the top 250 greatest films of all time published by sight & sound magazine of the british film institute
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In 1952, the Sight and Sound team had the novel idea of asking critics to name the greatest films of all time. The tradition became decennial, increasing in size and prestige as the decades passed. The Sight and Sound poll is now a major bellwether of critical opinion on cinema and this year’s edition (its eighth) is the largest ever, with 1,639 participating critics, programmers, curators, archivists and academics each submitting their top ten ballot. What has risen up the ranks? What has fallen? Has 2012’s winner Vertigo held on to its title? Find out below.
I have corrected the list to remove several ties at any specific number so the list stretches a bit longer than 250
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 BruxellesChantal Akerman
VertigoAlfred Hitchcock
Citizen KaneOrson Welles
Tokyo StoryYasujirō Ozu
In the Mood for LoveWong Kar Wai
2001: A Space OdysseyStanley Kubrick
Beau travailClaire Denis
Mulholland Dr.David Lynch
Man with a Movie CameraDziga Vertov
Singin' in the RainGene Kelly, Stanley Donen
Sunrise: A Song of Two HumansF.W. Murnau
The GodfatherFrancis Ford Coppola
La Règle du jeuJean Renoir
Cléo from 5 to 7Agnès Varda
The SearchersJohn Ford
Meshes of the AfternoonMaya Deren, Alexander Hackenschmied
Close-upAbbas Kiarostami
PersonaIngmar Bergman
Apocalypse NowFrancis Ford Coppola
Seven SamuraiAkira Kurosawa
The Passion of Joan of ArcCarl Th. Dreyer
Late SpringYasujirō Ozu
PlaytimeJacques Tati
Do the Right ThingSpike Lee
Au hasard BalthazarRobert Bresson
The Night of the HunterCharles Laughton
ShoahClaude Lanzmann
DaisiesVěra Chytilová
Taxi DriverMartin Scorsese
Portrait of a Lady on FireCéline Sciamma
MirrorAndrei Tarkovsky
PsychoAlfred Hitchcock
8½Federico Fellini
L'AtalanteJean Vigo
Pather PanchaliSatyajit Ray
City LightsCharles Chaplin
MFritz Lang
Some Like It HotBilly Wilder
À bout de souffleJean-Luc Godard
Rear WindowAlfred Hitchcock
Bicycle ThievesVittorio De Sica
RashomonAkira Kurosawa
Killer of SheepCharles Burnett
StalkerAndrei Tarkovsky
The Battle of AlgiersGillo Pontecorvo
North by NorthwestAlfred Hitchcock
Barry LyndonStanley Kubrick
WandaBarbara Loden
OrdetCarl Th. Dreyer
The 400 BlowsFrançois Truffaut
The PianoJane Campion
Fear Eats the SoulRainer Werner Fassbinder
News from HomeChantal Akerman
Blade RunnerRidley Scott
Battleship PotemkinSergei M. Eisenstein
Le MéprisJean-Luc Godard
Sherlock Jr.Buster Keaton
The ApartmentBilly Wilder
Sans soleilChris Marker
MoonlightBarry Jenkins
La dolce vitaFederico Fellini
Daughters of the DustJulie Dash
CasablancaMichael Curtiz
GoodFellasMartin Scorsese
The Third ManCarol Reed
Touki BoukiDjibril Diop Mambéty
The Gleaners and IAgnès Varda
La JetéeChris Marker
Andrei RublevAndrei Tarkovsky
MetropolisFritz Lang
The Red ShoesMichael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
My Neighbour TotoroHayao Miyazaki
Journey to ItalyRoberto Rossellini
L'avventuraMichelangelo Antonioni
Imitation of LifeDouglas Sirk
Sansho the BailiffKenji Mizoguchi
Spirited AwayHayao Miyazaki
SátántangóBéla Tarr
A Brighter Summer DayEdward Yang
