2003

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Peter Jackson)
2. Mystic River (Clint Eastwood)
3. (tie) I'm Not Scared (Gabriele Salvatores)
3. (tie) The Return (Andrei Zvyagintsev)
4. Dogville (Lars Von Trier)
5. Elephant (Gus Van Sant)
6. All the Real Girls (David Gordon Green)
7. Lost In Translation (Sofia Coppola)
8. The Five Obstructions (Lars Von Trier and Jorgen Leth)
9. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Ming-liang Tsai)
10. Big Fish (Tim Burton)

Honorable Mentions:
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Peter Weir), Kill Bill, vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino), Twentynine Palms (Bruno Dumont), Baadassss! (Mario Van Peebles), The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (Takeshi Kitano), Peter Pan (P.J. Hogan), The Fog of War (Errol Morris), The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci), School of Rock (Richard Linklater), The Saddest Music In the World (Guy Maddin)