|
| 2004 | Winner | Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003) | Peter Jackson (I) | Best Director |
| Nominated | Cidade de Deus (2002) | Fernando Meirelles (I) |
| Lost in Translation (2003) | Sofia Coppola |
| Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) | Peter Weir |
| Mystic River (2003) | Clint Eastwood |
| 2003 | Winner | Pianist, The (2002) | Roman Polanski |
| Nominated | Chicago (2002) | Rob Marshall |
| Gangs of New York (2002) | Martin Scorsese |
| Hable con ella (2002) | Pedro Almodóvar |
| Hours, The (2002) | Stephen Daldry |
| 2002 | Winner | Beautiful Mind, A (2001) | Ron Howard (I) |
| Nominated | Black Hawk Down (2001) | Ridley Scott |
| Gosford Park (2001) | Robert Altman (I) |
| Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001) | Peter Jackson (I) |
| Mulholland Dr. (2001) | David Lynch (I) |
| 2001 | Winner | Traffic (2000) | Steven Soderbergh |
| Nominated | Billy Elliot (2000) | Stephen Daldry |
| Erin Brockovich (2000) | Steven Soderbergh |
| Gladiator (2000) | Ridley Scott |
| Wo hu cang long (2000) | Ang Lee |
| 2000 | Winner | American Beauty (1999) | Sam Mendes |
| Nominated | Being John Malkovich (1999) | Spike Jonze |
| Cider House Rules, The (1999) | Lasse Hallström |
| Insider, The (1999) | Michael Mann (I) |
| Sixth Sense, The (1999) | M. Night Shyamalan |
| 1999 | Winner | Saving Private Ryan (1998) | Steven Spielberg (I) |
| Nominated | Shakespeare in Love (1998) | John Madden (I) |
| Thin Red Line, The (1998) | Terrence Malick |
| Truman Show, The (1998) | Peter Weir |
| Vita è bella, La (1997) | Roberto Benigni |
| 1998 | Winner | Titanic (1997) | James Cameron (I) |
| Nominated | Full Monty, The (1997) | Peter Cattaneo |
| Good Will Hunting (1997) | Gus Van Sant |
| L.A. Confidential (1997) | Curtis Hanson (I) |
| Sweet Hereafter, The (1997) | Atom Egoyan |
| 1997 | Winner | English Patient, The (1996) | Anthony Minghella |
| Nominated | Fargo (1996) | Joel Coen |
| People vs. Larry Flynt, The (1996) | Milos Forman |
| Secrets & Lies (1996) | Mike Leigh |
| Shine (1996) | Scott Hicks |
| 1996 | Winner | Braveheart (1995) | Mel Gibson (I) |
| Nominated | Babe (1995) | Chris Noonan |
| Dead Man Walking (1995) | Tim Robbins (I) |
| Leaving Las Vegas (1995) | Mike Figgis |
| Postino, Il (1994) | Michael Radford (I) |
| 1995 | Winner | Forrest Gump (1994) | Robert Zemeckis |
| Nominated | Bullets Over Broadway (1994) | Woody Allen |
| Pulp Fiction (1994) | Quentin Tarantino |
| Quiz Show (1994) | Robert Redford (I) |
| Trois couleurs: Rouge (1994) | Krzysztof Kieslowski |
| 1994 | Winner | Schindler's List (1993) | Steven Spielberg (I) |
| Nominated | In the Name of the Father (1993) | Jim Sheridan (I) |
| Piano, The (1993) | Jane Campion |
| Remains of the Day, The (1993) | James Ivory |
| Short Cuts (1993) | Robert Altman (I) |
| 1993 | Winner | Unforgiven (1992) | Clint Eastwood |
| Nominated | Crying Game, The (1992) | Neil Jordan (I) |
| Howards End (1992) | James Ivory |
| Player, The (1992) | Robert Altman (I) |
| Scent of a Woman (1992) | Martin Brest |
| 1992 | Winner | Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) | Jonathan Demme |
| Nominated | Boyz n the Hood (1991) | John Singleton (I) |
| Bugsy (1991) | Barry Levinson (I) |
| JFK (1991) | Oliver Stone (I) |
| Thelma & Louise (1991) | Ridley Scott |
| 1991 | Winner | Dances with Wolves (1990) | Kevin Costner |
| Nominated | Godfather: Part III, The (1990) | Francis Ford Coppola |
| Goodfellas (1990) | Martin Scorsese |
| Grifters, The (1990) | Stephen Frears |
| Reversal of Fortune (1990) | Barbet Schroeder |
| 1990 | Winner | Born on the Fourth of July (1989) | Oliver Stone (I) |
| Nominated | Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) | Woody Allen |
| Dead Poets Society (1989) | Peter Weir |
| Henry V (1989) | Kenneth Branagh |
