National Polls

Written By Gift Blessing

Argentina

Main article: The 100 Greatest Films of Argentine Cinema

Australia

See also: Cinema of Australia

Bangladesh

See also: Cinema of Bangladesh

Bosnia and Herzegovina

See also: List of Bosnia and Herzegovina films

  • Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981) was voted the best Bosnian film of all time in a 2003 poll of 13 film professionals organized by The National Film Archive of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[98]

Brazil

See also: Cinema of Brazil

Bulgaria

See also: Lists of Bulgarian films

Canada

See also: Cinema of Canada

Chile

See also: Cinema of Chile

China

See also: Cinema of China

Colombia

See also: Cinema of Colombia

  • The Strategy of the Snail (1993) was voted the best Colombian film of all time with 38 votes in a 2015 poll of 65 critics and journalists organized by Colombian magazine Semana.[112]

Croatia

See also: Cinema of Croatia

  • Tko pjeva zlo ne misli (One Who Sings Means No Harm, 1970) was voted the best Croatian film of all time by 44 Croatian film critics in 1999, in a poll organized by the Croatian magazine Hollywood. It was also voted the best Croatian film by Hollywood's readers.[113]

  • H-8 (1958) was voted the best Croatian feature film of all time by 38 Croatian film critics and scholars in a 2020 poll.[114]

Cuba

See also: Cinema of Cuba

  • Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) was voted the best Latin American film of all time with 30 votes in a 1999 poll of 36 critics and film specialists from 11 countries organized by critics Carlos Galiano and Rufo Caballero.[115] It was also voted the best Ibero-American film of all time in a 2009 poll of more than 500 film professionals, critics, journalists, festival organizers, and fans around the world organized by Spanish magazine Noticine.[116]

Czech Republic

See also: Cinema of the Czech Republic and List of Czech films considered the best

See also Czechoslovakia, below.

Czechoslovakia

See also Czech Republic, and Slovakia below.

  • Marketa Lazarova (1967) was voted the best Czech-Slovak film of all time in a 1998 poll of 55 Czech and Slovak film critics and publicists, receiving 41 votes.[127]

  • The Firemen's Ball (1967) was voted the best Czech-Slovak film of all time with 33 votes in a 2007 poll of 53 experts (mostly from the Czech Republic, but also from Slovakia and Poland) titled "Filmové dědictví česko-slovenské kinematografie".[128]

  • The Elementary School (1991) was voted the best Czech-Slovak film with 192 votes in a 2007 public poll of "Filmové dědictví česko-slovenské kinematografie".[128]

Denmark

  • Blinkende lygter (Flickering Lights, 2000) was voted best movie in Denmark by interviewing over 1500 people, reported by the analysis institute YouGov on behalf of the streamingservice Nordic Film+.[129]

Egypt

See also: Cinema of Egypt

Estonia

See also: Cinema of Estonia

  • Kevade (Spring, 1969) received first place in the Estonian feature films Top Ten Poll in 2002 held by Estonian film critics and journalists.[132]

  • Autumn Ball (2007) was voted the best Estonian film of all time with 29 votes in a 2011 poll of 33 film writers and film scholars organized by the Estonian Association of Film Journalists.[133]

Finland

See also: Cinema of Finland

France

See also: Cinema of France

  • The Rules of the Game (1939) was voted the best French film of all time with 15 votes in a 2012 poll of 85 film professionals conducted by Time Out Paris.[136] It was voted the best European film of all time with 56 votes (tied with the German film Nosferatu) in a 1994 poll of 70 critics and film historians organized by Cinemateca Portuguesa.[137]

Georgia

See also: Cinema of Georgia

  • Eliso (1928) was voted the best Georgian film of all time in a critic poll organized by Tbilisi Intermedia.[138]

Germany

See also: Cinema of Germany

Greece

See also: Cinema of Greece

Hong Kong

See also: Cinema of Hong Kong

Hungary

See also: Budapest Twelve, Cinema of Hungary, and hu:53 magyar film

  • The Round-Up (1965) was chosen as the best Hungarian film in a 2000 Hungarian film critics' poll.[141]

Iceland

  • Children of Nature (1991) was voted the best Icelandic film of all time in a Stockfish poll of 12 film experts.[142]

India

Pather Panchali (1955) was the highest-ranking Indian film on several international polls.

