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