1939
Union Pacific by Cecil B. DeMille
United States

1946
Torment (Hets) by Alf Sjöberg
Sweden

The Lost Weekend by Billy Wilder
United States

The Red Meadows (De røde enge) by Bodil Ipsen and Lau Lauritzen Jr.
Denmark

Brief Encounter by David Lean
United Kingdom

Portrait of Maria (María Candelaria (Xochimilco) by Emilio Fernández
Mexico

Neecha Nagar (नीचा नगर) by Chetan Anand
India

The Turning Point (Великий перелом, Velikiy perelom) by Fridrikh Ermler
Soviet Union

La symphonie pastorale by Jean Delannoy
France

The Last Chance (Die Letzte Chance) by Leopold Lindtberg
Austria

Men Without Wings (Muži bez křídel) by František Čáp
Czechoslovakia

Rome, Open City (Roma, città aperta) by Roberto Rossellini
Italy

1949

The Third Man by Carol Reed
United Kingdom

1951
Miss Julie (Fröken Julie) by Alf Sjöberg
Sweden

Miracle in Milan (Miracolo a Milano) by Vittorio De Sica
Italy

1952
The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice by Orson Welles
United States

Two Cents Worth of Hope (Due soldi di speranza) by Renato Castellani
Italy

1953
The Wages of Fear (Le salaire de la peur) by Henri-Georges Clouzot
France

1954
Gate of Hell (地獄門, Jigokumon) by Teinosuke Kinugasa
Japan

1955
Marty by Delbert Mann
United States

1956
The Silent World (Le monde du silence) by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle
France

1957
Friendly Persuasion by William Wyler
United States

1958
The Cranes Are Flying (Летят журавли, Letyat zhuravli) by Mikhail Kalatozov
Soviet Union

1959
Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) by Marcel Camus
France

1960
La dolce vita by Federico Fellini
Italy

1961
The Long Absence (Une aussi longue absence) by Henri Colpi
France

Viridiana by Luis Buñuel
Spain

1962
O Pagador de Promessas by Anselmo Duarte
Brazil

1963
The Leopard (Il gattopardo) by Luchino Visconti
Italy

1964
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les parapluies de Cherbourg) by Jacques Demy
France

1965
The Knack …and How to Get It by Richard Lester
United Kingdom

1966
A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme) by Claude Lelouch
France

The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (Signore e signori)
by Pietro Germi
Italy

1967
Blow-Up by Michelangelo Antonioni
Italy

1969
if.... by Lindsay Anderson
United Kingdom

1970
MASH by Robert Altman
United States

1971
The Go-Between by Joseph Losey
United States

1972
The Working Class Goes to Heaven (La classe operaia va in paradiso) by Elio Petri
Italy

The Mattei Affair (Il caso Mattei) by Francesco Rosi
Italy

1973
The Hireling by Alan Bridges
United Kingdom

Scarecrow by Jerry Schatzberg
United States

1974
The Conversation by Francis Ford Coppola
United States

1975
Chronicle of the Years of Fire (Chronique des années de braise) by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina
Algeria

1976
Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese
United States

1977
Padre Padrone by Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani
Italy

1978
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'albero degli zoccoli) by Ermanno Olmi
Italy

1979
Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola
United States

The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) by Volker Schlöndorff
West Germany

1980
All That Jazz by Bob Fosse
United States

Kagemusha (影武者) by Akira Kurosawa
Japan

1981
Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza) by Andrzej Wajda
Poland

1982
Missing by Costa-Gavras
Greece

The Way (Yol) by Yılmaz Güney and Şerif Gören
Turkey

1983
The Ballad of Narayama (楢山節考 / Narayama bushiko) by Shohei Imamura
Japan

1984
Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders
West Germany

1985
When Father Was Away on Business (Otac na službenom putu) [unanimously] by Emir Kusturica
Yugoslavia

1986
The Mission by Roland Joffé
United Kingdom

1987
Under the Sun of Satan (Sous le soleil de Satan) [unanimously] by Maurice Pialat
France

1988
Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle erobreren) by Bille August
Denmark

1989
Sex, Lies, and Videotape by Steven Soderbergh
United States

1990
Wild at Heart by David Lynch
United States

1991
Barton Fink [unanimously] by Joel and Ethan Coen
United States

1992
The Best Intentions (Den goda viljan) by Bille August
Sweden

1993
Farewell My Concubine (霸王別姬 / Bàwáng bié jī) by Chen Kaige
China

The Piano by Jane Campion
New Zealand

1994
Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino
United States

1995
Underground (Подземље, Podzemlje) by Emir Kusturica
FR Yugoslavia

1996
Secrets & Lies by Mike Leigh
United Kingdom

1997
Taste of Cherry (طعم گيلاس /Ta'm-e gīlās) by Abbas Kiarostami
Iran

The Eel (''うなぎ, Unagi) by Shohei Imamura
Japan

1998
Eternity and a Day (Μια αιωνιότητα και μια μέρα / Mia aioniotita kai mia mera) [unanimously] by Theo Angelopoulos
Greece

1999
Rosetta by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Belgium

2000
Dancer in the Dark by Lars von Trier
Denmark

2001
The Son's Room (La stanza del figlio) by Nanni Moretti
Italy

2002
The Pianist by Roman Polanski
Poland

2003
Elephant by Gus Van Sant
United States

2004
Fahrenheit 9/11 [unanimously] by Michael Moore
United States

2005
The Child (L'enfant) by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Belgium

2006
The Wind That Shakes the Barley by Ken Loach
United Kingdom

2007
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile) by Cristian Mungiu
Romania

2008
The Class (Entre les murs) [unanimously] by Laurent Cantet
France

2009
The White Ribbon (Das weiße Band) by Michael Haneke
Austria