# Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture

The Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given to motion pictures by the International Press Academy. The category was gone through several changes since its inception, specially related to the genre of the film awarded.

## History

* From 1996 to 2010, two categories based on genre were presented, Best Drama Film and Best Comedy or Musical Film
* In 2011, the IPA pared down its Satellite Award nominations in the motion picture categories from 22 to 19 classifications; the change reflects the merger of drama and comedy under a general Best Picture heading, including the Best Actor/Actress headings and the Supporting headings.
* In 2016 and 2017, two winners were announced within the Best Motion Picture category, one for a major studio film and other for an independent film.
* In 2018, a stand-alone category for independent film was presented.
Since 2018, the two categories based on genre are presented replacing the Best Motion Picture category for the Best Drama Film and Best Comedy or Musical Film categories previously presented.

## Winners and nominees
### Comedy or Musical (1996–2010, 2018–present)

| Year | Film | Director(s) |
| 1996 | Evita | Alan Parker |
| 1996 | Cold Comfort Farm | John Schlesinger |
| 1996 | Everyone Says I Love You | Woody Allen |
| 1996 | Flirting with Disaster | David O. Russell |
| 1996 | Swingers | Doug Liman |
| 1997 | As Good as It Gets | James L. Brooks |
| 1997 | Deconstructing Harry | Woody Allen |
| 1997 | The Full Monty | Peter Cattaneo |
| 1997 | In & Out | Frank Oz |
| 1997 | My Best Friend's Wedding | P. J. Hogan |
| 1998 | Shakespeare in Love | John Madden |
| 1998 | Little Voice | Mark Herman |
| 1998 | Pleasantville | Gary Ross |
| 1998 | Waking Ned | Kirk Jones |
| 1998 | You've Got Mail | Nora Ephron |
| 1999 | Being John Malkovich | Spike Jonze |
| 1999 | Bowfinger | Mark Herman |
| 1999 | Dick | Andrew Fleming |
| 1999 | Election | Alexander Payne |
| 1999 | An Ideal Husband | Oliver Parker |
| 1999 | Notting Hill | Roger Michell |
| 2000 | Nurse Betty | Neil LaBute |
| 2000 | Almost Famous | Cameron Crowe |
| 2000 | Best in Show | Christopher Guest |
| 2000 | O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Joel Coen |
| 2000 | State and Main | David Mamet |
| 2000 | Wonder Boys | Curtis Hanson |
| 2001 | Moulin Rouge! | Baz Luhrmann |
| 2001 | Bridget Jones's Diary | Sharon Maguire |
| 2001 | Gosford Park | Robert Altman |
| 2001 | Hedwig and the Angry Inch | John Cameron Mitchell |
| 2001 | The Royal Tenenbaums | Wes Anderson |
| 2002 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding | Joel Zwick |
| 2002 | About a Boy | Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz |
| 2002 | Adaptation. | Spike Jonze |
| 2002 | Igby Goes Down | Burr Steers |
| 2002 | Punch-Drunk Love | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| 2003 | Lost in Translation | Sofia Coppola |
| 2003 | American Splendor | Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini |
| 2003 | Bad Santa | Terry Zwigoff |
| 2003 | Bend It Like Beckham | Gurinder Chadha |
| 2003 | A Mighty Wind | Christopher Guest |
| 2003 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Gore Verbinski |
| 2004 | Sideways | Alexander Payne |
| 2004 | The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou | Wes Anderson |
| 2004 | The Merchant of Venice | Michael Radford |
| 2004 | Napoleon Dynamite | Jared Hess |
| 2004 | The Phantom of the Opera | Joel Schumacher |
| 2004 | Ray | Taylor Hackford |
| 2005 | Walk the Line | James Mangold |
