Note: I didn't want to repeat movies from list to list, so some of my favorite films who might have been categorized as "art films" but are missing here were put in the other categories (see my other lists), such as horror, science fiction, comedy, or crime/thriller.

• 1950s
• 1. The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman)

• 2. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu)

• 3. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman)

• 4. Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray)

• 5. Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais)

Honorable mentions: Aparajito (Satyajit Ray), The World of Apu (Satyajit Ray), The Cranes Are Flying (Mikhail Kalatozov), Umberto D. (Vittorio de Sica), Pickpocket (Robert Bresson), Ordet (Carl Theodor Dreyer), The 400 Blows (François Truffaut), Rashomon (Akira Kurosawa), Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa), Nights of Cabiria (Federico Fellini)

• 1960s
• 1. 8½ (Federico Fellini)

• 2. Persona (Ingmar Bergman)

• 3. Blowup (Michelangelo Antonioni)

• 4. Vivre Sa Vie (Jean-Luc Godard)

• 5. Au Hasard Balthazar (Robert Bresson)

Honorable mentions: Wavelength (Michael Snow), Soy Cuba (Mikhail Kalatozov), Last Year at Marienbad (Alain Resnais), L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni), La Notte (Michelangelo Antonioni), L'Eclisse (Michelangelo Antonioni), Belle de Jour (Luis Buñuel), The Milky Way (Luis Buñuel), Viridiana (Luis Buñuel), The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel), Simon of the Desert (Luis Buñuel), Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol (Glauber Rocha), São Paulo, Sociedade Anônima (Luís Sérgio Person), Loves of a Blonde (Miloš Forman), La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini), The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman)

• 1970s
• 1. The Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky)

• 2. Scenes from a Marriage (Ingmar Bergman)

• 3. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel)

• 4. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky)

• 5. Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick)

Honorable mentions: The Phantom of Liberty (Luis Buñuel), Cries and Whispers (Ingmar Bergman), Day for Night (François Truffaut), Amarcord (Federico Fellini), The Passenger (Michelangelo Antonioni)

• 1980s
• 1. Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman)

• 2. Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio)

• 3. Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders)

• 4. Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders)

• 5. Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog)

Honorable mentions: The Decalogue (Krzysztof Kieślowski), Where Is the Friend's Home? (Abbas Kiarostami)

• 1990s
• 1. Three Colours: Blue (Krzysztof Kieślowski)

• 2. Barton Fink (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen)

• 3. Drifting Clouds (Aki Kaurismäki)

• 4. Satantango (Béla Tarr)

• 5. Taste of Cherry (Abbas Kiarostami)

Honorable mentions: Three Colours: White (Krzysztof Kieślowski), Three Colours: Red (Krzysztof Kieślowski), Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang Yimou), Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai), Europa (Lars von Trier), Festen (Thomas Vinterberg), Close-Up (Abbas Kiarostami), Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh), Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater), Julien Donkey-Boy (Harmony Korine), All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar)

• 2000s
• 1. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Kim Ki-duk)

• 2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai)

• 3. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

• 4. Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembène)

• 5. You, the Living (Roy Andersson)

Honorable mentions: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu), Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul), Enter the Void (Gaspar Noé), Inland Empire (David Lynch), The Man Without a Past (Aki Kaurismäki), Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier), Dogville (Lars von Trier), Ten (Abbas Kiarostami), The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke), O Céu de Suely (Karim Aïnouz), Elephant (Gus Van Sant), Paradise Now (Hany Abu-Assad), Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson), Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr & Ágnes Hranitzky), Before Sunset (Richard Linklater), Waking Life (Richard Linklater)

• 2010s
• 1. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)

• 2. Blue Is the Warmest Colour (Abdellatif Kechiche)

• 3. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins)

• 4. Melancholia (Lars von Trier)

• 5. Amour (Michael Haneke)

Honorable mentions: Boyhood (Richard Linklater), Ida (Paweł Pawlikowski), A Separation (Asghar Farhadi), Leviathan (Andrey Zviagintsev), Before Midnight (Richard Linklater), Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson), Nymphomaniac (Lars von Trier)