See also: Cinema of India

  • Pather Panchali (1955) topped the British Film Institute's user poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time in 2002.[143]

  • Mayabazar (1957) was chosen as the greatest Indian film of all time with 16,960 votes in an online poll conducted by IBN Live in 2013. Voters select from a list of 100 films from different Indian languages, and 70,926 votes were cast.[144][145]

  • Sholay (1975) topped the British Film Institute's critics' poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time in 2002.[146]

Bollywood

  • Mother India (1957) was voted the best Bollywood film of all time with 15 votes in a 2003 poll of 25 directors organized by Indian magazine Outlook.[147]

  • Sholay (1975) was voted the best Bollywood film of all time with 17 votes in a 2015 poll of 27 Bollywood experts organized by Time Out London.[148]

Iran

See also: Cinema of Iran

  • The Deer (1974) was voted the best Iranian film of all time with 33 votes in a 2009 poll of 92 critics organized by Iranian film magazine Film,[11] and again in a follow-up poll of 140 critics in 2019.[149]

  • Bashu, the Little Stranger (1986) was voted "Best Iranian Film of all time" in November 1999 by a Persian movie magazine Picture World poll of 150 Iranian critics and professionals.[150]

  • Close-Up (1990) reached the highest position (number 17 in 2022) of Iranian film on the 2022 Sight & Sound poll's lists of greatest films of all time.[1]

Ireland

See also: Cinema of Ireland

Israel

See also: Cinema of Israel

Italy

See also: Cinema of Italy

8½ (1963) was the highest-ranked Italian film in many international professional polls.

  • Bicycle Thieves (1948) topped the first Sight & Sound critics' poll in 1952.[1]

  • 8½ (1963) was voted the best foreign (i.e. non-Swedish) sound film with 21 votes in a 1964 poll of 50 Swedish film professionals organized by Swedish film magazine Chaplin [sv].[13] It was also ranked number 1 when the Museum of Cinematography in Łódź [pl] asked 279 Polish film professionals (filmmakers, critics, and professors) to vote for the best films in 2015.[14]

Japan

See also: Cinema of Japan

Tokyo Story (1953) topped several international polls, including the 2012 Sight & Sound directors' poll.

  • Rashomon (1950) was ranked joint tenth in the 1992 Sight & Sound directors' poll, and joint ninth in 2002.[1]

  • Tokyo Story (東京物語; 1953) topped the Sight & Sound directors' poll with 48 votes and was number 3 in the critics' poll with 107 votes in 2012.[1] It was also voted the best Japanese film of all time in a 2009 poll of 114 critics and film professionals organized by Japanese film magazine Kinema Junpo.[15] It was voted the best Asian film of all time in a 2015 poll of 73 film critics, festival executives, programmers, and directors from around the world, organized by the Busan International Film Festival.[155]

  • Seven Samurai (1954) was voted the best Japanese film of all time in a 1989 poll of 372 celebrities for a book published by Bungeishunjū.[156] It was voted the best Japanese film of all time in a 1990 poll of about a million people organized by NHK.[22] It was the greatest foreign-language film in BBC Culture's 2018 poll of 209 critics in 43 countries.[8]

Mexico

See also: Cinema of Mexico

  • Vámonos con Pancho Villa (1936) was ranked number 1 Mexican film of all time in a 1994 poll of 25 critics and journalists organized by Mexican magazine Somos.[157]

  • Los Olvidados (1950) was voted the best Mexican film of all time in a 2020 poll of 27 critics and journalists organized by Sector Cine online magazine.[158]

Netherlands

See also: Cinema of the Netherlands

New Zealand

See also: Cinema of New Zealand

  • Once Were Warriors (1994) was voted the best New Zealand film of all time in a 2014 online poll organized by Fairfax Media. More than 500 people voted, including about 100 film professionals and 15 critics.[162]

North Korea

See also: Cinema of North Korea

  • Hong Kil-dong (1986) was voted the "best North Korean film ever" in a 2002 poll of ex-North Koreans living in South Korea, organized by newspaper The Chosun Ilbo.[163]

