Award-Winning Documentary Films at the Cannes
118 documentary films have been recognised at the Cannes, and 58 of them won at least one award. They are ranked here by wins, then by nominations.
The most awarded are Butterflies Do Not Live Here (2 wins), Le Sourire (2 wins) and Sky Over Holland (2 wins). The films span 1945 to 2025.
Genres come from each film's catalogue data, so a film can appear under more than one genre. Every title links to its complete record at all four awards.
Last updated
2 won · 3 nom.
Le Sourire(1960)2 won · 3 nom.
Sky Over Holland(1967)2 won · 3 nom.
Ouverture(1965)2 won · 2 nom.
50 ans(1989)1 won · 2 nom.
A City Called Copenhagen(1960)1 won · 2 nom.
Aptenodytes Forsteri(1953)1 won · 2 nom.
Arirang(2011)1 won · 2 nom.- Bathing Micky(2010)1 won · 2 nom.
Bowling for Columbine(2002)1 won · 2 nom.
Buy It Now(2005)1 won · 2 nom.
City of Gold(1957)1 won · 2 nom.
Di Cavalcanti Di Glauber(1977)1 won · 2 nom.
Fahrenheit 9/11(2004)1 won · 2 nom.
1 won · 2 nom.
Flamenco(1952)1 won · 2 nom.
Gotama the Buddha(1957)1 won · 2 nom.- Green Magic(1953)1 won · 2 nom.
Greenland(1952)1 won · 2 nom.
Houen Zo!(1952)1 won · 2 nom.
Indian Village(1951)1 won · 2 nom.
Lautrec(1975)1 won · 2 nom.
Le cinéma dans les yeux(1987)1 won · 2 nom.
Le Filmeur(2005)1 won · 2 nom.
Lost Continent(1955)1 won · 2 nom.- Loutky Jiřího Trnky(1956)1 won · 2 nom.
Moon(2023)1 won · 2 nom.
N.Y., N.Y.(1959)1 won · 2 nom.
Nightlife(1976)1 won · 2 nom.
Portrait(2001)1 won · 2 nom.
Powrót na Stare Miasto(1954)1 won · 2 nom.- Sillages(1964)1 won · 2 nom.
The Claw and the Tooth(1976)1 won · 2 nom.
The Hellstrom Chronicle(1971)1 won · 2 nom.
The Image Book(2018)1 won · 2 nom.
The Living Desert(1953)1 won · 2 nom.
The Magic Machines(1969)1 won · 2 nom.
The Mother of All Lies(2023)1 won · 2 nom.
The Price of Victory(1964)1 won · 2 nom.- The Roof of Japan(1957)1 won · 2 nom.
The Salt of the Earth(2014)1 won · 2 nom.
The Sea and the Days(1958)1 won · 2 nom.
The Seine Meets Paris(1957)1 won · 2 nom.
Tyson(2008)1 won · 2 nom.- Versailles(1967)1 won · 2 nom.
Village Sweetness(1964)1 won · 2 nom.
Visages de bronze(1958)1 won · 2 nom.
Wayfarers(2005)1 won · 2 nom.
Winter in March(2025)1 won · 2 nom.- Zea(1981)1 won · 2 nom.
Dream of Light(1992)1 won · 1 nom.- 1 won · 1 nom.
Half a Life(1982)1 won · 1 nom.
Microcosmos(1996)1 won · 1 nom.
The Missing Picture(2013)1 won · 1 nom.
The Mystery of Picasso(1956)1 won · 1 nom.
The Silent World(1956)1 won · 1 nom.
The Territory of Others(1970)1 won · 1 nom.- A Capital Plan(1949)1 nom.
1 nom.
All That Breathes(2022)1 nom.
Amy(2015)1 nom.
An Inconvenient Truth(2006)1 nom.- Aubusson(1946)1 nom.
Bambini in città(1946)1 nom.
Birds Do It, Bees Do It(1974)1 nom.- Chercheurs de la mer(1946)1 nom.
Cyprus Is an Island(1946)1 nom.- De stichter(1947)1 nom.
- Der gelbe Dom(1951)1 nom.
- 1 nom.
Escale au soleil(1947)1 nom.
Flee(2021)1 nom.
For Sama(2019)1 nom.
1 nom.
Handling Ships(1946)1 nom.
Harlan County U.S.A.(1976)1 nom.
Hitler Lives(1945)1 nom.
1 nom.
Images d'Ethiopie(1949)1 nom.
Inside Job(2010)1 nom.
1 nom.
1 nom.- L'île aux cormorans(1946)1 nom.
- La cité des abeilles(1946)1 nom.
- La locomotive(1946)1 nom.
- 1 nom.
Lies of Love(1949)1 nom.
Man One Family(1946)1 nom.
Muscle Beach(1949)1 nom.- New Faces Come Back(1947)1 nom.
Paris 1900(1947)1 nom.
perfectly a strangeness(2024)1 nom.
1 nom.
Precious Images(1986)1 nom.
Raoni(1978)1 nom.
Seal Island(1948)1 nom.
Sertão(1949)1 nom.
Shipwrecks(1946)1 nom.
Sicko(2007)1 nom.
1 nom.
Snow(1963)1 nom.
Steel(1946)1 nom.
Storm in Poland(1947)1 nom.
The California Reich(1975)1 nom.
1 nom.
The Face of Lincoln(1956)1 nom.
The Fog of War(2003)1 nom.
The Living Stone(1959)1 nom.
1 nom.- The Valley Is Ours(1949)1 nom.
The Way We Live(1946)1 nom.
Umbra(2019)1 nom.
Visions of Eight(1973)1 nom.
Waltz with Bashir(2008)1 nom.
Water Birds(1952)1 nom.
Wattstax(1973)1 nom.
Woodstock(1970)1 nom.