The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was formed in the 1920s at the behest of Louis B. Mayer, the controversial leader of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). He was searching for a way to improve studio relations with union organizers. The idea behind the “Academy” was to create a joint association to unite all members of the Hollywood film industry -actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers. His goal was to establish an elite club that would bring together industry representatives to celebrate the film industry’s accomplishments.

The first banquet came together in 1927 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. The first honorary membership into the new academy was bestowed upon Thomas Edison. Douglas Fairbanks was elected as the first President of the Academy. The first meritocratic awards were presented at a ceremony for the Academy in 1927-1928. Each year, the awards ceremony is held sometime between January and February, though unfortunately the ceremony has become something of an overly indulgent spectacle in recent years.

The “Best Picture” Award is the crown jewel of the Academy Awards. During the first year there were essentially two “Best Picture” awards – one for “Outstanding Picture” and one for “Unique and Artistic Picture.” The latter was forever dropped, and throughout the 1930s the title of the award was changed to “Outstanding Production” then to “Outstanding Motion Picture” then to “Best Motion Picture,” and finally to “Best Picture” -the title we hold today. The following is my list of the Best Picture winners, with my progress tracked:

1927/1928

Wings (1927)
Release Date: August 12, 1927
Director: William A. Wellman
Starring: Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers, Richard Arlen, Gary Cooper
Studio: Paramount Pictures (The Famous Players-Lasky)

Runners Up: The Racket, 7th Heaven

*Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) *Winner of Best Unique and Artistic Picture (only awarded in 1927/1928)
Release Date: September 23, 1927
Director: F.W. Murnau
Starring: Janet Gaynor, George O’Brien
Studio: Fox Film Corporation

Runners Up: Chang, The Crowd

1928/1929

The Broadway Melody (1929)
Release Date: February 1, 1929
Director: Harry Beaumont
Starring: Charles King, Anita Page, Bessie Love
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Runners Up: Alibi, Hollywood Revue, In Old Arizona, The Patriot

1929/1930

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
Release Date: April 21, 1930
Director: Lewis Milestone
Starring: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim
Studio: Universal Pictures

Runners Up: The Big House, Disraeli, The Divorcee, The Love Parade

1930/1931

Cimarron (1931)
Release Date: January 26, 1931
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Starring: Richard Dix, Irene Dunne
Studio: RKO Pictures

Runners Up: East Lynne, The Front Page, Skippy, Trader Horn

1931/1932

Grand Hotel (1932)
Release Date: April 12, 1932
Director: Edmund Goulding
Starring: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Runners Up: Arrowsmith, Bad Girl, The Champ, Five Star Final, One Hour With You, Shanghai Express, The Smiling Lieutenant

1932/1933

Cavalcade (1933)
Release Date: April 15, 1933
Director: Frank Lloyd
Starring: Diana Wynyard, Clive Brook, Una O’Connor, Herbert Mundin
Studio: Fox Film Productions

Runners Up: 42nd Street, A Farewell To Arms, I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang, Lady For A Day, Little Women, The Private Life of Henry VIII, She Done Him Wrong, Smilin’ Through, State Fair

1934

It Happened One Night (1934)
Release Date: February 22, 1934
Director: Frank Capra
Starring: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert
Studio: Columbia

Runners Up: The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Cleopatra, Flirtation Walk, The Gay Divorcee, Here Comes the Navy, The House of Rothschild, Imitation of Life, One Night of Love, The Thin Man, Viva Villa!, The White Parade

1935

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Release Date: November 8, 1935
Director: Frank Lloyd
Starring: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Runners Up: Alice Adams, Broadway Melody of 1936, Captain Blood, David Copperfield, The Informer, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Les Misérables, Naughty Marietta, Ruggles of Red Gap, Top Hat

1936

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Release Date: March 22, 1936
Director: Hunt Stromberg
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Runners Up: Anthony Adverse, Dodsworth, Libeled Lady, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Romeo and Juliet, San Francisco, The Story of Louis Pasteur, A Tale of Two Cities, Three Smart Girls

1937

The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Release Date: August 11, 1937
Director: William Dieterle
Starring: Paul Muni, Gloria Holden, Gale Sondergaard, Joseph Schildkraut
Studio: Warner Bros.