| My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown (1989) | Jim Sheridan (I) |
| 1989 | Winner | Rain Man (1988) | Barry Levinson (I) |
| Nominated | Fish Called Wanda, A (1988) | Charles Crichton |
| Last Temptation of Christ, The (1988) | Martin Scorsese |
| Mississippi Burning (1988) | Alan Parker (I) |
| Working Girl (1988) | Mike Nichols (I) |
| 1988 | Winner | Last Emperor, The (1987) | Bernardo Bertolucci |
| Nominated | Fatal Attraction (1987) | Adrian Lyne |
| Hope and Glory (1987) | John Boorman |
| Mitt liv som hund (1985) | Lasse Hallström |
| Moonstruck (1987) | Norman Jewison |
| 1987 | Winner | Platoon (1986) | Oliver Stone (I) |
| Nominated | Blue Velvet (1986) | David Lynch (I) |
| Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) | Woody Allen |
| Mission, The (1986) | Roland Joffé |
| Room with a View, A (1985) | James Ivory |
| 1986 | Winner | Out of Africa (1985) | Sydney Pollack |
| Nominated | Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) | Hector Babenco |
| Prizzi's Honor (1985) | John Huston (I) |
| Ran (1985) | Akira Kurosawa |
| Witness (1985) | Peter Weir |
| 1985 | Winner | Amadeus (1984) | Milos Forman |
| Nominated | Broadway Danny Rose (1984) | Woody Allen |
| Killing Fields, The (1984) | Roland Joffé |
| Passage to India, A (1984) | David Lean (I) |
| Places in the Heart (1984) | Robert Benton (I) |
| 1984 | Winner | Terms of Endearment (1983) | James L. Brooks |
| Nominated | Dresser, The (1983) | Peter Yates (I) |
| Fanny och Alexander (1982) | Ingmar Bergman |
| Silkwood (1983) | Mike Nichols (I) |
| Tender Mercies (1983) | Bruce Beresford |
| 1983 | Winner | Gandhi (1982) | Richard Attenborough |
| Nominated | Boot, Das (1981) | Wolfgang Petersen (I) |
| E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) | Steven Spielberg (I) |
| Tootsie (1982) | Sydney Pollack |
| Verdict, The (1982) | Sidney Lumet |
| 1982 | Winner | Reds (1981) | Warren Beatty |
| Nominated | Atlantic City (1980) | Louis Malle |
| Chariots of Fire (1981) | Hugh Hudson |
| On Golden Pond (1981) | Mark Rydell |
| Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) | Steven Spielberg (I) |
| 1981 | Winner | Ordinary People (1980) | Robert Redford (I) |
| Nominated | Elephant Man, The (1980) | David Lynch (I) |
| Raging Bull (1980) | Martin Scorsese |
| Stunt Man, The (1980) | Richard Rush (I) |
| Tess (1979) | Roman Polanski |
| 1980 | Winner | Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) | Robert Benton (I) |
| Nominated | All That Jazz (1979) | Bob Fosse |
| Apocalypse Now (1979) | Francis Ford Coppola |
| Breaking Away (1979) | Peter Yates (I) |
| Cage aux folles, La (1978) | Edouard Molinaro |
| 1979 | Winner | Deer Hunter, The (1978) | Michael Cimino (I) |
| Nominated | Coming Home (1978) | Hal Ashby |
| Heaven Can Wait (1978) | Warren Beatty, Buck Henry |
| Interiors (1978) | Woody Allen |
| Midnight Express (1978) | Alan Parker (I) |
| 1978 | Winner | Annie Hall (1977) | Woody Allen |
| Nominated | Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) | Steven Spielberg (I) |
| Julia (1977) | Fred Zinnemann |
| Star Wars (1977) | George Lucas |
| Turning Point, The (1977) | Herbert Ross (I) |
| 1977 | Winner | Rocky (1976) | John G. Avildsen |
| Nominated | All the President's Men (1976) | Alan J. Pakula |
| Ansikte mot ansikte (1976) | Ingmar Bergman |
| Network (1976) | Sidney Lumet |
| Pasqualino Settebellezze (1975) | Lina Wertmüller |
| 1976 | Winner | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) | Milos Forman |
| Nominated | Amarcord (1973) | Federico Fellini |
| Barry Lyndon (1975) | Stanley Kubrick |
| Dog Day Afternoon (1975) | Sidney Lumet |
| Nashville (1975) | Robert Altman (I) |
| 1975 | Winner | Godfather: Part II, The (1974) | Francis Ford Coppola |
| Nominated | Chinatown (1974) | Roman Polanski |
| Lenny (1974) | Bob Fosse |
| Nuit américaine, La (1973) | François Truffaut |