Norway

See also: Cinema of Norway

  • Ni Liv (Nine Lives, 1957) was the critics' choice for "Best Norwegian Film of All Time" during the 2005 Bergen International Film Festival.[164]

  • The Chasers (1959) was voted the best Norwegian film of all time with 23 votes in a 2011 poll of 32 critics and experts organized by Norwegian film magazine Rushprint [no].[165]

  • Flåklypa Grand Prix (Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, 1975) was the people's choice for "Best Norwegian Film of All Time" during the 2005 Bergen International Film Festival.[164]

Pakistan

See also: Cinema of Pakistan

  • Baji (1963) topped the British Film Institute's critics' poll of "Top 10 Pakistani Films" of all time in 2002.[166]

  • Aina (1977) topped the British Film Institute's user poll of "Top 10 Pakistani Films" of all time in 2002.[167]

Philippines

See also: Cinema of the Philippines

  • Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila in the Claws of Light, 1975) was voted the best Filipino film of all time in a 2013 poll of 81 critics, filmmakers, archivists, and academics organized by Pinoy Rebyu.[168] It was also voted the best Filipino film of all time with 16 votes (tied with Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon) in a 1989 poll of 28 filmmakers and critics, organized by Joel David and his UP film criticism class, and published in Philippine magazine National Midweek. The article also included a list of the most common number-one choices (topped by Manila in the Claws of Light), as well as an alternate version of the top 10 (topped by Manila by Night) which was ordered by average rank.[169]

  • Himala (Miracle, 1982) won the 2008 CNN Asia Pacific Screen Awards Viewers Choice as "Best Asia-Pacific Film of All Time" (voted for by thousands of film fans around the world).[170]

Poland

See also: Cinema of Poland

Portugal

See also: Cinema of Portugal

  • Os Verdes Anos (1963) was voted the best Portuguese film of all time in a 2020 poll of 122 critics and film professionals organized by filmSPOT.[172]

Romania

See also: Cinema of Romania

  • Reconstituirea (The Reenactment, 1968) was selected as the best Romanian film by 40 film critics in 2008.[173]

Russia

See also: Cinema of Russia

  • My Friend Ivan Lapshin (1985) was voted the best Russian film of all time with 47 votes in a 2008 poll of 100 filmmakers and critics, organized by Russian film magazine Seance [ru].[174]

Serbia

See also: Cinema of Serbia

Slovakia

See also: Cinema of Slovakia

See also Czechoslovakia, above.

Slovenia

South Korea

See also: Cinema of South Korea

  • Obaltan (1961) was voted the best South Korean film of all time with 48 votes in a 1999 poll of 140 filmmakers organized by South Korean newspaper The Chosun Ilbo.[178] It was also voted the best South Korean film of all time (tied with The Housemaid and The March of Fools in a 2014 poll of 62 film scholars, critics, film professionals, researchers, and programmers organized by the Korean Film Archive.[179]

  • Shiri (1999) was voted the favorite film of South Koreans with 11,918 votes in a 2002 online poll of 54,013 people conducted by South Korean movie channel Orion Cinema Network.[31]

  • Memories of Murder (2003) was voted the best South Korean film of all time with 806 votes in a 2014 audience poll of 1462 people organized by the Korean Film Archive.[180]

  • Burning (2018) was voted the best South Korean film of all time in a 2021 poll of 158 critics from 28 countries organized by Korean Screen.[181]

Soviet Union

Battleship Potemkin (1925) was an early favorite and the top silent film.

See also: Cinema of the Soviet Union

  • Battleship Potemkin (1925) was ranked number 1 with 32 votes when the Festival Mondial du Film et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique asked 63 film professionals around the world, mostly directors, to vote for the best films of the half-century in 1951.[3] It was ranked number 1 when the Brussels World's Fair polled 117 experts from 26 countries in 1958.[4]

  • Man with a Movie Camera (1929) was voted the eighth greatest film ever made in the British Film Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound poll.[182]

  • Mirror (1975) ranked 9th in the 2012 Sight & Sound directors' poll.[183]

See also Russia, above.

