Thập niên 1970

1976: Scent of a Woman (Profumo di donna) – Dino Risi

• Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) – Werner Herzog
• The Magic Flute (Trollflöjten) – Ingmar Bergman
• Nashville – Robert Altman

1977: C'eravamo tanto amati – Ettore Scola

• Barry Lyndon – Stanley Kubrick
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Milos Forman
• Raise Ravens (Cría cuervos) – Carlos Saura

1978: A Special Day (Una giornata particolare) – Ettore Scola

• The American Friend (Der Amerikanische Freund) – Wim Wenders
• Annie Hall – Woody Allen
• Bread and Chocolate (Pane e cioccolata) – Franco Brusati

1979: The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'albero degli zoccoli) – Ermanno Olmi

• Autumn Sonata (Höstsonaten) – Ingmar Bergman
• Julia – Fred Zinnemann
• A Wedding – Robert Altman

Thập niên 1980

• 1980 - Manhattan - Woody Allen
  • Apocalypse Now – Francis Ford Coppola
  • Hair – Milos Forman
  • Die Blechtrommel – Volker Schlöndorff
• 1981 - Kagemusha - Akira Kurosawa
  • Fame – Alan Parker
  • Kramer vs. Kramer – Robert Benton
  • The Rose – Mark Rydell
• 1982 - The Elephant Man - David Lynch
  • Die Fälschung – Volker Schlöndorff
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark – Steven Spielberg
• 1983 - Victor/Victoria - Blake Edwards
  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Steven Spielberg
  • The French Lieutenant's Woman – Karel Reisz
  • Yol – Serif Gören and Yilmaz Güney
• 1984 - Fanny och Alexander - Ingmar Bergman
  • Carmen – Carlos Saura
  • The Gods Must Be Crazy – Jamie Uys
  • Tootsie – Sydney Pollack
• 1985 - Amadeus - Milos Forman
  • Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes – Hugh Hudson
  • Maria's Lovers – Andrei Konchalovsky
  • Paris, Texas – Wim Wenders
• 1986 - The Purple Rose of Cairo - Woody Allen
  • Desperately Seeking Susan – Susan Seidelman
  • The Killing Fields – Roland Joffé
  • Ran – Akira Kurosawa
  • Year of the Dragon – Michael Cimino
• 1987 - Der Name der Rose - Jean-Jacques Annaud
  • After Hours – Martin Scorsese
  • Hannah and Her Sisters – Woody Allen
  • The Mission – Roland Joffé
  • Out of Africa – Sydney Pollack
• 1988 - The Last Emperor - Bernardo Bertolucci
  • Der Himmel über Berlin – Wim Wenders
  • Intervista – Federico Fellini
  • Oci ciornie (Dark Eyes) – Nikita Mikhalkov
  • The Untouchables – Brian De Palma
• 1989 - Out of Rosenheim - Percy Adlon
  • Bird – Clint Eastwood
  • Salaam Bombay! – Mira Nair
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Robert Zemeckis

Thập niên 1990

1990: Dangerous Liaisons – Stephen Frears

• Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo cinema Paradiso) – Giuseppe Tornatore
• Rain Man – Barry Levinson
• sex, lies and videotape – Steven Soderbergh
• Time of the Gypsies (Dom za vesanje) – Emir Kusturica

1991: Dead Poets Society – Peter Weir

• Goodfellas – Martin Scorsese
• Pretty Woman – Garry Marshall
• Taxi Blues (Taksi-Blyuz) – Pavel Lungin
• Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!) – Pedro Almodóvar

1992: Toto the Hero (Toto le héros) – Jaco van Dormael

• Alice – Woody Allen
• Close to Eden (Urga) – Nikita Mikhalkov
• Dances with Wolves – Kevin Costner
• The Silence of the Lambs – Jonathan Demme
• Thelma & Louise – Ridley Scott

1993: High Heels (Tacones lejanos) – Pedro Almodóvar

• Howards End – James Ivory
• Husbands and Wives – Woody Allen
• The Lover (L'amant) – Jean-Jacques Annaud
• The Player – Robert Altman

