| | 1955 - "Marty" - Delbert Mann |
| | 1956 - "The Silent World (Le monde du silence)" - Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle |
| | 1957 - "Friendly Persuasion" William Wyler |
| | 1958 - "The Cranes Are Flying (Летят журавли, Letyat zhuravli)" - Mikhail Kalatozov |
| | 1959 - "Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro)" - Marcel Camus |
| | 1960 - "La dolce vita" - Federico Fellini |
| | 1961 - "The Long Absence (Une aussi longue absence)" - Henri Colpi |
| | "Viridiana" - Luis Buñuel |
| | 1962 - "Keeper of Promises (O Pagador de Promessas)" - Anselmo Duarte |
| | 1963 - "The Leopard (Il Gattopardo)" - Luchino Visconti |
| | 1964 - "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg)" - Jacques Demy |
| | 1965 - "The Knack ...and How to Get It" - Richard Lester |
| | 1966 - "A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme)" - Claude Lelouch |
| | "The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (Signore and signori)" - Pietro Germi |
| | 1967 - "Blowup" - Michelangelo Antonioni |
| | 1969 - "If...." - Lindsay Anderson |
| | 1970 - "M*A*S*H" - Robert Altman |
| | 1971 - "The Go-Between" - Joseph Losey |
| | 1972 - "The Working Class Goes to Heaven (La classe operaia va in paradiso)" - Elio Petri |
| | "The Mattei Affair (Il Caso Mattei)" - Francesco Rosi |
| | 1973 - "The Hireling" - Alan Bridges |
| | "Scarecrow" - Jerry Schatzberg |
| | 1974 - "The Conversation" - Francis Ford Coppola |
| | 1975 - "Chronicle of the Years of Fire (Chronique des années de braise)" - Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina |
| | 1976 - "Taxi Driver" - Martin Scorsese |
| | 1977 - "Padre Padrone" - Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani |
| | 1978 - "The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'Albero degli zoccoli)" - Ermanno Olmi |
| | 1979 - "Apocalypse Now" - Francis Ford Coppola |
| | "The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel)" - Volker Schlöndorff |
| | 1980 - "All That Jazz" - Bob Fosse |
| | "Kagemusha (影武者)" - Akira Kurosawa |
| | 1981 - "Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza)" - Andrzej Wajda |
| | 1982 - "Missing" - Costa-Gavras |
| | "Yol" - Yilmaz Güney |
| | 1983 - "The Ballad of Narayama (楢山節考, Narayama bushiko)" - Shohei Imamura |
| | 1984 - "Paris, Texas" - Wim Wenders |
| | 1985 - "When Father Was Away on Business (Otac na službenom putu)" - Emir Kusturica |
| | 1986 - "The Mission" - Roland Joffé |
| | 1987 - "Under the Sun of Satan (Sous le soleil de Satan)" - Maurice Pialat |
| | 1988 - "Pelle the Conqueror (Pelle erobreren)" - Bille August |
| | 1989 - "sex, lies, and videotape" - Steven Soderbergh |
| | 1990 - "Wild at Heart" - David Lynch |
| | 1991 - "Barton Fink" - Joel and Ethan Coen |
| | 1992 - "The Best Intentions (Den goda viljan)" - Bille August |
| | 1993 - "Farewell My Concubine (霸王別姬, Bàwáng Bié Jī)" - Chen Kaige |
| | "The Piano" - Jane Campion |
| | 1994 - "Pulp Fiction" - Quentin Tarantino |
| | 1995 - "Underground (Подземље, Podzemlje)" - Emir Kusturica |
| | 1996 - "Secrets & Lies" - Mike Leigh |
| | 1997 - "Taste of Cherry (طعم گيلاس, Ta'm-e gilass)" - Abbas Kiarostami |
| | "The Eel (うなぎ, Unagi)" - Shohei Imamura |
| | 1998 - "Eternity and a Day (Μια αιωνιότητα και μια μέρα, Mia aioniotita kai mia mera)" - Theo Angelopoulos |
| | 1999 - "Rosetta" - Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne |
| | 2000 - "Dancer in the Dark" - Lars von Trier |
| | 2001 - "The Son's Room (La stanza del figlio)" - Nanni Moretti |
| | 2002 - "The Pianist" - Roman Polanski |
| | 2003 - "Elephant" - Gus Van Sant |
| | 2004 - "Fahrenheit 9/11" - Michael Moore |
| | 2005 - "The Child (L'Enfant)" - Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne |
| | 2006 - "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" - Ken Loach |