Céline and Julie Go BoatingJacques Rivette
Sunset Blvd.Billy Wilder
Modern TimesCharles Chaplin
A Matter of Life and DeathMichael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Histoire(s) du CinémaJean-Luc Godard
Pierrot le fouJean-Luc Godard
The Spirit of the BeehiveVíctor Erice
Blue VelvetDavid Lynch
Chungking ExpressWong Kar Wai
The ShiningStanley Kubrick
Madame de...Max Ophuls
The LeopardLuchino Visconti
Ugetsu MonogatariKenji Mizoguchi
Yi YiEdward Yang
ParasiteBong Joon-ho
Get OutJordan Peele
Tropical MaladyApichatpong Weerasethakul
Black GirlOusmane Sembène
The GeneralBuster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman
A Man EscapedRobert Bresson
Once upon a Time in the WestSergio Leone
Rio BravoHoward Hawks
The House Is BlackForough Farokhzad
VagabondAgnès Varda
La Maman et la PutainJean Eustache
Come and SeeElem Klimov
JawsSteven Spielberg
The Godfather Part IIFrancis Ford Coppola
Goodbye, Dragon InnTsai Ming-liang
The Wizard of OzVictor Fleming
Wild StrawberriesIngmar Bergman
Touch of EvilOrson Welles
The Man Who Shot Liberty ValanceJohn Ford
Bringing Up BabyHoward Hawks
To Be or Not to BeErnst Lubitsch
A Woman under the InfluenceJohn Cassavetes
NashvilleRobert Altman
Don't Look NowNicolas Roeg
Aguirre, Wrath of GodWerner Herzog
The ConformistBernardo Bertolucci
The Texas Chain Saw MassacreTobe Hooper
The ThingJohn Carpenter
There Will Be BloodPaul Thomas Anderson
The MatrixThe Wachowskis
The Colour of PomegranatesSergei Paradjanov
Johnny GuitarNicholas Ray
The Umbrellas of CherbourgJacques Demy
Only Angels Have WingsHoward Hawks
The AscentLarissa Shepitko
Fanny and AlexanderIngmar Bergman
His Girl FridayHoward Hawks
Raging BullMartin Scorsese
Pulp FictionQuentin Tarantino
Lawrence of ArabiaDavid Lean
NotoriousAlfred Hitchcock
It's a Wonderful LifeFrank Capra
La ciénagaLucrecia Martel
Les Enfants du paradisMarcel Carné
The Wild BunchSam Peckinpah
SambizangaSarah Maldoror
Trouble in ParadiseErnst Lubitsch
The Seventh SealIngmar Bergman
PickpocketRobert Bresson
Partie de campagneJean Renoir
All That Heaven AllowsDouglas Sirk
GertrudCarl Th. Dreyer
The Watermelon WomanCheryl Dunye
VampyrCarl Th. Dreyer
AlienRidley Scott
India SongMarguerite Duras
La Grande IllusionJean Renoir
ChinatownRoman Polanski
Twin Peaks: The ReturnDavid Lynch
West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of LibertyMed Hondo
Days of HeavenTerrence Malick
Meghe Dhaka TaraRitwik Ghatak
Le BonheurAgnès Varda
West of the TracksWang Bing
OrlandoSally Potter
A City of SadnessHou Hsiao-Hsien
All about My MotherPedro Almodóvar
Where Is the Friend's House?Abbas Kiarostami
The Gospel According to St. MatthewPier Paolo Pasolini
Once upon a Time in AmericaSergio Leone
AmarcordFederico Fellini
Vivre sa vieJean-Luc Godard
Out of the PastJacques Tourneur
IkiruAkira Kurosawa
Los olvidadosLuis Buñuel
Last Year at MarienbadAlain Resnais
L'ArgentRobert Bresson
Un chien andalouLuis Buñuel
Out 1Jacques Rivette
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take OneWilliam Greaves
HeatMichael Mann
Under the SkinJonathan Glazer
The Exterminating AngelLuis Buñuel
Memories of UnderdevelopmentTomás Gutiérrez Alea
Black NarcissusMichael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Red DesertMichelangelo Antonioni