| 2005 | Happy Endings | Don Roos |
| 2005 | Hustle & Flow | Craig Brewer |
| 2005 | Kung Fu Hustle | Stephen Chow |
| 2005 | Rent | Chris Columbus |
| 2005 | Shopgirl | Anand Tucker |
| 2006 | Dreamgirls | Bill Condon |
| 2006 | The Devil Wears Prada | David Frankel |
| 2006 | Little Miss Sunshine | Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris |
| 2006 | Stranger than Fiction | Marc Forster |
| 2006 | Thank You for Smoking | Jason Reitman |
| 2006 | Venus | Roger Michell |
| 2007 | Juno | Jason Reitman |
| 2007 | Hairspray | Adam Shankman |
| 2007 | Knocked Up | Judd Apatow |
| 2007 | Lars and the Real Girl | Craig Gillespie |
| 2007 | Margot at the Wedding | Noah Baumbach |
| 2007 | Shoot 'Em Up | Michael Davis |
| 2008 | Happy-Go-Lucky | Mike Leigh |
| 2008 | Choke | Clark Gregg |
| 2008 | In Bruges | Martin McDonagh |
| 2008 | Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist | Peter Sollett |
| 2008 | Tropic Thunder | Ben Stiller |
| 2008 | Vicky Cristina Barcelona | Woody Allen |
| 2009 | Nine | Rob Marshall |
| 2009 | The Informant! | Steven Soderbergh |
| 2009 | It's Complicated | Nancy Meyers |
| 2009 | Julie & Julia | Nora Ephron |
| 2009 | A Serious Man | Joel and Ethan Coen |
| 2009 | Up in the Air | Jason Reitman |
| 2010 | Scott Pilgrim vs. the World | Edgar Wright |
| 2010 | Cyrus | Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass |
| 2010 | The Kids Are All Right | Lisa Cholodenko |
| 2010 | Made in Dagenham | Nigel Cole |
| 2010 | The Other Guys | Adam McKay |
| 2010 | Please Give | Nicole Holofcener |
| 2010 | Red | Robert Schwentke |
| 2018 | A Star Is Born | Bradley Cooper |
| 2018 | Crazy Rich Asians | Jon M. Chu |
| 2018 | The Favourite | Yorgos Lanthimos |
| 2018 | Green Book | Peter Farrelly |
| 2018 | Mary Poppins Returns | Rob Marshall |
| 2018 | Nico, 1988 | Susanna Nicchiarelli |
| 2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Quentin Tarantino |
| 2019 | The Farewell | Lulu Wang |
| 2019 | Hustlers | Lorene Scafaria |
| 2019 | Knives Out | Rian Johnson |
| 2019 | Rocketman | Dexter Fletcher |
| 2019 | Uncut Gems | Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie |
| 2020 | The Forty-Year-Old Version | Radha Blank |
| 2020 | Borat Subsequent Moviefilm | Jason Woliner |
| 2020 | Hamilton | Thomas Kail |
| 2020 | On the Rocks | Sofia Coppola |
| 2020 | Palm Springs | Max Barbakow |
| 2020 | The Personal History of David Copperfield | Armando Iannucci |
| 2021 | tick, tick... BOOM! | Lin-Manuel Miranda |
| 2021 | Cyrano | Joe Wright |
| 2021 | The French Dispatch | Wes Anderson |
| 2021 | In the Heights | Jon M. Chu |
| 2021 | Licorice Pizza | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| 2021 | Respect | Liesl Tommy |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert |
| 2022 | The Banshees of Inisherin | Martin McDonagh |
| 2022 | Elvis | Baz Luhrmann |
| 2022 | Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery | Rian Johnson |
| 2022 | RRR | S. S. Rajamouli |
| 2022 | Triangle of Sadness | Ruben Östlund |
| 2023 | The Holdovers | Alexander Payne |
| 2023 | American Fiction | Cord Jefferson |
| 2023 | Barbie | Greta Gerwig |
| 2023 | Dream Scenario | Kristoffer Borgli |
| 2023 | Poor Things | Yorgos Lanthimos |
| 2023 | Scrapper | Charlotte Regan |
| 2024 | Anora | Sean Baker |
| 2024 | Ghostlight | Kelly O'Sullivan and Alex Thompson |
| 2024 | Hit Man | Richard Linklater |
| 2024 | LaRoy, Texas | Shane Atkinson |
| 2024 | A Real Pain | Jesse Eisenberg |
| 2024 | The Substance | Coralie Fargeat |
| 2024 | Thelma | Josh Margolin |
| 2024 | Wicked | Jon M. Chu |

