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National Board of Review Award for Best Film
Annual film award
The National Board of Review Award for Best Film is one of the annual awards given since 1932 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
Winners
† = Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture
‡ = Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
§ = Not nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
1930s
Year Winner Director(s) 1932 *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang * ‡Mervyn LeRoy 1933 *Topaze * §Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast 1934 *It Happened One Night * †Frank Capra 1935 *The Informer * ‡John Ford 1936 *Mr. Deeds Goes to Town * ‡Frank Capra 1937 *Night Must Fall * §Richard Thorpe 1938 *The Citadel * ‡King Vidor 1939 *Confessions of a Nazi Spy * §Anatole Litvak
1940s
Year Winner Director(s) 1940 *The Grapes of Wrath * ‡John Ford 1941 *Citizen Kane * ‡Orson Welles 1942 *In Which We Serve * ‡Noël Coward and David Lean 1943 *The Ox-Bow Incident * ‡William A. Wellman 1944 *None But the Lonely Heart * §Clifford Odets 1945 *The True Glory * §Carol Reed 1946 *Henry V * ‡Laurence Olivier 1947 *Monsieur Verdoux * §Charlie Chaplin 1948 *Paisan *Roberto Rossellini 1949 *Bicycle Thieves *Vittorio De Sica
1950s
Year Winner Director(s) 1950 *Sunset Boulevard * ‡Billy Wilder 1951 *A Place in the Sun * ‡George Stevens 1952 *The Quiet Man * ‡John Ford 1953 *Julius Caesar * ‡Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1954 *On the Waterfront * †Elia Kazan 1955 *Marty * †Delbert Mann 1956 *Around the World in 80 Days * †Michael Anderson 1957 *The Bridge on the River Kwai * †David Lean 1958 *The Old Man and the Sea * §John Sturges 1959 *The Nun's Story * ‡Fred Zinnemann
1960s
Year Winner Director(s) 1960 *Sons and Lovers * ‡Jack Cardiff 1961 *Question 7 * §Stuart Rosenberg 1962 *The Longest Day * ‡Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, and Bernhard Wicki 1963 *Tom Jones * †Tony Richardson 1964 *Becket * ‡Peter Glenville 1965 *The Eleanor Roosevelt Story * §Rick Kaplan 1966 *A Man for All Seasons * †Fred Zinnemann 1967 *Far from the Madding Crowd * §John Schlesinger 1968 *The Shoes of the Fisherman * §Michael Anderson 1969 *They Shoot Horses, Don't They? * §Sydney Pollack
1970s
Year Winner Director(s) 1970 *Patton * †Franklin J. Schaffner 1971 *Macbeth * §Roman Polanski 1972 *Cabaret * ‡Bob Fosse 1973 *The Sting * †George Roy Hill 1974 *The Conversation * ‡Francis Ford Coppola 1975 *Barry Lyndon * ‡Stanley Kubrick *Nashville * ‡Robert Altman 1976 *All the President's Men * ‡Alan J. Pakula 1977 *The Turning Point * ‡Herbert Ross 1978 *Days of Heaven * §Terrence Malick 1979 *Manhattan * §Woody Allen
1980s
Year Winner Director(s) 1980 *Ordinary People * †Robert Redford 1981 *Chariots of Fire * †Hugh Hudson *Reds * ‡Warren Beatty 1982 *Gandhi * †Richard Attenborough 1983 *Betrayal * §David Jones *Terms of Endearment * †James L. Brooks 1984 *A Passage to India * ‡David Lean 1985 *The Color Purple * ‡Steven Spielberg 1986 *A Room with a View * ‡James Ivory 1987 *Empire of the Sun * §Steven Spielberg 1988 *Mississippi Burning * ‡Alan Parker 1989 *Driving Miss Daisy * †Bruce Beresford
1990s
