For its annual year-end Top Film category, the CHLOTRUDIS SOCIETY FOR INDEPENDENT FILM (CSIF) this year has compiled a list of the top 100 films of the decade among its 100+ membership. To create this list, members were asked to come up with their Top 50 – 79 films released between 2000 and 2010. Being the opinionated contrarians that we are, however, we decided to include 2000 in the mix – call it a baker’s decade! Topping the list was Wong Kar Wai’s masterful film, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. A dozen directors scored 2 or more on the list with Michael Haneke winning that prize (#4 CACHE, #8 THE PIANO TEACHER and #58 THE WHITE RIBBON). Almost half of the films were from outside the US, with the highest ranked US film being #6 THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Also nabbing spots on the list were 12 films helmed by women, with #18 AWAY FROM HER by Sarah Polley ranking highest in that category. We elected to do a Top 100 of the decade as a continuation of our 200 for 2000 which we did at the turn of the century.
We hope you enjoy our list of the 100 Top Films of the Decade.
| 01 | In the Mood for Love | Wong Kar Wai | 2000 |
| 02 | 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days | Cristian Mungiu | 2007 |
| 03 | The Lives of Others | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | 2006 |
| 04 | Caché | Michael Haneke | 2005 |
| 05 | Let the Right One In | Tomas Alfredson | 2008 |
| 06 | There Will Be Blood | Paul Thomas Anderson | 2007 |
| 07 | No Country for Old Men | Ethan Coen; Joel Coen | 2007 |
| 08 | The Piano Teacher | Michael Haneke | 2001 |
| 09 | Donnie Darko | Richard Kelly | 2001 |
| 10 | The Royal Tenenbaums | Wes Anderson | 2001 |
| 11 | Talk to Her | Pedro Almodóvar | 2002 |
| 12 | Brokeback Mountain | Ang Lee | 2005 |
| 13 | Pan’s Labyrinth | Guillermo Del Toro | 2006 |
| 14 | Y Tu Mamá Tambien | Alfonso Cuarón | 2001 |
| 15 | Memento | Christopher Nolan | 2000 |
| 16 | Far from Heaven | Todd Haynes | 2002 |
| 17 | My Winnipeg | Guy Maddin | 2007 |
| 18 | Away From Her | Sarah Polley | 2006 |
| 19 | Capote | Bennett Miller | 2005 |
| 20 | The Social Network | David Fincher | 2010 |
| 21 | Me and You and Everyone We Know | Miranda July | 2005 |
| 22 | Grizzly Man | Werner Herzog | 2005 |
| 23 | The Station Agent | Thomas McCarthy | 2003 |
| 24 | Hedwig and the Angry Inch | John Cameron Mitchell | 2001 |
| 25 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Ang Lee | 2000 |
| 26 | Juno | Jason Reitman | 2007 |
| 27 | Amélie | Jean-Pierre Jeunet | 2001 |
| 28 | Mulholland Dr. | David Lynch | 2001 |
| 29 | Once | John Carney | 2006 |
| 30 | Kill Bill: Vol. 1 | Quentin Tarrantino | 2003 |
| 31 | Precious | Lee Daniels | 2009 |
| 32 | The Hurt Locker | Kathryn Bigelow | 2008 |
| 33 | Duck Season | Fernanco Eimbcke | 2004 |
| 34 | A Single Man | Tom Ford | 2009 |
| 35 | Best In Show | Christopher Guest | 2000 |
| 36 | Dogville | Lars von Trier | 2003 |
| 37 | Infernal Affairs | Wei-keung Lau; Alan Mak | 2002 |
| 38 | Man on Wire | James Marsh | 2008 |
| 39 | Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead | Sidney Lument | 2007 |
