2008 - ENTRE LES MURS (THE CLASS) by Laurent Cantet
2007 - 4 LUNI, 3 SAPTAMINI SI 2 ZILE (4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS) by Christian Mungiu
2006 - THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY by Ken Loach
2005 – L’ENFANT (THE CHILD) by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
2004 – FAHRENHEIT 9/11 by Michael Moore
2003 – ELEPHANT by Gus Van Sant
2002 – THE PIANIST by Roman Polanski
2001 – LA STANZA DEL FIGLIO (THE SON’S ROOM) by Nanni Moretti
2000 - DANCER IN THE DARK by Lars Von Trier
1999 - ROSETTA by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
1998 – MIA EONIOTITA KE MIA MERA (ETERNITY AND A DAY) by Theo Angelopoulos
1997 – (tie) UNAGI (THE EEL) by Shohei Imamura
+ TA’M E GUILASS (TASTE OF CHERRY) by Abbas Kiarostami
1996 – SECRETS AND LIES by Mike Leigh
1995 – UNDERGROUND by Emir Kusturica
1994 – PULP FICTION by Quentin Tarantino
1993 – (tie) THE PIANO by Jane Campion
+ BA WANG BIE JI (FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE) by Kaige Chen
1992 - DEN GODA VILJAN (THE BEST INTENTIONS) by Bille August
1991 – BARTON FINK by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
1990 – WILD AT HEART by David Lynch
1989 – SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE by Steven Soderbergh
1988 – PELLE EROBREREN (PELLE THE CONQUEROR) by Bille August
1987 – SOUS LE SOLEIL DE SATAN (UNDER SATAN’S SUN) by Maurice Pialat
1986 - THE MISSION by Roland Joffe
1985 – OTAC NA SLUZBENOM PUTU (WHEN FATHER WAS AWAY ON BUSINESS) by Emir Kusturica
1984 - PARIS, TEXAS by Wim Wenders
1983 – NARAYAMA BUSHIKO (BALLAD OF NARAYAMA) by Shohei Imamura
1982 – (tie) MISSING by Costa-Gavras
+ YOL by Yilmaz Güney and Şerif Gören
1981 – CZLOWIEK Z ZELAZA (MAN OF IRON) by Andrzej Wajda
1980 – (tie) KAGEMUSHA (THE SHADOW WARRIOR) by Akira Kurosawa
+ ALL THAT JAZZ by Bob Fosse
1979 – (tie) DIE BLECHTROMMEL (THE TIN DRUM) by Völker Schlondorff
+ APOCALYPSE NOW (A WORK IN PROGRESS) by Francis Ford Coppola
1978 - L’ALBERO DEGLI ZOCCOLI (THE TREE OF WOODEN CLOGS) by Ermanno Olmi
1977 – PADRE PADRONE by Vittorio Taviani and Paolo Taviani
1976 – TAXI DRIVER by Martin Scorsese
1975 – CHRONIQUE DES ANNEES DE BRAISE (CHRONICLE OF THE YEARS OF FIRE) by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina
(1964-1974: Top Award Called Grand Prix du Festival International du Film "when the Festival temporarily resumed awarding a Grand Prix, due to copyright problems with the Palm. In 1975, the Palme d'Or was reintroduced and became again the symbol of the Cannes Film Festival, awarded each and every year since to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition.")
1974 – THE CONVERSATION by Francis Ford Coppola
1973 – (tie) THE HIRELING by Alan Bridges
+ SCARECROW by Jerry Schatzberg
1972 – (tie) LA CLASSE OPERAIA VA IN PARADISO (THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN) by Elio Petri
+ IL CASO MATTEI (THE MATTEI AFFAIR) by Francesco Rosi
1971 – THE GO-BETWEEN by Joseph Losey
1970 – M*A*S*H by Robert Altman
1969 – IF.... by Lindsay Anderson
1968 - canceled due to events of May 1968
1967 - BLOW-UP by Michelangelo Antonioni
1966 - (tie) UN HOMME ET UNE FEMME (A MAN AND A WOMAN) by Claude Lelouch
+ SIGNORE E SIGNORI (THE BIRDS, THE BEES, AND THE ITALIANS) by Pietro Germi
1965 - THE KNACK...AND HOW TO GET IT by Richard Lester
1964 - LES PARAPLUIES DE CHERBOURG (THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG) by Jacques Demy
(1964-1974: Top Award Called Grand Prix du Festival International du Film "when the Festival temporarily resumed awarding a Grand Prix, due to copyright problems with the Palm. In 1975, the Palme d'Or was reintroduced and became again the symbol of the Cannes Film Festival, awarded each and every year since to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition.")
1963 – IL GATTOPARDO (THE LEOPARD) by Luchino Visconti
1962 – O PAGADOR DE PROMESSAS by Anselmo Duarte
1961 – (tie) UNE AUSSI LONGUE ABSENCE (THE LONG ABSENCE) by Henri Colpi
+ VIRIDIANA by Luis Buñuel
1960 – LA DOLCE VITA by Federico Fellini
1959 – ORFEU NEGRO (BLACK ORPHEUS) by Marcel Camus
1958 – LETYAT ZHURAVLI (THE CRANES ARE FLYING) by Mikhail Kalatozov
1957 – FRIENDLY PERSUASION by William Wyler
1956 – LE MONDE DU SILENCE (THE SILENT WORLD) by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Louis Malle
1955 – MARTY by Delbert Mann