Runners Up: The Awful Truth, Captains Courageous, Dead End, The Good Earth, In Old Chicago, Lost Horizon, One Hundred Men and a Girl, Stage Door, A Star Is Born

1938

You Can’t Take It With You (1938)
Release Date: August 23, 1938
Director: Frank Capra
Starring: Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Edward Arnold
Studio: Columbia Pictures

Runners Up: The Adventures of Robin Hood, Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Boys Town, The Citadel, Four Daughters, Grand Illusion, Jezebel, Pygmalion, Test Pilot

1939

Gone With The Wind (1939)
Release Date: December 15, 1939
Director: Victor Fleming
Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Selznick International Pictures)

Runners Up: Dark Victory, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz, Wuthering Heights

1940

Rebecca (1940)
Release Date: March 21, 1940
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine
Studio: United Artists

Runners Up: All This, and Heaven Too, Foreign Correspondent, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Dictator, Kitty Foyle, The Letter, The Long Voyage Home, Our Town, The Philadelphia Story

1941

How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Release Date: October 28, 1941
Director: John Ford
Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O’Hara, Donald Crisp, Anna Lee
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox

Runners Up: Blossoms in the Dust, Citizen Kane, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Hold Back the Dawn, The Little Foxes, The Maltese Falcon, One Foot in Heaven, Sergeant York, Suspicion

1942

Mrs. Minivar (1942)
Release Date: June 4, 1942
Director: William Wyler
Starring: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Teresa Wright
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Runners Up: The Invaders, Kings Row, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Pied Piper, The Pride of the Yankees, Random Harvest, The Talk of the Town, Wake Island, Yankee Doodle Dandy

1943

Casablanca (1942)
Release Date: November 26, 1942
Director: Michael Curtiz
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Runners Up: For Whom the Bell Tolls, Heaven Can Wait, The Human Comedy, In Which We Serve, Madame Curie, The More the Merrier, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Song of Bernadette, Watch on the Rhine

1944

Going My Way (1944)
Release Date: May 3, 1944 
Director: Leo McCarey
Starring: Bing Crosby, Barry Fitzgerald, Jean Heather
Studio: Paramount Pictures

Runners Up: Double Indemnity, Gaslight, Since You Went Away, Wilson

1945

The Lost Weekend (1945)

Runners Up: Anchors Aweigh, The Bells of St. Mary’s, Mildred Pierce, Spellbound

1946

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Release Date: November 21, 1946
Director: William Wyler
Starring: Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Harold Russell
Studio: RKO

Runners Up: Henry V, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Razor’s Edge, The Yearling

1947

Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

Runners Up: The Bishop’s Wife, Crossfire, Great Expectations, Miracle on 34th Street

1948

Hamlet (1948)
Release Date: May 4, 1948
Director: Laurence Olivier
Starring: Laurence Olivier
Studio: Two Cities/Universal

Runners Up: Johnny Belinda, The Red Shoes, The Snake Pit, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

1949

All the King’s Men (1949)
Release Date: November 8, 1949
Director: Robert Rossen
Starring: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge
Studio: Columbia Pictures

Runners Up: Battleground, The Heiress, A Letter to Three Wives, Twelve O’Clock High

1950

All About Eve (1950)

Runners Up: Born Yesterday, Father of the Bride, King Solomon’s Mines, Sunset Boulevard

1951

An American in Paris (1951)

Runners Up: Decision Before Dawn, A Place in the Sun, Quo Vadis, A Streetcar Named Desire

1952

The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Release Date: January 10, 1952
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Starring: Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Dorothy Lamour, James Stewart
Studio: Paramount Pictures

Runners Up: High Noon, Ivanhoe, Moulin Rouge, The Quiet Man

1953

From Here to Eternity (1953)

Runners Up: Julius Caesar, The Robe, Roman Holiday, Shane

1954

On The Waterfront (1954)

Runners Up: The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Three Coins in the Fountain

1955

Marty (1955)

Runners Up: Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, Mister Roberts, Picnic, The Rose Tattoo

1956

Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Runners Up: Friendly Persuasion, Giant, The King and I, The Ten Commandments

1957

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Release Date: October 2, 1957
Director: David Lean
Starring: William Holden, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa
Studio: Columbia Pictures

Runners Up: 12 Angry Men, Peyton Place, Sayonara, Witness for the Prosecution

1958

Gigi (1958)

Runners Up: Auntie Mame, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Defiant Ones, Separate Tables

