBS | ||
| 1991 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[9][note 8] | |||
| Soldiers of Music: Rostropovich Returns to Russia | Bob Eisenhardt, Susan Froemke, Peter Gelb and Albert Maysles | PBS | ||
| The Astronomers | "Waves of the Future" | Linda Feferman | PBS | |
| Motel | Christian Blackwood | |||
| The Power of the Past with Bill Moyers: Florence | David Grubin | |||
| 1992 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[10][note 9] | |||
| Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse | Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper and Eleanor Coppola | Showtime | ||
| 1993 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[11][note 10] | |||
| Earth and the American Dream | Bill Couturié | HBO | ||
| Gridiron Gang | Lee Stanley | Syndicated | ||
| Dancing | "Dance Centerstage" | Geoff Dunlop | PBS | |
| "New Worlds, New Forms" | Orlando Bagwell | |||
| Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson | Barbara Kopple | NBC | ||
| Healing and the Mind with Bill Moyers | "The Mystery of Chi" | David Grubin | PBS | |
| Lincoln | Peter Kunhardt | ABC | ||
| 1994 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[12][note 11] | |||
| Cats & Dogs | "Dogs Segment" | Robin Lehman | TBS | |
| I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School | Susan Raymond | HBO | ||
2000s[]
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
[13] |
Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming | |||
| American Experience | "The Murder of Emmett Till" | Stanley Nelson Jr. | PBS | |
| American Idol | "Finale" | Bruce Gowers | Fox | |
| Da Ali G Show | "Politics" | James Bobin | HBO | |
| Expedition: Bismarck | Andrew Wight and James Cameron | Discovery | ||
| Journeys with George | Alexandra Pelosi and Aaron Lubarsky | HBO | ||
| Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives | Ed Bell and Thomas Lennon | |||
[14] | ||||
| Jockey | Kate Davis | HBO | ||
| American Experience | "Tupperware!" | Laurie Kahn | PBS | |
| American Masters | "Judy Garland: By Myself" | Susan Lacy | ||
| Born Rich | Jamie Johnson | HBO | ||
| Queer Eye for the Straight Guy | "Richard Miller" | Becky Smith | Bravo | |
[15] | ||||
| Death in Gaza | James Miller (posthumously) | HBO | ||
| American Idol | "Finale" | Bruce Gowers | Fox | |
| The Apprentice | "Finale" | Glenn Weiss | NBC | |
| Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | "The Dore Family" | Patrick Higgins | ABC | |
| Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson | Ken Burns | PBS | ||
[16] | ||||
| Baghdad ER | Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill | HBO | ||
| All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise | Shari Cookson | HBO | ||
| American Masters | "John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend" | Samuel D. Pollard | PBS | |
| "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan" | Martin Scorsese | |||
| Children of Beslan | Ewa Ewart and Leslie Woodhead | HBO | ||
[17] |
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts | Spike Lee | HBO | |
| Ghosts of Abu Ghraib | Rory Kennedy | HBO | ||
| Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed | Kevin Burns | History | ||
| Thin | Lauren Greenfield | HBO | ||
| This American Life | "God's Close-Up" | Christopher Wilcha | Showtime | |
[18] |
This American Life | "Escape" | Adam Beckman and Christopher Wilcha | Showtime |
| The Amazing Race | "Honestly, They Have Witch Powers or Something" | Bertram van Munster | CBS | |
| Autism: The Musical | Tricia Regan | HBO | ||
| Project Runway | "En Garde!" | Tony Sacco | Bravo | |
| The War | "Pride of Our Nation (June–August 1944)" | Ken Burns and Lynn Novick | PBS | |
[19] |
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired | Marina Zenovich | HBO | |
| The Amazing Race | "Don't Let a Cheese Hit Me" | Bertram van Munster | CBS | |
| Project Runway | "Finale, Part 1" | Paul Starkman | Bravo | |
| This American Life | "John Smith" | Adam Beckman and Christopher Wilcha | Showtime | |
| Top Chef | "The Last Supper" | Steve Hryniewicz | Bravo | |
2010s[]
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
[20] |
American Experience | "My Lai" | Barak Goodman | PBS |
| The Amazing Race | "I Think We're Fighting the Germans, Right?" | Bertram van Munster | CBS | |
| By the People: The Election of Barack Obama | Amy Rice and Alicia Sams | HBO | ||
| Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) | "Lust for Glory" | Bill Jones and Ben Timlett | IFC | |
| Terror in Mumbai | Dan Reed | HBO | ||
[21] |
Gasland | Josh Fox | HBO | |
| The Amazing Race | "You Don't Get Paid Unless You Win" | Bertram van Munster | CBS | |
| American Masters | "A Letter to Elia/Reflecting on Kazan" | Kent Jones and Martin Scorsese | PBS | |
| Becoming Chaz | Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato | OWN | ||
| Top Chef | "Give Me Your Huddled Masses" | Paul Starkman | Bravo | |
[22] |
George Harrison: Living in the Material World | Martin Scorsese | HBO | |
| The Amazing Race | "Let Them Drink Their Haterade" | Bertram van Munster | CBS | |
| American Masters | "Woody Allen: A Documentary" | Robert B. Weide | PBS | |
| Project Runway | "Finale, Part 2" | Craig Spirko | Lifetime | |
| Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory | Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky | HBO | ||
[23] |
American Masters | "Mel Brooks: Make a Noise" | Robert Trachtenberg | PBS |
| Ethel | Rory Kennedy | HBO | ||
| Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God | Alex Gibney | |||
| Survivor | "Live Finale and Reunion (Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites)" | Glenn Weiss | CBS | |
| "Live Finale and Reunion (Philippines)" | Michael Simon | |||
[24] |
The Square | Jehane Noujaim | Netflix | |
| The Amazing Race | "Part Like the Red Sea" | Bertram van Munster | CBS | |
| Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey | "Standing Up in the Milky Way" | Brannon Braga | Fox | |
| Project Runway | "Sky's the Limit" | Craig Spirko | Lifetime | |
| Shark Tank | "Episode 501" | Ken Fuchs | ABC | |
[25] |
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief | Alex Gibney | HBO | |
| Citizenfour | Laura Poitras | HBO | ||
| Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways | "Washington D.C." | Dave Grohl | ||
| The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst | "Chapter 2: Poor Little Rich Boy" | Andrew Jarecki | ||
| Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck | Brett Morgen | |||
[26] |
Making a Murderer | "Fighting for Their Lives" | Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi | Netflix |
| Cartel Land | Matthew Heineman | A&E | ||
| Chef's Table | "Gaggan Anand" | David Gelb | Netflix | |
| He Named Me Malala | Davis Guggenheim | Nat Geo | ||
| What Happened, Miss Simone? | Liz Garbus | Netflix | ||
[27] |
O.J.: Made in America | "Part 3" | Ezra Edelman | ESPN |
| Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds | Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens | HBO | ||
| Planet Earth II | "Cities" | Fredi Devas | BBC America | |
| "Islands" | Elizabeth White | |||
| 13th | Ava DuVernay | Netflix | ||
| 2018 [28] |
Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program | |||
| Jane | Brett Morgen | Nat Geo | ||
| Icarus | Bryan Fogel | Netflix | ||
| The Vietnam War | "Episode 8: The History of the World (April 1969-May 1970)" | Ken Burns and Lynn Novick | PBS | |
| Wild Wild Country | "Part 3" | Chapman Way and Maclain Way | Netflix | |
| The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling | Judd Apatow | HBO | ||
| 2019 [29] | ||||
| Free Solo | Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin | Nat Geo | ||
| Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened | Chris Smith | Netflix | ||
| Leaving Neverland | Dan Reed | HBO | ||
| RBG | Julie Cohen and Betsy West | CNN | ||
| Three Identical Strangers | Tim Wardle | |||
2020s[]
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 [30] | ||||
| American Factory | Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert | Netflix | ||
| Apollo 11 | Todd Douglas Miller | CNN | ||
| Becoming | Nadia Hallgren | Netflix | ||
| The Cave | Feras Fayyad | Nat Geo | ||
| The Last Dance | "Episode 7" | Jason Hehir | ESPN | |
| Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness | "Cult of Personality" | Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin | Netflix | |
| 2021 [31] | ||||
| Dick Johnson Is Dead[32] | Kirsten Johnson | Netflix | ||
| Allen v. Farrow | "Episode 3" | Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering | HBO | |
| The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart | Frank Marshall | |||
| Boys State | Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss | Apple TV+ | ||
| The Social Dilemma | Jeff Orlowski | Netflix | ||
| Tina | Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin | HBO | ||
Individuals with multiple nominations[]
|
|
Notes[]
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominees did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award. The nominees did not meet the benchmark and no award was given.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
- ^ As a juried award, nominees had to garner 50% approval to win the award.
References[]
- ^ Petski, Denise (December 12, 2017). "TV Academy Reclassifies Variety Special Emmy Categories; Splits Some Costume, Directing & Sound Editing Fields". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Television Academy. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
- ^ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
- ^ Columbia Filmmakers Win Big at 2021 Emmy Awards - Columbia University of the Arts
External links[]
Categories:
- Primetime Emmy Awards