1928 Wings William Wellman
1929 The Broadway melody Harry Beaumont
1930 All quiet on the western front Lewis Milestone
1931 Cimarron Wesley Ruggles
1932 Grand Hotel Edmund Goulding
1933 Cavalcade Frank Lloyd
1934 It happened one night Frank Capra
1935 Mutiny on the bounty Frank Lloyd
1936 The great Ziegfeld Robert Z. Leonard
1937 The life of Emile Zola William Dieterle
1938 You can't take it with you Frank Capra
1939 Gone with the wind Victor Fleming
1940 Rebecca Alfred Hitchcock
1941 How green was my valley John Ford
1942 Mrs. Miniver William Wyler
1943 Casablanca Michael Curtiz
1944 Going My Way Leo McCarey
1945 The lost weekend Billy Wilder
1946 The best years of our lives William Wyler
1947 Gentleman's agreement Elia Kazan
1948 Hamlet Laurence Olivier
1949 All the king's men Robert Rossen
1950 All about Eve Joseph Leo Mankiewicz
1951 An american in Paris Vincent Minnelli
1952 The greatest show on earth Cecil B. de Mille
1953 From here to eternity Fred Zinnemann
1954 On the waterfront Elia Kazan
1955 Marty Delbert Mann
1956 Around the world in 80 days Michael Anderson
1957 The bridge on the River Kwai David Lean
1958 Gigi Vincent Minnelli
1959 Ben-Hur William Wyler
1960 The apartment Billy Wilder
1961 West side story Robert Wise
1962 Lawrence of Arabia David Lean
1963 Tom Jones Tony Richardson
1964 My fair lady George Cukor
1965 The sound of music Robert Wise
1966 A man for all seasons Fred Zinnemann
1967 In the heat of the night Norman Jewison
1968 Oliver Carol Reed
1969 Midnight cowboy John Schlesinger
1970 Patton Franklin J. Schafner
1971 The french connection William Friedkin
1972 The Godfather Francis Ford Coppola
1973 The sting George Roy Hill
1974 The Godfather II Francis Ford Coppola
1975 One flew over the cuckoo's nest Milos Forman
1976 Rocky John G. Avildsen
1977 Annie Hall Woody Allen
1978 The deer hunter Michael Cimino
1979 Kramer vs. Kramer Robert Benton
1980 Ordinary people Robert Redford
1981 Chariots of fire Hugh Hudson
1982 Gandhi Richard Attenborough
1983 Terms of endearment James L. Brooks
1984 Amadeus Milos Forman
1985 Out of Africa Sydney Pollack
1986 Platoon Oliver Stone
1987 The last Emperor Bernardo Bertolucci
1988 Rain man Barry Lewinson
1989 Driving Miss Daisy Bruce Beresford
1990 Dances with wolves Kevin Costner
1991 The silence of the lambs Jonathan Demme
1992 Unforgiven Clint Eastwood
1993 Schindler's list Steven Spielberg
1994 Forrest Gump Robert Zemeckis
1995 Braveheart Mel Gibson
1996 The english patient Anthony Minghella
1997 Titanic James Cameron
1998 Shakespeare in love John Madden
1999 American beauty Sam Mendes
2000 Gladiator Ridley Scott
2001 A beautiful mind Ron Howard
1929 The Broadway melody Harry Beaumont
1930 All quiet on the western front Lewis Milestone
1931 Cimarron Wesley Ruggles
1932 Grand Hotel Edmund Goulding
1933 Cavalcade Frank Lloyd
1934 It happened one night Frank Capra
1935 Mutiny on the bounty Frank Lloyd
1936 The great Ziegfeld Robert Z. Leonard
1937 The life of Emile Zola William Dieterle
1938 You can't take it with you Frank Capra
1939 Gone with the wind Victor Fleming
1940 Rebecca Alfred Hitchcock
1941 How green was my valley John Ford
1942 Mrs. Miniver William Wyler
1943 Casablanca Michael Curtiz
1944 Going My Way Leo McCarey
1945 The lost weekend Billy Wilder
1946 The best years of our lives William Wyler
1947 Gentleman's agreement Elia Kazan
1948 Hamlet Laurence Olivier
1949 All the king's men Robert Rossen
1950 All about Eve Joseph Leo Mankiewicz
1951 An american in Paris Vincent Minnelli
1952 The greatest show on earth Cecil B. de Mille
1953 From here to eternity Fred Zinnemann
1954 On the waterfront Elia Kazan
1955 Marty Delbert Mann
1956 Around the world in 80 days Michael Anderson
1957 The bridge on the River Kwai David Lean
1958 Gigi Vincent Minnelli
1959 Ben-Hur William Wyler
1960 The apartment Billy Wilder
1961 West side story Robert Wise
1962 Lawrence of Arabia David Lean
1963 Tom Jones Tony Richardson
1964 My fair lady George Cukor
1965 The sound of music Robert Wise
1966 A man for all seasons Fred Zinnemann
1967 In the heat of the night Norman Jewison
1968 Oliver Carol Reed
1969 Midnight cowboy John Schlesinger
1970 Patton Franklin J. Schafner
1971 The french connection William Friedkin
1972 The Godfather Francis Ford Coppola
1973 The sting George Roy Hill
1974 The Godfather II Francis Ford Coppola
1975 One flew over the cuckoo's nest Milos Forman
1976 Rocky John G. Avildsen
1977 Annie Hall Woody Allen
1978 The deer hunter Michael Cimino
1979 Kramer vs. Kramer Robert Benton
1980 Ordinary people Robert Redford
1981 Chariots of fire Hugh Hudson
1982 Gandhi Richard Attenborough
1983 Terms of endearment James L. Brooks
1984 Amadeus Milos Forman
1985 Out of Africa Sydney Pollack
1986 Platoon Oliver Stone
1987 The last Emperor Bernardo Bertolucci
1988 Rain man Barry Lewinson
1989 Driving Miss Daisy Bruce Beresford
1990 Dances with wolves Kevin Costner
1991 The silence of the lambs Jonathan Demme
1992 Unforgiven Clint Eastwood
1993 Schindler's list Steven Spielberg
1994 Forrest Gump Robert Zemeckis
1995 Braveheart Mel Gibson
1996 The english patient Anthony Minghella
1997 Titanic James Cameron
1998 Shakespeare in love John Madden
1999 American beauty Sam Mendes
2000 Gladiator Ridley Scott
2001 A beautiful mind Ron Howard
2002 Chicago Rob Marshall
2003 The Lord of the rings: the return of the King Peter Jackson
2004 Million dollar baby Clint Eastwood
2005 Crash Paul Haggis
2006 The departed Martin Scorsese
2007 No country for old men Ethan & Joel Coen
2008 Slumdog millionaire Danny Boyle & Loveleen Tandan
2009 The hurt locker Kathryn Bigelow
2010 The King's speech Tom Hooper
2010 The King's speech Tom Hooper
2011 The artist Michel Hazanavicius
2012 Argo Ben Affleck
2013 12 years a slave Steve McQueen
2014 Birdman (or the unexpected virtue of ignorance) Alejandro González Iñárritu
2015 Spotlight Tom McCarthy
2016 Moonlight Barry Jenkins
2017 The shape of water Guillermo del Toro
2018 Green book Peter Farrelly
2012 Argo Ben Affleck
2013 12 years a slave Steve McQueen
2014 Birdman (or the unexpected virtue of ignorance) Alejandro González Iñárritu
2015 Spotlight Tom McCarthy
2016 Moonlight Barry Jenkins
2017 The shape of water Guillermo del Toro
2018 Green book Peter Farrelly