Nick Broomfield and Andrew Marr were among the winners at the British Documentary Awards, or Griersons, last night.
Broomfield became the first person to win three Griersons with Battle For Haditha, his film retracing a real-life story of violence and retribution in Iraq, which won the best drama documentary prize.
Marr, the BBC's former political editor, won best documentary series for his BBC2 series, Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain.
Newcomer Adam Lavis won an unprecedented two awards for his first film Here's Johnny, about the surreal world of graphic artist Johnny Hicklenton and his battle against multiple sclerosis.
Lavis won the best newcomer prize, while the film - co-directed by William Hood and Katrina Mansoor - picked up best arts documentary.
Molly Dineen won best documentary on a contemporary issue for her film Lie of the Land, while Henry Chancellor won the best historical documentary prize for his film 1983 - The Brink of the Apocalypse, when the third world war nearly erupted by accident.
Grant Gee's Joy Division won the best cinema documentary award, while Weijun Chen's Please Vote For Me was awarded the prize for most entertaining documentary.
Louise Lockwood's Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives, was awarded best science documentary at last night's awards at the Royal Institution in central London.
Presented by Sue Perkins and Giles Coren, the Griersons commemorate the work of pioneering Scottish film-maker John Grierson.
Murray Weston, the chairman of the Grierson Trust, said: "The winning productions this year are outstanding and show the importance of documentary film in recording the issues and concerns of our time.
"The UK has nurtured some of the world's most innovative documentary makers and there is demonstrably much more talent coming through - we must ensure they have the opportunity to show their work and develop their careers.
"John Grierson would be proud to know that his spirit continues to influence this important sector of the film business in the UK."
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