| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program | |
| Awarded For: | Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program |
| Presenter: | Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |
| Country: | United States |
| Holder: | Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, Girls State (2024) |
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:
__TOC__
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[2] [3] | |||
| Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? | John Korty | ABC | ||
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[4] [5] | |||
| The Body Human: The Living Code | Charles A. Bangert and Alfred R. Kelman | PBS | ||
| 1984 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[6] [7] | |||
| 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[8] [9] | |||
| The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn | David Heeley | PBS | ||
| 1987 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming - Directing[10] [11] | |||
| American Masters | "Unknown Chaplin" | Kevin Brownlow and David Gill | PBS | |
| Minnelli on Minnelli: Liza Remembers Vincente | Richard Schickel | |||
| 1989 | Outstanding Directing in Informational Programming[12] [13] | |||
| Destined to Live | Linda Otto | NBC | ||
| Entertainment Tonight | "Lucille Ball Memorial" | Ron de Moraes | Syndicated | |
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[14] [15] | |||
| 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[16] [17] | |||
| 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[18] [19] | |||
| Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper and Eleanor Coppola | Showtime | |||
| 1993 | Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming[20] [21] | |||
| 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 | |||
| 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[22] [23] | |||
| Cats & Dogs | "Dogs Segment" | Robin Lehman | TBS | |
| Susan Raymond | HBO | |||
| Year | Program | Episode | Nominee(s) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| 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 | |||
| 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 | |
| Death in Gaza | James Miller (posthumously) | HBO | ||
| American Idol | "Finale" | Bruce Gowers | Fox | |
| The Apprentice | "Finale" | Glenn Weiss | NBC | |
| "The Dore Family" | Patrick Higgins | ABC | ||
| Ken Burns | PBS | |||
| 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 | ||
| When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts | Spike Lee | HBO | ||
| Ghosts of Abu Ghraib | Rory Kennedy | HBO | ||
| Kevin Burns | History | |||
| Thin | Lauren Greenfield | HBO | ||
| This American Life | "God's Close-Up" | Christopher Wilcha | Showtime | |
| This American Life | "Escape" | Adam Beckman and Christopher Wilcha | Showtime | |
| The Amazing Race | "Honestly, They Have Witch Powers or Something" | Bertram van Munster | CBS | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |