Established in 1972 the Grierson Awards, named in honour of pioneering Scottish documentary maker John Grierson (1898 – 1972), are the only awards in Britain dedicated exclusively to film and television documentary.

The Grierson Trust, which runs the awards, is also collaborating with the British Council to arrange non-commercial non-theatrical screenings of British documentary productions around the world.

The Grierson Awards 2004 were presented at Bloomberg in London on Monday, 8 November 2004, in a ceremony hosted by Private Eye editor Ian Hislop.

The winners for 2004 were:

   Best Documentary on a Contemporary Issue
   Terror in Moscow (Mentorn)
   Director/Producer: Dan Reed

   Best Documentary on the Arts
   George Orwell – A Life in Pictures (Wall to Wall)
   Director/Producer: Chris Durlacher

   Best Historical Documentary
   Dunkirk - The Soldiers’ Story (BBC)
   Director/Producer: Peter Gordon

   Best Documentary on Science or the Natural World
   Horizon: Project Poltergeist (Dox Productions)
   Director/Producer: David Sington

   The Frontier Post Award for Most Entertaining Documentary
   The Prince, The Showgirl and Me (BBC)
   Director/Producer: Clare Beavan

   Best Documentary Series or Strand
   National Trust (Oxford Film and Television)
   Director: Patrick Forbes
   Producer: Claire Kavanagh

   Best International Television Documentary
   To Live Is Better Than To Die (Storyville)
   Director/Producer: Weijun Chen

   The NFBC Award for Best International Cinema Documentary
   Capturing The Friedmans (Magnolia Pictures)
   Director: Andrew Jarecki
   Producers: Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling

   The Bloomberg Award For Best Newcomer
   Patrick Collerton
   The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off (Yipp Film)
   Director/Producer: Patrick Collerton

Also honoured at the awards was Jonathan Gili, who died in October 2004, he received a Trustee’s Award which recognised outstanding contribution to the art of documentary.

Entries for the 2005 awards are being accepted until 3 June 2005, a shortlist of films in each category will be announced 29 July and the final nominations on 3 October. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held in London in November.