| 40 | 49 Up | Michael Apted | 2005 |
| 41 | Winter’s Bone | Debra Granik | 2010 |
| 42 | Protagonist | Jessica Yu | 2007 |
| 43 | Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans | Werner Herzog | 2009 |
| 44 | Mother | Joon-ho Bong | 2009 |
| 45 | Brick | Rian Johnson | 2005 |
| 46 | 3-Iron | Kim Ki-duk | 2004 |
| 47 | Gosford Park | Robert Altman | 2001 |
| 48 | City of God | Fernando Meirelles/Kátia Lund | 2002 |
| 49 | Last Life in the Universe | Pen-ek Ratanaruang | 2003 |
| 50 | The Pianist | Roman Polanski | 2002 |
| 51 | Bad Education | Pedro Almodóvar | 2004 |
| 52 | Jack Goes Boating | Philip Seymour Hoffman | 2010 |
| 53 | Hero | Zhang Yimou | 2002 |
| 54 | Tarnation | Jonathan Caouette | 2003 |
| 55 | Synecdoche, New York | Charlie Kaufman | 2008 |
| 56 | Still Walking | Hirokazu Koreeda | 2008 |
| 57 | What Time Is It There? | Tsai Ming-liang | 2001 |
| 58 | White Ribbon | Michael Haneke | 2009 |
| 59 | Lost in Translation | Sofia Coppola | 2003 |
| 60 | In Bruges | Martin McDonagh | 2008 |
| 61 | In the Bedroom | Todd Field | 2001 |
| 62 | Monkey Warfare | Reginald Harkema | 2006 |
| 63 | The Lord of the Rings Trilogy | Peter Jackson | 2001-3 |
| 64 | Bowling for Columbine | Michael Moore | 2003 |
| 65 | Lilja 4-Ever | Lukas Moodysson | 2002 |
| 66 | Spirited Away | Hayao Miyazaki | 2001 |
| 67 | Half Nelson | Ryan Fleck | 2006 |
| 68 | Punch Drunk Love | Paul Thomas Anderson | 2002 |
| 69 | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Julian Schnabel | 2007 |
| 70 | Italian for Beginners | Lone Scherfig | 2000 |
| 71 | Sping, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring | Kim Ki-duk | 2003 |
| 72 | Marion Bridge | Wiebke von Carolsfeld | 2002 |
| 73 | Linda Linda Linda | Nobuhiro Yamashita | 2005 |
| 74 | Yi Yi | Edward Yang | 2000 |
| 75 | Moulin Rouge! | Baz Luhrman | 2001 |
| 76 | The Proposition | John Hillcoat | 2005 |
| 77 | Jellyfish | Shira Geffen/Etgar Kehret | 2007 |
| 78 | Sideways | Alexander Payne | 2004 |
| 79 | Beau Travail | Claire Denis | 1999 |
| 80 | American Splendor | Shari Springer Berman/Robert Pulcini | 2003 |
| 81 | Dancer in the Dark | Lars von Trier | 2000 |
| 82 | O Brother Where Art Thou | Joel Coen; Ethan Coen | 2000 |
| 83 | Ghost World | Terry Zwigoff | 2001 |
| 84 | Hunger | Steve McQueen | 2008 |
| 85 | Audition | Takashi Miike | 1999 |
| 86 | O’Horten | Bent Hamer | 2007 |
| 87 | The Edukators | Hans Weingartner | 2004 |
| 88 | I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone | Tsai Ming-liang | 2006 |
| 89 | Undertow | Javier Fuentes-León | 2009 |
| 90 | 35 Shots of Rum | Claire Denis | 2008 |
| 91 | The Departed | Martin Scorsese | 2006 |
| 92 | The Return | Andrei Zvyagintsev | 2003 |
| 93 | WALL-E | Andrew Stanton | 2008 |
| 94 | 25th Hour | Spike Lee | 2002 |
| 95 | The Saddest Music in the World | Guy Maddin | 2003 |
| 96 | Before Sunset | Richard Linklater | 2004 |
| 97 | The Beaches of Agnès | Agnès Varda | 2008 |
| 98 | Milk | Gus Van Zant | 2008 |
| 99 | The Queen | Stephen Frears | 2006 |
| 100 | Shortbus | John Cameron Mitchell | 2006 |