1994: The Piano – Jane Campion

• Farewell My Concubine (Ba wang bie ji) – Kaige Chen
• Manhattan Murder Mystery – Woody Allen
• Raining Stones – Ken Loach
• The Snapper – Stephen Frears

1995: Four Weddings and a Funeral – Mike Newell

• Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino
• Schindler's List – Steven Spielberg
• Short Cuts – Robert Altman
• Dear Diary (Caro diario) – Nanni Moretti

1996: Land and Freedom – Ken Loach

• The Bridges of Madison County – Clint Eastwood
• The Usual Suspects – Bryan Singer
• Smoke – Paul Auster và Wayne Wang
• Underground – Emir Kusturica

1997: Breaking the Waves – Lars von Trier

• Fargo – Joel Coen
• The Promise (La promesse) – Luc Dardenne Jean-Pierre Dardenne
• Secrets & Lies – Mike Leigh

1998: Brassed Off – Mark Herman

• / The English Patient – Anthony Minghella
• Everyone Says I Love You – Woody Allen
• Fireworks (Hana-bi) – Takeshi Kitano
• The Full Monty – Peter Cattaneo

1999: Life is Beautiful (La vita è bella) – Roberto Benigni

• The Celebration (Festen) – Thomas Vinterberg
• Central Station (Central do Brasil) – Walter Salles
• Saving Private Ryan – Steven Spielberg
• Titanic – James Cameron

Thập niên 2000

2000: All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre) – Pedro Almodóvar

• Being John Malkovich – Spike Jonze
• Eyes Wide Shut – Stanley Kubrick
• The Thin Red Line – Terrence Malick
• Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai – Jim Jarmusch

2001: In the Mood for Love (Fa yeung nin wa) – Kar Wai Wong

• American Beauty – Sam Mendes
• Billy Elliot – Stephen Daldry
• Dancer in the Dark – Lars von Trier
• Yi yi: A One and a Two... (Yi yi) – Edward Yang

2002: Mulholland Drive – David Lynch

• The Man Who Wasn't There – Joel Coen
• Moulin Rouge! – Baz Luhrmann
• Traffic – Steven Soderbergh
• The Son's Room (La stanza del figlio) – Nanni Moretti

2003: Bowling for Columbine – Michael Moore

• Minority Report – Steven Spielberg
• Ocean's Eleven – Steven Soderbergh
• Painted Fire (Chihwaseon) – Kwon-taek Im
• Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) – Hayao Miyazaki

2004: Mystic River – Clint Eastwood

• Gangs of New York – Martin Scorsese
• The Hours – Stephen Daldry
• Elephant – Gus Van Sant
• The Return (Vozvrashcheniye) – Andrei Zvyagintsev

2005: Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola

• 21 Grams – Alejandro González Iñárritu
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Michel Gondry
• Fahrenheit 9/11 – Michael Moore
• The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta) – Walter Salles

2006: Million Dollar Baby – Clint Eastwood

• A History of Violence – David Cronenberg
• Match Point – Woody Allen
• The Sea Inside (Mar adentro) – Alejandro Amenábar
• Walk on Water – Eytan Fox

2007: Little Miss Sunshine – Jonathan Dayton và Valerie Faris

• Babel – Alejandro González Iñárritu
• Brokeback Mountain – Ang Lee
• To Return (Volver) – Pedro Almodóvar
• The Queen – Stephen Frears

2008: The Lives of Other (Das Leben der Anderen) – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

• 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile) – Cristian Mungiu
• Eastern Promises – David Cronenberg
• The Edge of Heaven (Auf der anderen Seite) – Fatih Akin
• We Own the Night – James Gray

2009: Waltz With Bashir-Ari Folman

• Into The Wild-Sean Penn
• There Will Be Blood-Paul Thomas Anderson
• Gomorra-Matteo Garrone
• Two Lovers-James Gray
• Eldorado-Bouli Lanners
• The Silence of Lorna (Le silence de Lorna)-Jean-Pierre Dardenne và Luc Dardenne(Dardenne brothers)

Adapted from the article César Award for Best Foreign Film, from Wikinfo, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.