| Woman Under the Influence, A (1974) | John Cassavetes |
| 1974 | Winner | Sting, The (1973) | George Roy Hill |
| Nominated | American Graffiti (1973) | George Lucas |
| Exorcist, The (1973) | William Friedkin (I) |
| Ultimo tango a Parigi (1972) | Bernardo Bertolucci |
| Viskningar och rop (1972) | Ingmar Bergman |
| 1973 | Winner | Cabaret (1972) | Bob Fosse |
| Nominated | Deliverance (1972) | John Boorman |
| Godfather, The (1972) | Francis Ford Coppola |
| Sleuth (1972) | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| Utvandrarna (1971) | Jan Troell |
| 1972 | Winner | French Connection, The (1971) | William Friedkin (I) |
| Nominated | Clockwork Orange, A (1971) | Stanley Kubrick |
| Fiddler on the Roof (1971) | Norman Jewison |
| Last Picture Show, The (1971) | Peter Bogdanovich |
| Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) | John Schlesinger (I) |
| 1971 | Winner | Patton (1970) | Franklin J. Schaffner |
| Nominated | Fellini - Satyricon (1969) | Federico Fellini |
| Love Story (1970) | Arthur Hiller |
| MASH (1970) | Robert Altman (I) |
| Women in Love (1969) | Ken Russell (I) |
| 1970 | Winner | Midnight Cowboy (1969) | John Schlesinger (I) |
| Nominated | Alice's Restaurant (1969) | Arthur Penn |
| Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) | George Roy Hill |
| They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) | Sydney Pollack |
| Z (1969) | Costa-Gavras |
| 1969 | Winner | Oliver! (1968) | Carol Reed (I) |
| Nominated | 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) | Stanley Kubrick |
| Battaglia di Algeri, La (1966) | Gillo Pontecorvo |
| Lion in Winter, The (1968) | Anthony Harvey (II) |
| Romeo and Juliet (1968/I) | Franco Zeffirelli |
| 1968 | Winner | Graduate, The (1967) | Mike Nichols (I) |
| Nominated | Bonnie and Clyde (1967) | Arthur Penn |
| Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) | Stanley Kramer |
| In Cold Blood (1967) | Richard Brooks (I) |
| In the Heat of the Night (1967) | Norman Jewison |
| 1967 | Winner | Man for All Seasons, A (1966) | Fred Zinnemann |
| Nominated | Blowup (1966) | Michelangelo Antonioni |
| Professionals, The (1966) | Richard Brooks (I) |
| Un homme et une femme (1966) | Claude Lelouch |
| Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) | Mike Nichols (I) |
| 1966 | Winner | Sound of Music, The (1965) | Robert Wise (I) |
| Nominated | Collector, The (1965) | William Wyler |
| Darling (1965) | John Schlesinger (I) |
| Doctor Zhivago (1965) | David Lean (I) |
| Suna no onna (1964) | Hiroshi Teshigahara |
| 1965 | Winner | My Fair Lady (1964) | George Cukor |
| Nominated | Alexis Zorbas (1964) | Mihalis Kakogiannis |
| Becket (1964) | Peter Glenville |
| Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) | Stanley Kubrick |
| Mary Poppins (1964) | Robert Stevenson (I) |
| 1964 | Winner | Tom Jones (1963) | Tony Richardson (I) |
| Nominated | 8½ (1963) | Federico Fellini |
| America, America (1963) | Elia Kazan |
| Cardinal, The (1963) | Otto Preminger |
| Hud (1963) | Martin Ritt (I) |
| 1963 | Winner | Lawrence of Arabia (1962) | David Lean (I) |
| Nominated | David and Lisa (1962) | Frank Perry (I) |
| Divorzio all'italiana (1961) | Pietro Germi |
| Miracle Worker, The (1962) | Arthur Penn |
| To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) | Robert Mulligan |
| 1962 | Winner | West Side Story (1961) | Robert Wise (I), Jerome Robbins |
| Nominated | Dolce vita, La (1960) | Federico Fellini |
| Guns of Navarone, The (1961) | J. Lee Thompson |
| Hustler, The (1961) | Robert Rossen |
| Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) | Stanley Kramer |
| 1961 | Winner | Apartment, The (1960) | Billy Wilder |
| Nominated | Pote tin Kyriaki (1960) | Jules Dassin |
| Psycho (1960) | Alfred Hitchcock (I) |
| Sons and Lovers (1960) | Jack Cardiff |
