The National Board of Review Award for Best International Film (formerly known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2022) is one of the annual awards given (since 1934) by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
Winners
1930s Year Winner Country Director(s)1934Man of Aran Ireland Robert J. Flaherty1936Carnival in Flanders (La Kermesse héroïque) France Jacques Feyder1937The Eternal Mask (Die ewige Maske) Austria/Switzerland Werner Hochbaum1938Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) France Jean Renoir1939Port of Shadows (Le Quai des brumes) France Marcel Carné
1940s Year Winner Country Director(s) 1940The Baker's Wife (La Femme du Boulanger) France Marcel Pagnol 1941Pepe le Moko France Julien Duvivier
1950s Year Winner Country Director(s) 1950The Titan West Germany Robert J. Flaherty, Richard Lyford, and Curt Oertel 1951Rashomon JapanAkira Kurosawa 1952The Sound Barrier UK David Lean 1953A Queen Is CrownedUK Christopher Fry 1954Romeo and Juliet UK- Italy Renato Castellani 1955The Prisoner UKPeter Glenville 1956The Silent World (Le Monde du silence) France Jacques Cousteau & Louis Malle 1957Ordet Denmark Carl Theodor Dreyer 1958Pather Panchali India Satyajit Ray 1959Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället) Sweden Ingmar Bergman
1960s Year Winner Country Director(s) 1960The World of Apu (Apur Sansar) India Satyajit Ray 1961The Bridge (Die Brücke) West Germany Bernhard Wicki 1962Sundays and Cybele (Les dimanches de Ville d'Avray) France Serge Bourguignon 19638½ Italy Federico Fellini 1964World Without Sun (Le monde sans soleil) France Jacques-Yves Cousteau 1965Juliet of the Spirits (Giulietta degli spiriti) Italy Federico Fellini 1966The Sleeping Car Murders (Compartiment tueurs) France Costa-Gavras 1967Elvira MadiganSweden Bo Widerberg 1968War and Peace (Voyna i mir) Soviet Union Sergei Bondarchuk 1969Shame (Skammen) Sweden Ingmar Bergman
1970s Year Winner Country Director(s) 1970The Wild Child (L'enfant sauvage) France François Truffaut 1971Claire's Knee (Le genou de Claire) France Eric Rohmer 1972The Sorrow and the Pity (Le chagrin et la pitié) France Marcel Ophüls 1973Cries and Whispers (Viskningar och rop) Sweden Ingmar Bergman 1974Amarcord Italy Federico Fellini 1975The Story of Adele H. (L'histoire d'Adèle H.) France François Truffaut 1976The Marquise of O (Die Marquise von O...) West Germany Eric Rohmer 1977That Obscure Object of Desire (Cet obscur objet du désir) France Luis Buñuel 1978Autumn Sonata (Höstsonaten) Sweden Ingmar Bergman 1979La cage aux folles France Edouard Molinaro
1980s Year Winner Country Director(s) 1980The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) West Germany Volker Schlöndorff 1981Oblomov (Neskolko dney iz zhizni I.I. Oblomova) Soviet Union Nikita Mikhalkov 1982Mephisto West Germany István Szabó 1983Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) Sweden Ingmar Bergman 1984A Sunday in the Country (Un dimanche à la campagne) France Bertrand Tavernier 1985RanJapan Akira Kurosawa 1986OtelloItaly Franco Zeffirelli1987Jean de FloretteFrance Claude BerriManon of the Spring (Manon des sources) France Claude Berri 1988Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios)Spain Pedro Almodóvar 1989Story of Women (Une affaire de femmes) France Claude Chabrol
1990s Year Winner Country Director(s) 1990Cyrano de BergeracFrance Jean-Paul Rappeneau 1991Europa Europa France/Germany/Poland Agnieszka Holland 1992Indochine France Régis Wargnier 1993Farewell My Concubine (Ba wang bie ji) China/Hong Kong Chen Kaige 1994Eat Drink Man Woman (Yin shi nan nu) Taiwan/USA Ang Lee 1995Shanghai Triad (Yao a yao yao dao waipo qiao) China/France Zhang Yimou 1996RidiculeFrance Patrice Leconte 1997Shall We Dance? (Shall we dansu?) Japan Masayuki Suo 1998Central Station (Central do Brasil) Brazil Walter Salles 1999All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre) Spain Pedro Almodóvar
2000s Year Winner Country Director(s) 2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long) Taiwan/China/USA/Hong Kong Ang Lee 2001 Amores perros Mexico Alejandro González Iñárritu 2002 Talk to Her (Hable con ella) Spain Pedro Almodóvar 2003 The Barbarian Invasions (Les invasions barbares) Canada/France Denys Arcand 2004 The Sea Inside (Mar adentro) Spain Alejandro Amenábar 2005 Paradise Now (al-Janna al-Laan) Palestine Authority Hany Abu-Assad 2006 Volver Spain Pedro Almodóvar 2007 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le scaphandre et le papillon) France/USA Julian Schnabel 2008 Mongol Kazakhstan Sergei Bodrov 2009 A Prophet (Un prophète) France Jacques Audiard
2010s Year Winner Country Director(s) 2010 Of Gods and Men (Des hommes et des dieux) France Xavier Beauvois 2011 A Separation (Jodâyi-e Nâder az Simin) Iran Asghar Farhadi 2012 Amour Austria Michael Haneke 2013 The Past France/Iran Asghar Farhadi 2014 Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes) Argentina/Spain Damián Szifron 2015 Son of Saul (Saul fia) Hungary László Nemes 2016 The Salesman (Forušande) Iran Asghar Farhadi 2017 Foxtrot Israel Samuel Maoz 2018 Cold War (Zimna wojna) Poland Paweł PawlikowskiNational Board of Review Names 'Green Book' Best Film of 2018 - Variety 2019 Parasite (Gisaengchung) South Korea Bong Joon-hoNational Board of Review 2019 Winners|IndieWire
2020s Year Winner Country Director(s) 2020 La Llorona2021 National Board of Review Winners and Analysis - Variety Guatemala Jayro Bustamante 2021A Hero (Qahremaan)National Board of Review Winners 2021:|IndieWire Iran Asghar Farhadi 2022 Close Belgium Lukas Dhont 2023 Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d'une chute) France Justine Triet 2024 The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Dāne-ye anjīr-e ma'ābed) Iran/Germany/France Mohammad Rasoulof 2025 It Was Just an Accident (Yek tasādof-e sāde) Iran/France/Luxembourg Jafar Panahi
Multiple winners Ingmar Bergman – 5 Pedro Almodóvar – 4 Asghar Farhadi – 4 Federico Fellini – 3 Akira Kurosawa – 2 Ang Lee – 2 Satyajit Ray – 2
References