Directing Award Documentary

This is a list of winners of the Sundance Film Festival Directing Award for documentary features.

Winners

1990s

• 1997: Arthur Dong – Licensed to Kill
• 1998: Julia Loktev – Moment of Impact^[1]
• 1999: Barbara Sonneborn – Regret to Inform

2000s

• 2000: Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman – Paragraph 175
• 2001: Stacy Peralta – Dogtown and Z-Boys
• 2002: Rebecca Cammisa and Rob Fruchtman – Sister Helen
• 2003: Jonathan Karsh – My Flesh and Blood
• 2004: Morgan Spurlock – Super Size Me^[2]
• 2005: Jeff Feuerzeig – The Devil and Daniel Johnston^[3]
• 2006: James Longley – Iraq in Fragments
• 2007: Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine – War/Dance
• 2008: Nanette Burstein – American Teen^[4]
• 2009: Natalia Almada – El General

2010s

• 2010: Leon Gast – Smash His Camera
• 2011: Jon Foy – Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles
• 2012: Lauren Greenfield – The Queen of Versailles
• 2013: Zachary Heinzerling – Cutie and the Boxer
• 2014: Ben Cotner and Ryan White – The Case Against 8
• 2015: Matthew Heineman – Cartel Land
• 2016: Roger Ross Williams – Life, Animated^[5][6][7]
• 2017: Peter Nicks – The Force
• 2018: Alexandria Bombach – On Her Shoulders
• 2019: Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert – American Factory^[8][9]

2020s

• 2020: Garrett Bradley – Time^[10][11]
• 2021: Natalia Almada – Users^[12]
• 2022: Reid Davenport – I Didn't See You There
• 2023: Luke Lorentzen – A Still Small Voice
• 2024: Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie – Sugarcane^[13]
• 2025: Geeta Gandbhir – The Perfect Neighbor^[14]

International winners

See also

• Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature