1996

1. Breaking the Waves (Lars Von Trier)
2. Secrets and Lies (Mike Leigh)
3. Fargo (Joel Coen)
4. Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh)
5. La Promesse (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)
6. A Summer's Tale (Eric Rohmer)
7. Schizopolis (Steven Soderbergh)
8. Hard Eight (Paul Thomas Anderson)
9. Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson)
10. Scream (Wes Craven)

Honorable Mentions:
Mission: Impossible (Brian De Palma), The Stendhal Syndrome (Dario Argento), Everyone Says I Love You (Woody Allen), City Hall (Harold Becker), Muppet Treasure Island (Brian Henson), Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills (Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky), Freeway (Matthew Bright)