1959

Ben-Hur (1959)

Runners Up: Anatomy of a Murder, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Nun’s Story, Room at the Top

1960

The Apartment (1960)
Release Date; June 30, 1960
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray
Studio: United Artists

Runners Up: The Alamo, Elmer Gantry, Sons and Lovers, The Sundowners

1961

West Side Story (1961)

Runners Up: Fanny, The Guns of Navarone, The Hustler, Judgment at Nuremberg

1962

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Runners Up: The Longest Day, The Music Man, Mutiny on the Bounty, To Kill a Mockingbird

1963

Tom Jones (1963)

Runners Up: America America, Cleopatra, How the West Was Won, Lilies of the Field

1964

My Fair Lady (1964)
Release Date: October 21, 1964
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison
Studio: Warner Bros

Runners Up: Becket, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Mary Poppins, Zorba the Greek

1965

The Sound Of Music (1965)
Release Date: March 2, 1965
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer,
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Runners Up: Darling, Doctor Zhivago, Ship of Fools, A Thousand Clowns

1966

A Man For All Seasons (1966)

Runners Up: Alfie, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Sand Pebbles, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

1967

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Runners Up: Bonnie and Clyde, Doctor Dolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

1968

Oliver! (1968)

Runners Up: Funny Girl, The Lion in Winter, Rachel, Rachel, Romeo and Juliet

1969

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Runners Up: Anne of the Thousand Days, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Hello, Dolly!, Z

1970

Patton (1970)
Release Date: February 5, 1970
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Starring: George C. Scott
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Runners Up: Airport, Five Easy Pieces, Love Story, MASH

1971

The French Connection (1971)

Runners Up: A Clockwork Orange, Fiddler on the Roof, The Last Picture Show, Nicholas and Alexandra

1972

The Godfather (1972)
Release Date: March 14, 1972
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Talia Shire
Studio: Paramount Pictures

Runners Up: Cabaret, Deliverance, The Emigrants, Sounder

1973

The Sting (1973)
Release Date: December 25, 1973
Director: George Roy Hill
Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw
Studio: Universal Pictures

Runners Up: American Graffiti, Cries and Whispers, The Exorcist, A Touch of Class

1974

The Godfather Part II (1974)
Release Date: December 12, 1974
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Talia Shire
Studio: Paramount Pictures

Runners Up: Chinatown, The Conversation, Lenny, The Towering Inferno

1975

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Release Date: November 19, 1975
Director: Miloš Forman
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher
Studio: United Artists

Runners Up: Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, Nashville

1976

Rocky (1976)
Release Date: November 21, 1976
Director: John G. Avildsen
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
Studio: United Artists

Runners Up: All the President’s Men, Bound for Glory, Network, Taxi Driver

1977

Annie Hall (1977)
Release Date: March 27, 1977
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Paul Simon, Shelley Duvall, Christopher Walken
Studio: United Artists

Runners Up: The Goodbye Girl, Julia, Star Wars, The Turning Point

1978

The Deer Hunter (1978)
Release Date: December 8, 1978
Director: Michael Cimino
Starring: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken
Studio: Universal Pictures

Runners Up: Coming Home, Heaven Can Wait, Midnight Express, An Unmarried Woman

1979

Kramer vs. Kramer (1978)

Runners Up: All That Jazz, Apocalypse Now, Breaking Away, Norma Rae

1980

Ordinary People (1980)

Runners Up: Coal Miner’s Daughter, The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Tess

1981

Chariots of Fire (1981)

Runners Up: Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Reds

1982

Gandhi (1982)

Runners Up: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict

1983

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Runners Up: The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies

1984

Amadeus (1984)
Release Date: September 6, 1984
Director: Miloš Forman
Starring: F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce
Studio: Saul Zaentz/Orion Pictures

Runners Up: The Killing Fields, A Passage to India, Places in the Heart, A Soldier’s Story

1985

Out of Africa (1985)
Release Date: December 18, 1985
Director: Sydney Pollack
Starring: Robert Redford, Meryl Streep
Studio: Universal Pictures

Runners Up: The Color Purple, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Prizzi’s Honor, Witness

1986

Platoon (1986)
Release Date: December 19, 1986
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen
Studio: Orion Pictures/Hemdale Film Corporation

Runners Up: Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Mission, A Room with a View

1987

The Last Emperor (1987)

