| Year | Winner and nominees | English title |
|---|
1990
(3rd) | {{flagicon|Italy}} Tonino Nardi | Porte aperte |
| FRA}} Pierre Lhomme | Cyrano de Bergerac |
| Sweden}} Göran Nilsson | The Guardian Angel |
1991
(4th) | {{flagicon|Belgium}} Walther van den Ende | Toto the Hero |
1992
(5th) | {{flagicon|France}} Jean-Yves Escoffier | The Lovers on the Bridge |
1993
(5th) | no award given |
1994
(6th) | no award given |
1995
(7th) | no award given |
1996
(8th) | no award given |
1997
(9th) | {{flagicon|UK}} John Seale | The English Patient |
| Hungary}} Tibor Mathé | The Witman Boys |
| USA}} Ron Fortunato | Nil by Mouth |
1998
(10th) | {{flagicon|UK}} Adrian Biddle | The Butcher Boy |
| France}} Thierry Arbogast | Black Cat, White Cat |
| Belgium}} Dany Elsen | The Red Dwarf |
| Germany}} Joseph Vilsmaier | Comedian Harmonists |
1999
(11th) | {{flagicon|Hungary}} Lajos Koltai | Sunshine |
| The Legend of 1900 |
| France}} Yves Cape | Humanité |
Russia}} Alexei Fyodorov
{{flagicon|Russia}} Anatoli Rodinov | Moloch |
| Poland}} Jacek Petrycki | Journey to the Sun |
|
| Year | Winner and nominees | English title |
|---|
2000
(13th) | {{flagicon|Italy}} Vittorio Storaro | Goya in Bordeaux |
| Russia}} Yuri Klimenko | Barak |
| France}} Agnès Godard | Beau Travail |
France}} Eric Guichard
{{flagicon|France}} Jean-Paul Meurisse | Himalaya |
| Brasil}} Edgar Moura | Jaime |
| Russia}} Aleksandr Burov | The Wedding |
2001
(14th) | {{flagicon|France}} Bruno Delbonnel | Amélie |
| France}} Éric Gautier | Intimacy |
| Estonia}} Rein Kotov | The Heart of the Bear |
| Germany}} Frank Griebe | The Princess and the Warrior |
| Italy}} Fabio Olmi | The Profession of Arms |
| Hungary}} Tamás Babos | Paszport |
2002
(15th) | {{flagicon|Poland}} Paweł Edelman | The Pianist |
| United Kingdom}} Ivan Strasburg | Bloody Sunday |
| Spain}} Javier Aguirresarobe | Talk to Her |
| Germany}} Frank Griebe | Heaven |
| Finland}} Timo Salminen | The Man Without a Past |
| Germany}} Alwin H. Küchler | Grill Point |
| Germany}} Tilman Büttner | Russian Ark |
2003
(16th) | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Anthony Dod Mantle | Dogville (tie) |
| 28 Days Later (tie) |
| United Kingdom}} Chris Menges | Dirty Pretty Things |
| Poland}} {{flagicon|Denmark}} Marcel Zyskind | In This World |
| Italy}} Italo Petriccione | I'm Not Scared |
| Poland}} Bogumił Godfrejów | Distant Lights |
| Germany}} Tom Fährmann | The Miracle of Bern |
2004
(17th) | {{flagicon|Portugal}} Eduardo Serra | Girl With A Pearl Earring |
| Hungary}} Lajos Koltai | Being Julia |
United Kingdom}} Alwin H. Küchler
{{flagicon|Poland}} {{flagicon|Denmark}} Marcel Zyskind | Dirty Pretty Things |
| Spain}} José Luis Alcaine | Bad Education |
| Spain}} Javier Aguirresarobe | The Sea Inside |
| Greece}} Andreas Sinanos | The Weeping Meadow |
2005
(18th) | {{flagicon|Germany}} Franz Lustig | Don't Come Knocking |
| Austria}} Christian Berger | Caché |
| United Kingdom}} Anthony Dod Mantle | Manderlay |
| Poland}} Ryszard Lenczewski | My Summer of Love |
| Hungary}} Gyula Pados | Fateless |
| France}} Bruno Delbonnel | A Very Long Engagement |
2006
(19th) | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Barry Ackroyd (tie) | The Wind that Shakes the Barley |
| {{flagicon|Spain}} José Luis Alcaine (tie) | Volver |
| Finland}} Timo Salminen | Lights in the Dusk |
| Nigeria}} {{flagicon|Germany}} {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Roman Osin | Pride & Prejudice |
2007
(20th) | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Frank Griebe | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer |
| Russia}} Mikhail Krichman | The Banishment |
| United Kingdom}} Anthony Dod Mantle | The Last King of Scotland |
| Italy}} Fabio Zamarion | The Unknown Woman |
2008
(21st) | {{flagicon|Italy}} Marco Onorato | Gomorrah |
| Italy}} Luca Bigazzi | Il Divo |
| Spain}} Oscar Faura | The Orphanage |
Russia}} Sergey Trofimov
{{flagicon|Netherlands}} Rogier Stoffers | Mongol: The Rise to Power of Genghis Khan |
2009
(22nd) | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} Anthony Dod Mantle | Antichrist (tie) |
| Slumdog Millionaire (tie) |
| Austria}} Christian Berger | The White Ribbon |
Russia}} Maksim Drozdov
{{flagicon|Russia}} Alisher Khamidkhodjaev | Paper Soldier |
| France}} Stéphane Fontaine | A Prophet |
|
| Year | Winner and nominees | English title |
|---|
2010
(23rd) | {{flagicon|Israel}} Giora Bejach | Lebanon |
| France}} Caroline Champetier | Of Gods and Men |
| Russia}} Pavel Kostomarov | How I Ended This Summer |
| Turkey}} Barış Özbiçer | Honey |
2011
(24th) | {{flagicon|Chile}} {{flagicon|Denmark}} Manuel Alberto Claro | Melancholia |
| Germany}} Fred Kelemen | The Turin Horse |
| France}} Guillaume Schiffman | The Artist |
| Poland}} Adam Sikora | Essential Killing |
2012
(25th) | {{flagicon|UK}} Sean Bobbitt | Shame |
| Iran}} {{flagicon|France}} Darius Khondji | Amour |
| France}} Bruno Delbonnel | Faust |
| Turkey}} Gökhan Tiryaki | Once Upon a Time in Anatolia |
| Netherlands}} {{flagicon|Switzerland}} Hoyte Van Hoytema | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy |
2013
(26th) | {{flagicon|Israel}} Asaf Sudry | Fill the Void |
2014
(27th) | {{flagicon|Poland}} Łukasz Żal
{{flagicon|Poland}} Ryszard Lenczewski | Ida |
2015
(28th) | {{flagicon|Austria}} Martin Gschlacht | Goodnight Mommy |
2016
(29th) | {{flagicon|Denmark}} Camilla Hjelm Knudsen | Land of Mine |
2017
(30th) | {{flagicon|Russia}} Mikhail Krichman | Loveless |
2018
(31st) | {{flagicon|Norway}} Martin Otterbeck | July 22 |
|