| Sundowners, The (1960) | Fred Zinnemann |
| 1960 | Winner | Ben-Hur (1959) | William Wyler |
| Nominated | Diary of Anne Frank, The (1959) | George Stevens (I) |
| Nun's Story, The (1959) | Fred Zinnemann |
| Room at the Top (1959) | Jack Clayton (I) |
| Some Like It Hot (1959) | Billy Wilder |
| 1959 | Winner | Gigi (1958) | Vincente Minnelli |
| Nominated | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) | Richard Brooks (I) |
| Defiant Ones, The (1958) | Stanley Kramer |
| I Want to Live! (1958) | Robert Wise (I) |
| Inn of the Sixth Happiness, The (1958) | Mark Robson (I) |
| 1958 | Winner | Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957) | David Lean (I) |
| Nominated | 12 Angry Men (1957) | Sidney Lumet |
| Peyton Place (1957) | Mark Robson (I) |
| Sayonara (1957) | Joshua Logan |
| Witness for the Prosecution (1957) | Billy Wilder |
| 1957 | Winner | Giant (1956) | George Stevens (I) |
| Nominated | Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) | Michael Anderson (I) |
| Friendly Persuasion (1956) | William Wyler |
| King and I, The (1956) | Walter Lang (I) |
| War and Peace (1956) | King Vidor |
| 1956 | Winner | Marty (1955) | Delbert Mann (I) |
| Nominated | Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) | John Sturges |
| East of Eden (1955) | Elia Kazan |
| Picnic (1955) | Joshua Logan |
| Summertime (1955) | David Lean (I) |
| 1955 | Winner | On the Waterfront (1954) | Elia Kazan |
| Nominated | Country Girl, The (1954) | George Seaton (I) |
| High and the Mighty, The (1954) | William A. Wellman |
| Rear Window (1954) | Alfred Hitchcock (I) |
| Sabrina (1954) | Billy Wilder |
| 1954 | Winner | From Here to Eternity (1953) | Fred Zinnemann |
| Nominated | Lili (1953) | Charles Walters (I) |
| Roman Holiday (1953) | William Wyler |
| Shane (1953) | George Stevens (I) |
| Stalag 17 (1953) | Billy Wilder |
| 1953 | Winner | Quiet Man, The (1952) | John Ford (I) |
| Nominated | 5 Fingers (1952) | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| Greatest Show on Earth, The (1952) | Cecil B. DeMille |
| High Noon (1952) | Fred Zinnemann |
| Moulin Rouge (1952) | John Huston (I) |
| 1952 | Winner | Place in the Sun, A (1951) | George Stevens (I) |
| Nominated | African Queen, The (1951) | John Huston (I) |
| American in Paris, An (1951) | Vincente Minnelli |
| Detective Story (1951) | William Wyler |
| Streetcar Named Desire, A (1951) | Elia Kazan |
| 1951 | Winner | All About Eve (1950) | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| Nominated | Asphalt Jungle, The (1950) | John Huston (I) |
| Born Yesterday (1950) | George Cukor |
| Sunset Blvd. (1950) | Billy Wilder |
| Third Man, The (1949) | Carol Reed (I) |
| 1950 | Winner | Letter to Three Wives, A (1949) | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| Nominated | All the King's Men (1949) | Robert Rossen |
| Battleground (1949) | William A. Wellman |
| Fallen Idol, The (1948) | Carol Reed (I) |
| Heiress, The (1949) | William Wyler |
| 1949 | Winner | Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948) | John Huston (I) |
| Nominated | Hamlet (1948) | Laurence Olivier |
| Johnny Belinda (1948) | Jean Negulesco |
| Search, The (1948) | Fred Zinnemann |
| Snake Pit, The (1948) | Anatole Litvak |
| 1948 | Winner | Gentleman's Agreement (1947) | Elia Kazan |
| Nominated | Bishop's Wife, The (1947) | Henry Koster |
| Crossfire (1947) | Edward Dmytryk |
| Double Life, A (1947) | George Cukor |
| Great Expectations (1946) | David Lean (I) |
| 1947 | Winner | Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946) | William Wyler |
| Nominated | Brief Encounter (1945) | David Lean (I) |
| It's a Wonderful Life (1946) | Frank Capra |
| Killers, The (1946) | Robert Siodmak |
| Yearling, The (1946) | Clarence Brown (I) |
| 1946 | Winner | Lost Weekend, The (1945) | Billy Wilder |
