The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) was founded in 1966 as a counterpart to the more middle-brow N.Y. Film Critics Circle (NYFCC).
Year Director Film
1966 Michelangelo Antonioni, Blow-Up
1967 Ingmar Bergman, Persona
1968 Bergman, Hour of the Wolf and Shame
1969 Francois Truffaut, Stolen Kisses
1970 Ingmar Bergman, The Passion of Anna
1971 Bernardo Bertolucci, The Conformist
1972 Luis Bunuel, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
1973 Francois Truffaut, Day for Night
1974 Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather, Part II
1975 Robert Altman, Nashville
1976 Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver
1977 Luis Bunuel, That Obscure Object of Desire
1978 Terrence Malick, Days of Heaven
1979 Tie Woody Allen, Manhattan; Robert Benton, Kramer Vs. Kramer
1980 Martin Scorsese, Raging Bull
1981 Louis Malle, Atlantic City
1982 Steven Spielberg, E.T.
1983 Taviani, Paolo and Vittorio, The Night of the Shooting Star
1984 Robert Bresson, Money (L’Argent)
1985 John Huston, Prizzi’s Honor
1986 David Lynch, Blue Velvet
1987 John Boorman, Hope and Glory
1988 Philip Kaufman, The Unbearable Lightness of Being
1989 Gus Van Sant, Drugstore Cowboy
1990 Martin Scorsese, GoodFellas
1991 David Cronenberg, Naked Lunch
1992 Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven
1993 Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List
1994 Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction
1995 Mike Figgis, Leaving Las Vegas
1996 Lars Von Trier, Breaking the Waves
1997 Curtis Hanson, L.A. Confidential
1998 Steven Soderbergh, Out of Sight
1999 Mike Leigh, Topsy Turvy
2000 Steven Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich and Traffic
2001 Robert Altman, Gosford Park
2002 Roman Polanski, The Pianist
2003 Clint Eastwood, Mystic River
2004 Zhang Yimou, Hero and the House of the Flying Daggers
2005 David Cronenberg, History of Violence
2006 Paul Greengrass, United 93
2007 Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
2008 Mike Leigh, Happy Go Lucky
2009 Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
2010 David Fincher, The Social Network
2011 Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
2012 Michael Haneke, Amour
2013 Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
2014 Richard Linklater, Boyhood
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Multiple Wins
Two directors, American Martin Scorsese and Swedish Ingmar Bergman, won this award three times. Scorsese for 1976 Taxi Driver, 1980 Raging Bull, and 1990 GoodFellas.
Bergman earned the kudo for 1967 Persona, 1968 Shame, and 1970 The Passion of Anna.
Francois Truffau, Luis Bunuel, Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg, Mike Leigh, Clint Eastwood, Steven Soderbergh, Terrence Malick, and David Cronenberg each won the award twice.