Runners Up: Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, Moonstruck

1988

Rain Man (1988)
Release Date: December 16, 1988
Director: Barry Levinson
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino
Studio: United Artists/MGM

Runners Up: The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Working Girl

1989

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Runners Up: Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot

1990

Dances With Wolves (1990)
Release Date: October 19, 1990
Director: Kevin Costner
Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney Grant
Studio: Orion Pictures

Runners Up: Awakenings, Ghost, The Godfather Part III, Goodfellas

1991

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Release Date: January 30, 1991
Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins
Studio: Orion Pictures

Runners Up: Beauty and the Beast, Bugsy, JFK, The Prince of Tides

1992

Unforgiven (1992)

Runners Up: The Crying Game, A Few Good Men, Howards End, Scent of a Woman

1993

Schindler’s List (1993)
Release Date: November 30, 1993
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes
Studio: Universal Pictures

Runners Up: The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano, The Remains of the Day

1994

Forrest Gump (1994)

Runners Up: Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption

1995

Braveheart (1995)

Runners Up: Apollo 13, Babe, The Postman (Il Postino), Sense and Sensibility

1996

The English Patient (1996)

Runners Up: Fargo, Jerry Maguire, Secrets & Lies, Shine

1997

Titanic (1997)

Runners Up: As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential

1998

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Runners Up: Elizabeth, Life Is Beautiful, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line

1999

American Beauty (1999)
Release Date: September 8, 1999
Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Chris Cooper
Studio: DreamWorks Pictures

Runners Up: The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, The Sixth Sense

2000

Gladiator (2000)
Release Date: May 1, 2000
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix
Studio: Universal/DreamWorks

Runners Up: Chocolat, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Traffic

2001

A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Release Date: December 13, 2001
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, Christopher Plummer
Studio: Universal/DreamWorks

Runners Up: Gosford Park, In the Bedroom, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge!

2002

Chicago (2002)

Runners Up: Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist

2003

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Release Date: December 1, 2003
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, Andy Serkis, Sean Bean
Studio: New Line Cinema

Runners Up: Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, Seabiscuit

2004

Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Release Date: December 15, 2004
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Runners Up: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Ray, Sideways

2005

Crash (2004)
Release Date: September 10, 2004
Director: Paul Haggis
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, William Fichtner, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Thandiwe Newton, Michael Peña, Ryan Phillippe, Larenz Tate
Studio: Lions Gate Films

Runners Up: Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Good Night, and Good Luck, Munich

2006

The Departed (2006)
Release Date: September 26, 2006
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin
Studio: Warner Bros.

Runners Up: Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen

2007

No Country For Old Men (2007)
Release Date: May 19, 2007
Director: The Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan Coen)
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
Studio: Miramax/Paramount

Runners Up: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood

2008

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Release Date: August 30, 2008
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor
Studio: Pathé

Runners Up: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader

2009

The Hurt Locker (2008)
Release Date: September 4, 2008 (officially released later in 2009)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Evangeline Lilly, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce
Studio: Summit Entertainment

Runners Up: Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air

2010

The King’s Speech (2010)
Release Date: September 6, 2010
Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce
Studio: Momentum Pictures

Runners Up: 127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone

2011

The Artist (2011)
Release Date: May 5, 2011
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo
Studio: Warner Bros.

Runners Up: The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse

2012

Argo (2012)
Release Date: August 31, 2012
Director: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston
Studio: Warner Bros.

Runners Up: Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

2013

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Runners Up: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, The Wolf of Wall Street

2014

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Release Date: August 27, 2014
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Starring: Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts
Studio: Fox Searchlight

Runners Up: American Sniper, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash

2015

Spotlight (2015)
Release Date: September 3, 2015
Director: Tom McCarthy
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams
Studio: Various

Runners Up: The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Room

2016

Moonlight (2016)
Release Date: September 2, 2016
Director: Barry Jenkins
Starring: Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali
Studio: Plan B/A24

Runners Up: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea

2017

The Shape of Water (2017)

Runners Up: Call Me by Your Name, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

2018

Green Book (2018)

Runners Up: Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Roma, A Star Is Born, Vice

2019

Parasite (2019)

Runners Up: 1917, Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

2020

Nomadland (2020)

Runners Up: The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, The Trial of the Chicago 7

2021

CODA (2021)

Runners Up: Belfast, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, West Side Story