Años 1980

• 1985: The Trip to Bountiful - Horton Foote
  • After Hours - Joseph Minion
  • Blood Simple - Joel y Ethan Coen
  • Smooth Talk - Tom Cole

• 1986: Platoon - Oliver Stone
  • Blue Velvet - David Lynch
  • A Great Wall - Peter Wang y Shirley Sun
  • Salvador - Oliver Stone y Richard Boyle
  • Cunta conmigo - Raynold Gideon y Bruce A. Evans

• 1987: River's Edge - Neal Jiménez
  • Anna - Agnieszka Holland
  • The Dead - Tony Huston
  • Matewan - John Sayles
  • Swimming to Cambodia - Spalding Gray

• 1988: Stand and Deliver - Ramon Menendez y Tom Musca
  • Five Corners - John Patrick Shanley
  • Hairspray - John Waters
  • The Moderns - Alan Rudolph y John Bradshaw
  • Patti Rocks - John Jenkins, Karen Landry, David Burton Morris y Chris Mulkey

• 1989: Drugstore Cowboy - Gus Van Sant y Daniel Yost
  • 84 Charlie Mopic - Patrick Sheane Duncan
  • Heathers - Daniel Waters
  • Miracle Mile - Steve De Jarnatt
  • Mystery Train - Jim Jarmusch

Años 1990

• 1990: To Sleep with Anger - Charles Burnett
  • Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer - John McNaughton y Richard Fire
  • Metropolitan - Whit Stillman
  • The Plot Against Harry - Michael Roemer
  • Pump Up the Volume - Allan Moyle

• 1991: My Own Private Idaho - Gus Van Sant
  • Hangin' with the Homeboys - Joseph Vásquez
  • Kafka - Lem Dobbs
  • Mindwalk - Floyd Byars y Fritjof Capra
  • The Rapture - Michael Tolkin

• 1992: The Waterdance - Neal Jiménez
  • Gas Food Lodging - Allison Anders
  • Light Sleeper - Paul Schrader
  • A Midnight Clear - Keith Gordon
  • One False Move - Billy Bob Thornton y Tom Epperson

• 1993: Short Cuts - Robert Altman y Frank Barhydt
  • Combination Platter - Edwin Baker y Tony Chan
  • Household Saints - Nancy Savoca y Richard Guay
  • Ruby in Paradise - Victor Nuñez
  • The Wedding Banquet - Ang Lee, Neil Peng y James Schamus

• 1994: Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino y Roger Avary
  • Bullets Over Broadway - Woody Allen y Douglas McGrath
  • Eat Drink Man Woman - Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus y Ang Lee
  • Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle - Alan Rudolph y Randy Sue Coburn
  • Red Rock West - John Dahl y Rick Dahl

• 1995: The Usual Suspects - Christopher McQuarrie
  • Leaving Las Vegas - Mike Figgis
  • Living in Oblivion - Tom DiCillo
  • Safe - Todd Haynes
  • The Secret of Ruquen Inish - John Sayles

• 1996: Fargo - Joel y Ethan Coen
  • Dead Man - Jim Jarmusch
  • Flirting with Disaster - David O. Russell
  • The Funeral - Nicholas St. John
  • Lone Star - John Sayles

• 1997: Chasing Amy - Kevin Smith
  • The Apostle - Robert Duvall
  • Touch - Paul Schrader
  • Ulee's Gold - Victor Nuñez
  • Waiting for Guffman - Christopher Guest y Eugene Levy

• 1998: The Opposite of Sex - Don Roos
  • Affliction - Paul Schrader
  • Blind Faith - Frank Military
  • Gods and Monsters - Bill Condon
  • The Spanish Prisoner - David Mamet

• 1999: Election - Alexander Payne y Jim Taylor
  • Dogma - Kevin Smith
  • Guinevere - Audrey Wells
  • The Limey - Lem Dobbs
  • SLC Punk! - James Merendino

Años 2000

• 2000: You Can Count on Me - Kenneth Lonergan
  • Chuck & Buck - Mike White
  • Love & Sex - Valerie Breiman
  • Two Family House - Raymond De Felitta
  • Waking the Dead - Robert Dillon