| Nominated | Bells of St. Mary's, The (1945) | Leo McCarey |
| National Velvet (1944) | Clarence Brown (I) |
| Southerner, The (1945) | Jean Renoir |
| Spellbound (1945) | Alfred Hitchcock (I) |
| 1945 | Winner | Going My Way (1944) | Leo McCarey |
| Nominated | Double Indemnity (1944) | Billy Wilder |
| Laura (1944) | Otto Preminger |
| Lifeboat (1944) | Alfred Hitchcock (I) |
| Wilson (1944) | Henry King (I) |
| 1944 | Winner | Casablanca (1942) | Michael Curtiz |
| Nominated | Heaven Can Wait (1943) | Ernst Lubitsch |
| Human Comedy, The (1943) | Clarence Brown (I) |
| More the Merrier, The (1943) | George Stevens (I) |
| Song of Bernadette, The (1943) | Henry King (I) |
| 1943 | Winner | Mrs. Miniver (1942) | William Wyler |
| Nominated | Kings Row (1942) | Sam Wood (I) |
| Random Harvest (1942) | Mervyn LeRoy |
| Wake Island (1942) | John Farrow (I) |
| Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) | Michael Curtiz |
| 1942 | Winner | How Green Was My Valley (1941) | John Ford (I) |
| Nominated | Citizen Kane (1941) | Orson Welles |
| Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) | Alexander Hall (I) |
| Little Foxes, The (1941) | William Wyler |
| Sergeant York (1941) | Howard Hawks |
| 1941 | Winner | Grapes of Wrath, The (1940) | John Ford (I) |
| Nominated | Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman (1940) | Sam Wood (I) |
| Letter, The (1940) | William Wyler |
| Philadelphia Story, The (1940) | George Cukor |
| Rebecca (1940) | Alfred Hitchcock (I) |
| 1940 | Winner | Gone with the Wind (1939) | Victor Fleming |
| Nominated | Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) | Sam Wood (I) |
| Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) | Frank Capra |
| Stagecoach (1939) | John Ford (I) |
| Wuthering Heights (1939) | William Wyler |
| 1939 | Winner | You Can't Take It with You (1938) | Frank Capra |
| Nominated | Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) | Michael Curtiz |
| Boys Town (1938) | Norman Taurog |
| Citadel, The (1938) | King Vidor |
| Four Daughters (1938) | Michael Curtiz |
| 1938 | Winner | Awful Truth, The (1937) | Leo McCarey |
| Nominated | Good Earth, The (1937) | Sidney Franklin (I) |
| Life of Emile Zola, The (1937) | William Dieterle |
| Stage Door (1937) | Gregory La Cava |
| Star Is Born, A (1937) | William A. Wellman |
| 1937 | Winner | Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) | Frank Capra |
| Nominated | Dodsworth (1936) | William Wyler |
| Great Ziegfeld, The (1936) | Robert Z. Leonard |
| My Man Godfrey (1936) | Gregory La Cava |
| San Francisco (1936) | W.S. Van Dyke |
| 1936 | Winner | Informer, The (1935) | John Ford (I) |
| Nominated | Captain Blood (1935) | Michael Curtiz |
| Lives of a Bengal Lancer, The (1935) | Henry Hathaway |
| Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) | Frank Lloyd (I) |
| 1935 | Winner | It Happened One Night (1934) | Frank Capra |
| Nominated | One Night of Love (1934) | Victor Schertzinger |
| Thin Man, The (1934) | W.S. Van Dyke |
| 1934 | Winner | Cavalcade (1933) | Frank Lloyd (I) |
| Nominated | Lady for a Day (1933) | Frank Capra |
| Little Women (1933) | George Cukor |
| 1932 | Winner | Bad Girl (1931) | Frank Borzage |
| Nominated | Champ, The (1931/I) | King Vidor |
| Shanghai Express (1932) | Josef von Sternberg |
| 1931 | Winner | Skippy (1931) | Norman Taurog |
| Nominated | Cimarron (1931) | Wesley Ruggles |
| Free Soul, A (1931) | Clarence Brown (I) |
| Front Page, The (1931) | Lewis Milestone |
| Morocco (1930) | Josef von Sternberg |
| 1929 | Winner | Two Arabian Knights (1927) | Lewis Milestone | Best Director, Comedy Picture |
| Nominated | Speedy (1928) | Ted Wilde (I) |
| 1929 | Winner | Seventh Heaven (1927) | Frank Borzage | Best Director, Dramatic Picture |
| Nominated | Crowd, The (1928) | King Vidor |
| Sorrell and Son (1927) | Herbert Brenon |
