PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Documentary

How to Cite a Documentary in APA 7

APA 7 cites a documentary the same way as any film: the director with the label (Director), the release year in parentheses, the title in italics and sentence case, the description [Film] in square brackets, and the production company or companies: Redford, J. (Director). (2016). Resilience: The biology of stress & the science of hope [Film]. KPJR Films. APA's examples use [Film], not [Documentary], and the streaming service you watched it on stays out. The in-text citation is the director's last name and the year: (Redford, 2016).

The format

Director, A. A. (Director). (Year). Title of the documentary: Subtitle [Film]. Production Company; Second Production Company.

PERRLA APA Experts ยท Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

A documentary is a film in PERRLA too. Choose Film & Movies, then Domestic film, or Film in another language when the original title isn't in English. Add the director in the Director role (add a second Director for a co-directed film), type the title in the Film Title box, and type the year in Release Year. Type each production company under Production Company, using Add company for each one after the first. PERRLA adds (Director) or (Directors), the italics, [Film], and the semicolons. If you type the title in title case, PERRLA points it out and offers Fix it for me to put it in sentence case.

Watched it on Netflix? You can type Netflix in the Platform box. That box is for MLA, and PERRLA leaves it out of the APA reference. Leave URL blank unless the documentary is only available on one website.

PERRLA can also look a documentary up: type its title followed by the word documentary (for example, Crip Camp 2020 documentary) or paste its IMDb link into the reference search. It fills in the director and the year, and the production companies when it can find them. Before you save it, check the reference against the film's credits: the full title with its subtitle, in sentence case (use Fix it for me), the spelling and order of the directors' names, the year, the production companies, and the URL box, which should be empty unless the film is on one website only.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Director

The director takes the author's spot, followed by (Director) and a period. The narrator, the people interviewed, and the subject of the film don't go here.

Redford, J. (Director).

A documentary with two directors lists both, in the order the credits give, with one plural label at the end.

Newnham, N., & LeBrecht, J. (Directors).

2. Year

Give the year the documentary was released, in parentheses, followed by a period. Use the year only.

(2016).

3. Title and [Film]

Italicize the full title, including any subtitle, in sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after the colon, and proper nouns. Then add [Film], not italicized, and a period.

Crip camp: A disability revolution [Film].

APA's reference examples label documentaries [Film], like every other movie, and PERRLA prints [Film]. APA does let you reword a bracketed description when it helps your reader, so [Documentary film] isn't wrong, but you don't need it. If the title ends with a question mark, keep it, and the period goes after [Film]: Won't you be my neighbor? [Film].

4. Production companies

End with the company or companies that produced the documentary, separated by semicolons. Leave off endings like Inc. and LLC.

Higher Ground Productions; Rusted Spoke Productions.

The production company isn't the distributor or the streaming service. Netflix released Crip Camp, but Higher Ground Productions and Rusted Spoke produced it. Focus Features presented Won't You Be My Neighbor? in theaters, but it's a Tremolo Productions film. Check the opening and closing credits, which often say "a ___ production."

5. URL (usually none)

Most documentary references end with the production companies. Netflix, Hulu, Kanopy, and IMDb links don't go in the reference. Add a URL only when the documentary is available from one website and nowhere else.

Examples

A documentary with one director

James Redford's hour-long documentary on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress, used in nursing, social work, and teacher education courses. KPJR Films produced it and licenses it to schools for streaming. The subtitle stays in the title, with its ampersand.

  • Parenthetical citation(Redford, 2016)
  • Narrative citationRedford (2016)

A documentary with two directors, watched on Netflix

Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht's documentary about Camp Jened and the disability rights movement, released by Netflix in 2020. Netflix lists the title with its subtitle and the directors in this order. Its production companies are Higher Ground Productions and Rusted Spoke Productions; Netflix, typed in the Platform box, stays out of the APA reference.

  • Parenthetical citation(Newnham & LeBrecht, 2020)
  • Narrative citationNewnham and LeBrecht (2020)

A documentary whose title ends in a question mark

Morgan Neville's documentary about Fred Rogers and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, a favorite in early childhood education courses. Focus Features presented it, but the production company is Tremolo Productions. The question mark stays, and the period follows [Film].

  • Parenthetical citation(Neville, 2018)
  • Narrative citationNeville (2018)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for a documentary uses the director's last name and the year, the same as for any film.

  • One director: (Redford, 2016) or Redford (2016)
  • Two directors: both names every time, with & in parentheses and and in your sentence: (Newnham & LeBrecht, 2020) or Newnham and LeBrecht (2020)
  • Three or more directors: the first director and et al.
  • No director credited: a short form of the title in italics, and the year: (Title of the documentary, Year)
  • A quote or a specific scene: add the timestamp where it starts, in hours, minutes, and seconds, or minutes and seconds for the first hour. A line that starts 12 minutes and 15 seconds in: (Redford, 2016, 12:15).

The people a documentary interviews aren't its authors. Name them in your sentence when they matter, and cite the film: Resilience follows pediatricians, therapists, and educators who use brain science to break cycles of childhood adversity (Redford, 2016). If you also read an expert's own book or article, cite that separately.

Common mistakes

  • Redford, J. (Director). (2016). Resilience: The biology of stress & the science of hope [Documentary]. KPJR Films.Redford, J. (Director). (2016). Resilience: The biology of stress & the science of hope [Film]. KPJR Films.APA's examples label documentaries [Film], the same as other movies. That's the label PERRLA prints.
  • Newnham, N., & LeBrecht, J. (Directors). (2020). Crip camp: A disability revolution [Film]. Netflix. https://www.netflix.com/title/81001496Newnham, N., & LeBrecht, J. (Directors). (2020). Crip camp: A disability revolution [Film]. Higher Ground Productions; Rusted Spoke Productions.Netflix released the film but didn't produce it. Name the production companies and leave off the streaming link.
  • Neville, M. (Director). (2018). Won't you be my neighbor? [Film]. Focus Features.Neville, M. (Director). (2018). Won't you be my neighbor? [Film]. Tremolo Productions.Focus Features presented and distributed the documentary. The reference names the company that produced it.
  • Rogers, F. (2018). Won't you be my neighbor? [Film]. Tremolo Productions.Neville, M. (Director). (2018). Won't you be my neighbor? [Film]. Tremolo Productions.The subject of a documentary isn't its author. The director goes in the author's spot, with (Director).
  • Newnham, N., & LeBrecht, J. (Directors). (2020). Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution [Film]. Higher Ground Productions; Rusted Spoke Productions.Newnham, N., & LeBrecht, J. (Directors). (2020). Crip camp: A disability revolution [Film]. Higher Ground Productions; Rusted Spoke Productions.Titles in a reference take sentence case. Capitalize the first word, the first word after the colon, and proper nouns only.

Quick checklist

  • The director's last name and initials, then (Director) or (Directors)
  • The release year only, in parentheses
  • The full title with its subtitle, in italics and sentence case
  • [Film], not [Documentary]
  • Every production company, separated by semicolons, not the distributor or streaming service
  • No Netflix, Kanopy, or IMDb link

Questions students ask

Do I use [Documentary] or [Film] in APA 7?

[Film]. APA's reference examples treat documentaries as films, and [Film] is the description they use. APA allows you to reword a bracketed description when it helps your reader, but [Film] is the safe choice and the one PERRLA prints.

How do I cite a Netflix documentary in APA?

Like any documentary: director, year, title, [Film], and the production companies, with no Netflix link. If Netflix itself is credited as a production company, include it with the other companies.

How do I cite a documentary series, like a Netflix docuseries?

A documentary series is a TV series, not a film. Cite one episode as a TV series episode, with its writer and director, season and episode numbers, and the series' executive producers. Cite the whole series with the executive producers, the years it ran, and [TV series].

How do I cite a documentary I watched on YouTube?

If the documentary was posted as a video on a YouTube channel, cite the YouTube video: the channel as the author, the upload date, the title, [Video], YouTube, and the link. Use the film format when you watched the documentary as a released film.

How do I cite a PBS or Frontline documentary?

Many PBS documentaries, like Frontline programs, are episodes of a TV series, so they're cited as TV series episodes. A documentary released as a stand-alone film, even if PBS later aired it, is cited as a film.

Who is the author of a documentary?

The director. The narrator, the subject, and the experts interviewed aren't authors in APA; name them in your sentence when they matter, and cite the director and year.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.17, 8.28, 9.8, 9.10, 9.14, 9.19, 9.21, 9.29, and 10.12, and the APA Style website's film and television reference examples, elements of reference list entries (bracketed descriptions), and post on brackets in references. Directors, years, titles, and production companies verified on October 21, 2026, at KPJR Films' page for Resilience, Netflix's title page and Variety's review credits for Crip Camp, and Variety's review credits for Won't You Be My Neighbor?

PERRLA builds the documentary reference with the director, [Film], and every production company in place, and leaves the streaming service out.

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