Films considered the greatest ever

This is a list of films considered the best in national and international surveys of critics and the public.

Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Voting systems differ, and some surveys suffer from biases such as self-selection or skewed demographics, while others may be susceptible to forms of interference such as vote stacking.

Critics and filmmakers

''Sight and Sound''

Every decade, starting in 1952, the British film magazine ''Sight and Sound'' asks an international group of film critics to vote for the greatest film of all time. Since 1992, they have invited directors to vote in a separate poll. Sixty-three critics participated in 1952, 70 critics in 1962, 89 critics in 1972, 122 critics in 1982, 132 critics and 101 directors in 1992, 145 critics and 108 directors in 2002, 846 critics and 358 directors in 2012, and 1639 critics and 480 directors in 2022. The ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time
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This poll is regarded as one of the most important "greatest ever film" lists. American critic Roger Ebert described it as "by far the most respected of the countless polls of great movies—the only one most serious movie people take seriously."
* ''Bicycle Thieves'' (1948) topped the first poll in 1952 with 25 votes.
* '' Citizen Kane'' (1941) stood at number 1 for five consecutive polls, with 22 votes in 1962, 32 votes in 1972, 45 votes in 1982, 43 votes in 1992, and 46 votes in 2002. It also topped the first two directors' polls, with 30 votes in 1992 and 42 votes in 2002.
* ''Vertigo'' (1958) topped the critics' poll in 2012 with 191 votes, dethroning ''Citizen Kane''.
* ''Tokyo Story'' (1953) topped the directors' poll in 2012 with 48 votes, also dethroning ''Citizen Kane''.
* ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (1975) topped the critics' poll in 2022.
* ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) topped the directors' poll in 2022.

Other polls

*''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. It was also ranked number 1 when the Brussels World's Fair polled 117 experts from 26 countries in 1958.
* '' Citizen Kane'' (1941) was ranked number 1 with 48 votes when French film magazine '' Cahiers du cinéma'' asked 78 French critics and historians to vote for the best films in 2007. It was also ranked number 1 with 48 votes when Chinese website Cinephilia.net asked 135 Chinese-speaking critics, scholars, curators, and cultural workers to vote for the best films in 2012. It was ranked number 1 with 49 votes when Spanish film magazine ' asked 150 Spanish film experts to vote for the best films in 1999.
* '' Seven Samurai'' (1954) was voted the greatest foreign-language (non-English) film in BBC
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