This is my #1 film of every year since 1911, in chronological order. I've used the dates on IMDb (which are virtually identical to Letterboxd) to determine this list.

Honourable mentions are in the notes.

My top 5 films per year are listed here.

My criteria was to only include feature-length films (minimum 40 minutes) so no short films and no TV shows. Feature-length documentaries are allowed. As the oldest surviving feature-length film dates to 1911, that seemed a natural limit to place on this list.

For my list of favourite films not restricted by year, see here.

Extended Favourites List per Year:
1968 | 1969 | | | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | | | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | | | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | | | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025

Ratings:
4 stars - 7
4.5 stars - 47
5 stars - 62

Recurring Directors:
7 films - Yasujiro Ozu
4 films - Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa
3 films - Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, Andrei Tarkovsky, Paul Thomas Anderson
2 films - Yevgeni Bauer, Edward Yang, Buster Keaton, D.W. Griffith, Satyajit Ray, Wong Kar-wai, Billy Wilder, Michael Curtiz, Park Chan-wook, Howard Hawks, Mike Leigh, Aleksei German