| Year |
|
Winner |
Winner Work |
| 2013 |
|
Ben Affleck |
Argo |
| 2012 |
|
Martin Scorsese |
Hugo |
| 2011 |
|
David Fincher |
The Social Network |
| 2010 |
|
James Cameron |
Avatar |
| 2009 |
|
Danny Boyle |
Slumdog Millionaire |
| 2008 |
|
Julian Schnabel |
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly |
| 2007 |
|
Martin Scorsese |
The Departed |
| 2006 |
|
Ang Lee |
Brokeback Mountain |
| 2005 |
|
Clint Eastwood |
Million Dollar Baby |
| 2004 |
|
Peter Jackson |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King |
| 2003 |
|
Martin Scorsese |
Gangs of New York |
| 2002 |
|
Robert Altman |
Gosford Park |
| 2001 |
|
Ang Lee |
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon |
| 2000 |
|
Sam Mendes |
American Beauty |
| 1999 |
|
Steven Spielberg |
Saving Private Ryan |
| 1998 |
|
James Cameron |
Titanic |
| 1997 |
|
Miloš Forman |
The People vs. Larry Flynt |
| 1996 |
|
Mel Gibson |
Braveheart |
| 1995 |
|
Robert Zemeckis |
Forrest Gump |
| 1994 |
|
Steven Spielberg |
Schindler's List |
| 1993 |
|
Clint Eastwood |
Unforgiven |
| 1992 |
|
Oliver Stone |
JFK |
| 1991 |
|
Kevin Costner |
Dances with Wolves |
| 1990 |
|
Oliver Stone |
Born on the Fourth of July |
| 1989 |
|
Clint Eastwood |
Bird |
| 1988 |
|
Bernardo Bertolucci |
The Last Emperor |
| 1987 |
|
Oliver Stone |
Platoon |
| 1986 |
|
John Huston |
Prizzi's Honor |
| 1985 |
|
Miloš Forman |
Amadeus |
| 1984 |
|
Barbra Streisand |
Yentl |
| 1983 |
|
Richard Attenborough |
Gandhi |
| 1982 |
|
Warren Beatty |
Reds |
| 1981 |
|
Robert Redford |
Ordinary People |
| 1980 |
|
Francis Ford Coppola |
Apocalypse Now |
| 1979 |
|
Michael Cimino |
The Deer Hunter |
| 1978 |
|
Herbert Ross |
The Turning Point |
| 1977 |
|
Sidney Lumet |
Network |
| 1976 |
|
Miloš Forman |
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| 1975 |
|
Roman Polanski |
Chinatown |
| 1974 |
|
William Friedkin |
The Exorcist |
| 1973 |
|
Francis Ford Coppola |
The Godfather |
| 1972 |
|
William Friedkin |
The French Connection |
| 1971 |
|
Arthur Hiller |
Love Story |
| 1970 |
|
Charles Jarrott |
Anne of the Thousand Days |
| 1969 |
|
Paul Newman |
Rachel, Rachel |
| 1968 |
|
Mike Nichols |
The Graduate |
| 1967 |
|
Fred Zinnemann |
A Man for All Seasons |
| 1966 |
|
David Lean |
Doctor Zhivago |
| 1965 |
|
George Cukor |
My Fair Lady |
| 1964 |
|
Elia Kazan |
America America |
| 1963 |
|
David Lean |
Lawrence of Arabia |
| 1962 |
|
Stanley Kramer |
Judgment at Nuremberg |
| 1961 |
|
Jack Cardiff |
Sons and Lovers |
| 1960 |
|
William Wyler |
Ben-Hur |
| 1959 |
|
Vincente Minnelli |
Gigi |
| 1958 |
|
David Lean |
The Bridge on the River Kwai |
| 1957 |
|
Elia Kazan |
Baby Doll |
| 1956 |
|
Joshua Logan |
Picnic |
| 1955 |
|
Elia Kazan |
On the Waterfront |
| 1954 |
|
Fred Zinnemann |
From Here to Eternity |
| 1953 |
|
Cecil B. DeMille |
The Greatest Show on Earth |
| 1952 |
|
László Benedek |
Death of a Salesman |
| 1951 |
|
Billy Wilder |
Sunset Boulevard |
| 1950 |
|
Robert Rossen |
All the King's Men |
| 1949 |
|
John Huston |
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre |
| 1948 |
|
Elia Kazan |
Gentleman's Agreement |
| 1947 |
|
Frank Capra |
It's a Wonderful Life |
| 1946 |
|
Billy Wilder |
The Lost Weekend |
| 1945 |
|
Leo McCarey |
Going My Way |
| 1944 |
|
Henry King |
The Song of Bernadette |