Spain

See also: Cinema of Spain

  • Viridiana (1961) was voted the best Spanish film of all time with 227 votes in a 2016 poll of 350 experts organized by Spanish film magazine Caimán Cuadernos de Cine.[184]

  • El verdugo (1963) was voted the best Spanish film of all time with 77 votes in a 1995 poll of 100 critics and film professionals organized by Spanish film magazine Nickel Odeon [es].[185]

Sri Lanka

See also: Cinema of Sri Lanka

Sweden

The Phantom Carriage (1921) was voted best Swedish film by critics and academics in FLM's poll.

See also: Cinema of Sweden

  • The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen, 1921) was voted the best Swedish film of all time with 30 votes in a poll of 50 film critics and academics conducted by film magazine FLM in 2012.[188]

  • Persona (1966) reached the highest position (number 5 in 1972) of any Swedish film on any of Sight & Sound's lists of greatest films of all time.[1]

Switzerland

See also: Cinema of Switzerland

  • Alpine Fire (1985) was voted the best Swiss film of all time in 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016, in polls organized by Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung [de]. 31 experts participated in 2011, and 36 experts in 2016.[189]

Taiwan

See also: Cinema of Taiwan

Turkey

See also: Cinema of Turkey

  • Dry Summer (1963) was voted the best Turkish film released between 1923 and 2013 in a 2014 poll launched by the Turkish Ministry of Tourism.[191]

  • Umut (1970) was voted the best Turkish film of all time in a poll of 100 directors, actors, producers, and film writers organized by the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.[192]

  • Yol (1982) was voted the best Turkish film of all time in a 2016 poll of 383 experts organized by Turkish magazine Notos.[193] It was also selected as the best Turkish film in a 2003 poll undertaken by Ankara Sinema Derneği (Ankara Association for Cinema Culture) of people interested in cinema professionally.[194]

Ukraine

See also: Cinema of Ukraine

  • Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965) was voted the best Ukrainian film of all time with 30 votes in a 2012 poll of about 100 journalists organized by the Cinema Journalism Bureau of Ukraine and the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine.[195]

United Kingdom

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) was voted the "best British film of all time" by Great Britain's leading filmmakers.

See also: Cinema of the United Kingdom

United States

Gone with the Wind (1939) has topped several US audience polls.

See also: Cinema of the United States

  • Gone with the Wind (1939) was voted the favorite film of Americans in a poll of 2,279 adults undertaken by Harris Interactive in 2008,[20] and again in a follow-up poll of 2,276 adults in 2014.[21] It was also voted the best American film of all time by 35,000 members of the American Film Institute in 1977.[204] It was picked in 2011 as the best film for Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time, an online poll in which over 500,000 votes were cast. Voters chose from a list of 10 English-language films selected by film industry experts.[205]

  • Citizen Kane (1941) was selected as the greatest American film in 2015 by sixty-two international film critics surveyed by the BBC.[206] It was also ranked top in every Sight & Sound critics' poll between 1962 and 2002, and the directors' poll in 1992 and 2002.[1] The American Film Institute polled 1,500 film community leaders for the lists 100 Years...100 Movies and the 10th Anniversary Edition in 1998 and 2007 respectively, asking voters to choose from a list of 400 nominations. Both polls identified Citizen Kane as the best American film ever.[207][208] It was voted the best American film of all time with 156 votes in a 1977 poll of 203 experts from 22 countries (116 Americans and 87 non-Americans). The poll was organized by the Royal Belgian Film Archive and titled "The most important and misappreciated American films", and they were looking for subjective choices.[209]

  • Casablanca (1942) was voted the greatest American film by readers of the Los Angeles Daily News in 1997.[210]

  • Vertigo (1958) topped the Sight & Sound critics' poll in 2012 with 191 votes.[1]

  • The Godfather (1972) was selected as the greatest film by 2,120 industry professionals in a Hollywood survey undertaken by The Hollywood Reporter in 2014.[16]

Uruguay

See also: Cinema of Uruguay

Venezuela

See also: Cinema of Venezuela

  • El Pez que Fuma (1977) was voted the best Venezuelan film of all time with 22 votes in a 1987 poll of 29 experts organized by Imagen magazine.[212] It was also voted the best Venezuelan film of all time with 33 votes in a 2016 poll of 41 experts organized by the Fundación Cinemateca Nacional.[212

Gift Blessing
Previous

Genres or Media