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In a relatively short amount of time, Netflix has gone from a mail-order DVD service to a simple streaming service to one of the biggest movie producers on the planet. Every year, it seems like Netflix is releasing more movies than ever before. In 2015, the streaming service released seven original documentary features and just two original feature films (Beasts of No Nation and The Ridiculous 6), while in 2021 they released well over 100 completely original films.
By releasing original films, Netflix completely changed the landscape of the movie industry. For the first time ever, high-budget, critically-acclaimed, Oscar-eligible movies were being released straight-to-streaming. Thus, it was only a matter of time before Netflix claimed their first Oscar nomination in 2014 and their first Oscar victory in 2017. In 2021, Netflix was nominated for more than 30 Academy Awards.
These are the eleven Netflix original films to win an Academy Award.
11 'The White Helmets' Won Best Documentary Short Subject In 2017
The first ever Netflix original to win an Academy Award, The White Helmets follows members of the Syrian Civil Defense. It was released in September 2016, and it runs for 40 minutes.
10 'Icarus' Won Best Documentary Feature In 2018
Icarus is a filmic investigation of doping in Olympic Sports. It was the first feature-length Netflix film to win an Academy Award.
9 'Period. End of Sentence.' Won Best Documentary Short Subject In 2019
Period. End of Sentence. is a 25-minute documentary set in Hapur, India. It tells the story of a group of women who learn how to produce inexpensive menstrual pads for the women in their community. It was the second Netflix original film to win Best Documentary Short Subject at the Academy Awards.
8 'Roma' Won Three Oscars in 2019
Roma was the first Oscar-winning Netflix original film that was not a documentary. It was written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, and inspired by his own childhood in Mexico. At the 2019 Academy Awards, Roma won Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Foreign Language Film. It has won more Oscars than any other Netflix original movie to date.
7 'American Factory' Won Best Documentary Feature In 2020
American Factory is a documentary about a Chinese company's factory in a small town in Ohio. It was the second Netflix original to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
6 Laura Dern From 'Marriage Story' Won Best Supporting Actress In 2020
Laura Dern was lauded for her role as lawyer Nora Fanshaw in Marriage Story. In addition to the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Dern won the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, the SAG Award, and more than a dozen other major awards. As of this writing, she is the only actor to win an Oscar for a Netflix original movie.
5 'If Anything Happens I Love You' Won Best Animated Short Film In 2021
If Anything Happens I Love You is a short film written and directed by Will McCormack and Michael Govier. The film tells the story of two parents whose daughter was tragically killed in a school shooting. It is the only animated Netflix original to win an Oscar.
4 'Two Distant Strangers' Won Best Live Action Short Film In 2021
Two Distant Strangers is a 32-minute short film written by Travon Free and produced by Free and Martin Desmond Roe. When the short film won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short, it marked Netflix's first win in the category.
- Fun fact: Two Distant Strangers was produced by Grey's Anatomy star Jesse Williams and Grammy-winning rapper Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs.
3 'My Octopus Teacher' Won Best Documentary Feature In 2021
My Octopus Teacher was the third Netflix original film to win Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars. The documentary follows naturalist Craig Foster as he spends a year getting to know a wild Octopus off the coast of South Africa.
2 'Mank' Won Two Oscars in 2021
Mank was directed by iconic Hollywood director David Fincher using a screenplay that his late father Jack Fincher wrote several years earlier. The production starred Gary Oldman as Herman J. Mankiewicz, the Hollywood screenwriter who wrote Citizen Kane. Mank won two awards at the Oscars in 2021: Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.
1 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Won Two Oscars in 2021
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was based on the play of the same name by beloved American playwright August Wilson. It is the second movie based on a Wilson play to star Viola David and to be produced by Denzel Washington following the 2016 film Fences. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom won two Academy Awards in 2021: Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Costume Design. Chadwick Boseman was expected to posthumously win Best Actor for his starring role as Levee Green, but he lost to Anthony Hopkins from The Father.