### Drama (1996–2010, 2018–present)

| Year | Film | Director(s) |
| 1996 | Fargo | Joel Coen |
| 1996 | The English Patient | Anthony Minghella |
| 1996 | Lone Star | John Sayles |
| 1996 | Secrets & Lies | Mike Leigh |
| 1996 | Shine | Scott Hicks |
| 1996 | Trainspotting | Danny Boyle |
| 1997 | Titanic | James Cameron |
| 1997 | Amistad | Steven Spielberg |
| 1997 | Boogie Nights | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| 1997 | Good Will Hunting | Gus Van Sant |
| 1997 | L.A. Confidential | Curtis Hanson |
| 1998 | The Thin Red Line | Terrence Malick |
| 1998 | Elizabeth | Shekhar Kapur |
| 1998 | The General | John Boorman |
| 1998 | Gods and Monsters | Bill Condon |
| 1998 | Saving Private Ryan | Steven Spielberg |
| 1999 | The Insider | Michael Mann |
| 1999 | American Beauty | Sam Mendes |
| 1999 | Boys Don't Cry | Kimberly Peirce |
| 1999 | Magnolia | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| 1999 | Snow Falling on Cedars | Scott Hicks |
| 1999 | The Talented Mr. Ripley | Anthony Minghella |
| 2000 | Traffic | Steven Soderbergh |
| 2000 | Billy Elliot | Stephen Daldry |
| 2000 | Dancer in the Dark | Lars von Trier |
| 2000 | Erin Brockovich | Steven Soderbergh |
| 2000 | Gladiator | Ridley Scott |
| 2000 | Quills | Philip Kaufman |
| 2001 | In the Bedroom | Todd Field |
| 2001 | The Deep End | Scott McGehee and David Siegel |
| 2001 | Memento | Christopher Nolan |
| 2001 | The Others | Alejandro Amenábar |
| 2001 | Sexy Beast | Jonathan Glazer |
| 2002 | Far from Heaven | Todd Haynes |
| 2002 | Antwone Fisher | Denzel Washington |
| 2002 | The Hours | Stephen Daldry |
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Peter Jackson |
| 2002 | The Quiet American | Phillip Noyce |
| 2002 | Road to Perdition | Sam Mendes |
| 2003 | In America | Jim Sheridan |
| 2003 | The Last Samurai | Edward Zwick |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Peter Jackson |
| 2003 | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | Peter Weir |
| 2003 | Mystic River | Clint Eastwood |
| 2003 | Thirteen | Catherine Hardwicke |
| 2003 | Whale Rider | Niki Caro |
| 2004 | Hotel Rwanda | Terry George |
| 2004 | The Aviator | Martin Scorsese |
| 2004 | Kill Bill: Volume 2 | Quentin Tarantino |
| 2004 | Kinsey | Bill Condon |
| 2004 | Maria Full of Grace | Joshua Marston |
| 2004 | Vera Drake | Mike Leigh |
| 2005 | Brokeback Mountain | Ang Lee |
| 2005 | A History of Violence | David Cronenberg |
| 2005 | Capote | Bennett Miller |
| 2005 | Cinderella Man | Ron Howard |
| 2005 | Memoirs of a Geisha | Rob Marshall |
| 2005 | The War Within | Joseph Castelo |
| 2006 | The Departed | Martin Scorsese |
| 2006 | Babel | Alejandro González Iñárritu |
| 2006 | Flags of Our Fathers | Clint Eastwood |
| 2006 | Half Nelson | Ryan Fleck |
| 2006 | The Last King of Scotland | Kevin Macdonald |
| 2006 | Little Children | Todd Field |
| 2006 | The Queen | Stephen Frears |
| 2007 | No Country for Old Men | Joel and Ethan Coen |
| 2007 | 3:10 to Yuma | James Mangold |
| 2007 | Away from Her | Sarah Polley |
| 2007 | Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | Sidney Lumet |
| 2007 | Eastern Promises | David Cronenberg |
| 2007 | The Lookout | Scott Frank |
| 2008 | Slumdog Millionaire | Danny Boyle |
| 2008 | Frost/Nixon | Ron Howard |
| 2008 | Frozen River | Courtney Hunt |
| 2008 | Milk | Gus Van Sant |
| 2008 | The Reader | Stephen Daldry |
| 2008 | Revolutionary Road | Sam Mendes |
| 2009 | The Hurt Locker | Kathryn Bigelow |
| 2009 | Bright Star | Jane Campion |
| 2009 | An Education | Lone Scherfig |
| 2009 | The Messenger | Oren Moverman |
| 2009 | Precious | Lee Daniels |
| 2009 | The Stoning of Soraya M. | Cyrus Nowrasteh |
| 2010 | The Social Network | David Fincher |
| 2010 | 127 Hours | Danny Boyle |
| 2010 | Animal Kingdom | David Michôd |
| 2010 | Blue Valentine | Derek Cianfrance |
| 2010 | Get Low | Aaron Schneider |
| 2010 | The Ghost Writer | Roman Polanski |
| 2010 | Inception | Christopher Nolan |
| 2010 | The King's Speech | Tom Hooper |
| 2010 | The Town | Ben Affleck |
| 2010 | Winter's Bone | Debra Granik |
| 2018 | If Beale Street Could Talk | Barry Jenkins |
| 2018 | Black Panther | Ryan Coogler |
| 2018 | First Man | Damien Chazelle |
| 2018 | Hereditary | Ari Aster |
| 2018 | Mary Queen of Scots | Josie Rourke |
| 2018 | Widows | Steve McQueen |
| 2019 | Ford v Ferrari | James Mangold |
| 2019 | 1917 | Sam Mendes |
| 2019 | Bombshell | Jay Roach |
| 2019 | Burning Cane | Phillip Youmans |
| 2019 | Joker | Todd Phillips |
| 2019 | The Lighthouse | Robert Eggers |
| 2019 | Marriage Story | Noah Baumbach |
| 2019 | The Two Popes | Fernando Meirelles |
| 2020 | Nomadland | Chloé Zhao |
| 2020 | The Father | Florian Zeller |
| 2020 | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom | George C. Wolfe |
| 2020 | Minari | Lee Isaac Chung |
| 2020 | Miss Juneteenth | Channing Godfrey Peoples |
| 2020 | One Night in Miami... | Regina King |
| 2020 | Promising Young Woman | Emerald Fennell |
| 2020 | Sound of Metal | Darius Marder |
| 2020 | Tenet | Christopher Nolan |
| 2020 | The Trial of the Chicago 7 | Aaron Sorkin |
| 2021 | Belfast | Kenneth Branagh |
| 2021 | CODA | Sian Heder |
| 2021 | Dune | Denis Villeneuve |
| 2021 | East of the Mountains | SJ Chiro |
| 2021 | King Richard | Reinaldo Marcus Green |
| 2021 | The Lost Daughter | Maggie Gyllenhaal |
| 2021 | The Power of the Dog | Jane Campion |
| 2021 | Spencer | Pablo Larraín |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Top Gun: Maverick | Joseph Kosinski |
| 2022 | Avatar: The Way of Water | James Cameron |
| 2022 | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | Ryan Coogler |
| 2022 | The Fabelmans | Steven Spielberg |
| 2022 | Living | Oliver Hermanus |
| 2022 | Tár | Todd Field |
| 2022 | Till | Chinonye Chukwu |
| 2022 | Women Talking | Sarah Polley |
| 2023 | Oppenheimer | Christopher Nolan |
| 2023 | Ferrari | Michael Mann |
| 2023 | Killers of the Flower Moon | Martin Scorsese |
| 2023 | Maestro | Bradley Cooper |
| 2023 | May December | Todd Haynes |
| 2023 | Past Lives | Celine Song |
| 2024 | The Brutalist | Brady Corbet |
| 2024 | Cabrini | Alejandro Gómez Monteverde |
| 2024 | Conclave | Edward Berger |
| 2024 | Dune: Part Two | Denis Villeneuve |
| 2024 | Nickel Boys | RaMell Ross |
| 2024 | The Order | Justin Kurzel |
| 2024 | Sing Sing | Greg Kwedar |
| 2024 | Young Woman and the Sea | Joachim Rønning |

### Motion Picture (2011–2015)

| Year | Film | Director(s) |
| 2011 | The Descendants | Alexander Payne |
| 2011 | The Artist | Michel Hazanavicius |
| 2011 | Drive | Nicolas Winding Refn |
| 2011 | The Help | Tate Taylor |
| 2011 | Hugo | Martin Scorsese |
| 2011 | Midnight in Paris | Woody Allen |
| 2011 | Moneyball | Bennett Miller |
| 2011 | Shame | Steve McQueen |
| 2011 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Tomas Alfredson |
| 2011 | War Horse | Steven Spielberg |
| 2012 | Silver Linings Playbook | David O. Russell |
| 2012 | Argo | Ben Affleck |
| 2012 | Beasts of the Southern Wild | Benh Zeitlin |
| 2012 | Les Misérables | Tom Hooper |
| 2012 | Life of Pi | Ang Lee |
| 2012 | Lincoln | Steven Spielberg |
| 2012 | Moonrise Kingdom | Wes Anderson |
| 2012 | Skyfall | Sam Mendes |
| 2012 | Zero Dark Thirty | Kathryn Bigelow |
| 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | Steve McQueen |
| 2013 | All Is Lost | J. C. Chandor |
| 2013 | American Hustle | David O. Russell |
| 2013 | Blue Jasmine | Woody Allen |
| 2013 | Captain Phillips | Paul Greengrass |
| 2013 | Gravity | Alfonso Cuarón |
| 2013 | Inside Llewyn Davis | Joel and Ethan Coen |
| 2013 | Philomena | Stephen Frears |
| 2013 | Saving Mr. Banks | John Lee Hancock |
| 2013 | The Wolf of Wall Street | Martin Scorsese |
| 2014 | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) | Alejandro G. Iñárritu |
| 2014 | Boyhood | Richard Linklater |
| 2014 | Gone Girl | David Fincher |
| 2014 | The Grand Budapest Hotel | Wes Anderson |
| 2014 | The Imitation Game | Morten Tyldum |
| 2014 | Love Is Strange | Ira Sachs |
| 2014 | Mr. Turner | Mike Leigh |
| 2014 | Selma | Ava DuVernay |
| 2014 | The Theory of Everything | James Marsh |
| 2014 | Whiplash | Damien Chazelle |
| 2015 | Spotlight | Tom McCarthy |
| 2015 | The Big Short | Adam McKay |
| 2015 | Black Mass | Scott Cooper |
| 2015 | Bridge of Spies | Steven Spielberg |
| 2015 | Brooklyn | John Crowley |
| 2015 | Carol | Todd Haynes |
| 2015 | The Martian | Ridley Scott |
| 2015 | The Revenant | Alejandro G. Iñárritu |
| 2015 | Room | Lenny Abrahamson |
| 2015 | Sicario | Denis Villeneuve |

### Motion Picture (Major / Independent) (2016–2017)

| Year | Film | Director |
| 2016 | La La Land (Major) | Damien Chazelle |
| 2016 | Manchester by the Sea (Independent) | Kenneth Lonergan |
| 2016 | Captain Fantastic | Matt Ross |
| 2016 | Fences | Denzel Washington |
| 2016 | Hacksaw Ridge | Mel Gibson |
| 2016 | Hell or High Water | David Mackenzie |
| 2016 | Hidden Figures | Theodore Melfi |
| 2016 | Jackie | Pablo Larraín |
| 2016 | Lion | Garth Davis |
| 2016 | Loving | Jeff Nichols |
| 2016 | Moonlight | Barry Jenkins |
| 2016 | Nocturnal Animals | Tom Ford |
| 2017 | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Major) | Martin McDonagh |
| 2017 | God's Own Country (Independent) | Francis Lee |
| 2017 | The Big Sick | Michael Showalter |
| 2017 | Call Me by Your Name | Luca Guadagnino |
| 2017 | Dunkirk | Christopher Nolan |
| 2017 | Get Out | Jordan Peele |
| 2017 | I, Tonya | Craig Gillespie |
| 2017 | Lady Bird | Greta Gerwig |
| 2017 | Mudbound | Dee Rees |
| 2017 | The Shape of Water | Guillermo del Toro |

### Independent (2018)

| Year | Film | Director |
| 2018 | BlacKkKlansman | Spike Lee |
| 2018 | Eighth Grade | Bo Burnham |
| 2018 | First Reformed | Paul Schrader |
| 2018 | Leave No Trace | Debra Granik |
| 2018 | Private Life | Tamara Jenkins |
| 2018 | A Private War | Matthew Heineman |