• 2001: Memento - Christopher Nolan
  • El creyente - Henry Bean
  • In the Bedroom - Robert Festinger y Todd Field
  • Monster's Ball - Milo Addica y Will Rokos
  • Waking Life - Richard Linklater

• 2002: The Good Girl - Mike White
  • Lovely & Amazing - Nicole Holofcener
  • Roger Dodger - Dylan Kidd
  • Thirteen Conversations About One Thing - Jill Sprecher y Karen Sprecher
  • Tully - Hilary Birmingham y Matt Drake

• 2003: Lost in Translation - Sofia Coppola
  • American Splendor - Shari Springer Berman y Robert Pulcini
  • A Mighty Wind - Christopher Guest y Eugene Levy
  • Pieces of April - Peter Hedges
  • Shattered Glass - Billy Ray

• 2004: Sideways - Alexander Payne y Jim Taylor
  • Before Sunset - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy y Ethan Hawke
  • The Door in the Floor - Tod Williams
  • How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass - Mario Van Peebles y Dennis Haggerty
  • Kinsey - Bill Condon

• 2005: Capote - Dan Futterman
  • Nine Lives - Rodrigo García
  • The Squid and the Whale - Noah Baumbach
  • The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada - Guillermo Arriaga
  • The War Within - Ayad Akhtar, Joseph Castelo y Tom Glynn

• 2006: Thank You for Smoking - Jason Reitman
  • Friends with Money - Nicole Holofcener
  • The Illusionist - Neil Burger
  • The Painted Veil - Ron Nyswaner
  • Sorry, Haters - Jeff Stanzler

• 2007: The Savages - Tamara Jenkins
  • The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Ronald Harwood
  • Starting Out in the Evening - Fred Parnes y Andrew Wagner
  • Waitress - Adrienne Shelly
  • Year of the Dog - Mike White

• 2008: Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Woody Allen
  • Sugar - Anna Boden y Ryan Fleck
  • Synecdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman
  • Savage Grace - Howard A. Rodman
  • Sangre de la mio sangre - Christopher Zalla

• 2009: (500) Days of Summer - Scott Neustadter y Michael H. Weber
  • Adventureland - Greg Mottola
  • The Last Station - Michael Hoffman
  • The Vicious Kind - Llei Toland Krieger
  • The Messenger - Alessandro Camon y Oren Moverman

Años 2010

• 2010: The Kids Are All Right - Stuart Blumberg y Lisa Cholodenko
  • Life During Wartime - Todd Solondz
  • Please Give - Nicole Holofcener
  • Rabbit Hole - David Lindsay-Abaire
  • Winter's Bone - Debra Granik y Anne Rosellini

• 2011: The Descendants - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon y Jim Rash
  • The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius
  • Beginners - Mike Mills
  • Footnote - Joseph Cedar
  • Win Win - Thomas McCarthy

• 2012: Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell
  • Keep the Lights On - Ira Sachs y Mauricio Zacharias
  • Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson y Roman Coppola
  • Ruby Sparks - Zoe Kazan
  • Seven Psychopaths - Martin McDonagh

• 2013: 12 Years a Slave - John Ridley
  • Before Midnight - Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke y Richard Linklater
  • Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen
  • Enough Said - Nicole Holofcener
  • The Spectacular Now - Scott Neustadter y Michael H. Weber

• 2014: Nightcrawler - Dan Gilroy
  • Big Eyes - Scott Alexander y Larry Karaszewski
  • Love Is Strange - Ira Sachs y Mauricio Zacharias
  • A Most Violent Year - J.C. Chandor
  • Only Lovers Left Alive - Jim Jarmusch

• 2015: Spotlight - Thomas McCarthy y Josh Singer
  • Anomalisa - Charlie Kaufman
  • The End of the Tour - Donald Margulies
  • Carol - Phillys Nagy
  • Bone Tomahawk - S. Craig Zahler

• 2016: Moonlight – Barry Jenkins y Tarell Alvin McCraney
  • 20th Century Women – Mike Mills
  • Hell or High Water – Taylor Sheridan
  • Little Men – Ira Sachs y Mauricio Zacharias
  • Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan