| Year |
Program |
Episode |
Nominee(s) |
Network |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |
|
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 |