The Good, the Bad and the UglySergio Leone
CharulataSatyajit Ray
Letter from an Unknown WomanMax Ophuls
Hiroshima mon amourAlain Resnais
The Magnificent AmbersonsOrson Welles
MagnoliaPaul Thomas Anderson
Wings of DesireWim Wenders
PyaasaGuru Dutt
RanAkira Kurosawa
GreedErich von Stroheim
Love StreamsJohn Cassavetes
An Autumn AfternoonYasujirō Ozu
The RiverJean Renoir
The BirdsAlfred Hitchcock
Les Demoiselles de RochefortJacques Demy
Paris, TexasWim Wenders
Paris Is BurningJennie Livingston
The Headless WomanLucrecia Martel
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past LivesApichatpong Weerasethakul
The Tree of LifeTerrence Malick
Mad Max: Fury RoadGeorge Miller
ZamaLucrecia Martel
PaisanRoberto Rossellini
NosferatuF.W. Murnau
One Way or AnotherSara Gómez
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombStanley Kubrick
Double IndemnityBilly Wilder
L'eclisseMichelangelo Antonioni
I Know Where I’m Going!Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
WavelengthMichael Snow
The Life and Death of Colonel BlimpMichael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
LimiteMário Peixoto
Raiders of the Lost ArkSteven Spielberg
Pink FlamingosJohn Waters
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with MeDavid Lynch
Twenty Years LaterEduardo Coutinho
MelancholiaLars von Trier
Army of ShadowsJean-Pierre Melville
The Deer HunterMichael Cimino
In a Lonely PlaceNicholas Ray
SuspiriaDario Argento
Brief EncounterDavid Lean
All about EveJoseph L. Mankiewicz
Duck SoupLeo McCarey
By the Bluest of SeasBoris Barnet
The Green RayEric Rohmer
Grave of the FirefliesIsao Takahata
BlueDerek Jarman
CrashDavid Cronenberg
Happy TogetherWong Kar Wai
Flowers of ShanghaiHou Hsiao-Hsien
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of BeautyJonas Mekas
Petite mamanCéline Sciamma
Je, tu, il, elleChantal Akerman
A Touch of ZenKing Hu
The CrowdKing Vidor
NapoléonAbel Gance
Europa '51Roberto Rossellini
The Hour of the FurnacesFernando Solanas
IntoleranceD.W. Griffith
Star WarsGeorge Lucas
Cries and WhispersIngmar Bergman
Harlan County, USABarbara Kopple
The Last LaughF.W. Murnau
The Quince Tree SunVíctor Erice
Taste of CherryAbbas Kiarostami
Werckmeister HarmoniesBéla Tarr
In Vanda's RoomPedro Costa
Morvern CallarLynne Ramsay
The IntruderClaire Denis
Syndromes and a CenturyApichatpong Weerasethakul
Nostalgia for the LightPatricio Guzmán
Distant Voices, Still LivesTerence Davies
Soleil ÔMed Hondo
PossessionAndrzej Żuławski
VideodromeDavid Cronenberg
A Canterbury TaleMichael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
A Clockwork OrangeStanley Kubrick
MouchetteRobert Bresson
My Darling ClementineJohn Ford
EarthAlexander Dovzhenko
Annie HallWoody Allen
Sullivan's TravelsPreston Sturges
Pandora's BoxG.W. Pabst
Born in FlamesLizzie BordenSign in with GitHub to comment
Yotam, Kris. (Aug 2025). BFI Sight & Sound 250. krisyotam.com. https://krisyotam.com/notes/film/bfi-sight-and-sound-250
@article{yotam2025bfi-sight-and-sound-250,
title = "BFI Sight & Sound 250",
author = "Yotam, Kris",
journal = "krisyotam.com",
year = "2025",
month = "Aug",
url = "https://krisyotam.com/notes/film/bfi-sight-and-sound-250"
}