Year Winner Director(s) 1990 *Dances with Wolves * †Kevin Costner 1991 *The Silence of the Lambs * †Jonathan Demme 1992 *Howards End * ‡James Ivory 1993 *Schindler's List * †Steven Spielberg 1994 *Forrest Gump * †Robert Zemeckis *Pulp Fiction * ‡Quentin Tarantino 1995 *Sense and Sensibility * ‡Ang Lee 1996 *Shine * ‡Scott Hicks 1997 *L.A. Confidential * ‡Curtis Hanson 1998 *Gods and Monsters * §Bill Condon 1999 *American Beauty * †Sam Mendes
2000s
Year Winner Director(s) 2000 *Quills * §Philip Kaufman 2001 *Moulin Rouge! * ‡Baz Luhrmann 2002 *The Hours * ‡Stephen Daldry 2003 *Mystic River * ‡Clint Eastwood 2004 *Finding Neverland * ‡Marc Forster 2005 *Good Night, and Good Luck. * ‡George Clooney 2006 *Letters from Iwo Jima * ‡Clint Eastwood 2007 *No Country for Old Men * †Joel Coen and Ethan Coen 2008 *Slumdog Millionaire * †Danny Boyle 2009 *Up in the Air * ‡Jason Reitman
2010s
Year Winner Director(s) 2010 *The Social Network * ‡David Fincher 2011 *Hugo * ‡Martin Scorsese 2012 *Zero Dark Thirty * ‡Kathryn Bigelow 2013 *Her * ‡Spike Jonze 2014 *A Most Violent Year * §J. C. Chandor 2015 *Mad Max: Fury Road * ‡George Miller 2016 *Manchester by the Sea * ‡Kenneth Lonergan 2017 *The Post * ‡Steven Spielberg 2018 *Green Book * †Peter Farrelly 2019 *The Irishman * ‡Martin Scorsese
2020s
Year Winner Director(s) 2020 *Da 5 Bloods * §Spike Lee 2021 *Licorice Pizza * ‡Paul Thomas Anderson 2022 *Top Gun: Maverick * ‡Joseph Kosinski 2023 *Killers of the Flower Moon * ‡Martin Scorsese 2024 *Wicked * ‡Jon M. Chu 2025 *One Battle After Another *Paul Thomas Anderson
Multiple winners (3 or more)
Steven Spielberg-4
John Ford-3
David Lean-3 (one as co-director)
Martin Scorsese-3
References
"Best Film Archives – National Board of Review" . [[National Board of Review]] .
[https://variety.com/2018/film/awards/national-board-of-review-names-green-book-best-film-of-2018-1203035378/ National Board of Review Names 'Green Book' Best Film of 2018 - Variety]
[https://www.indiewire.com/2019/12/national-board-of-review-2019-winners-irishman-1202193897/ National Board of Review 2019 Winners. IndieWire]
[https://variety.com/2021/film/news/2021-national-board-of-review-winners-da-5-bloods-1234892415/ 2021 National Board of Review Winners and Analysis - Variety]
[https://deadline.com/2021/12/national-board-of-review-names-paul-thomas-anderson-his-licorice-pizza-as-best-director-film-1234883672/ 'Licorice Pizza' Wins Best Pictures At National Board Of Review — Deadline]
[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/top-gun-maverick-best-movie-2022-national-board-review-1235277963/ Top Gun: Maverick Named Best Movie of 2022 by National Board of Review - The Hollywood Reporter]
[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/2023-national-board-of-review-winners-list-1235714873/ National Board of Review Names ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Best Film of 2023]
Davis, Clayton. (2024-12-04). "‘Wicked’ Named Best Picture by National Board of Review, Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman Among Acting Winners" .
Hipes, Patrick. (2025-12-03). "‘One Battle After Another’ Named Year’s Best Film By National Board Of Review" .
national-board-of-review-awards
lists-of-films-by-award
awards-for-best-film
awards-established-in-1932
1932-establishments-in-the-united-states
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