In the week running up to the 2005 Oscars®, with your help we whittled a shortlist of 9 films down to the three you see below.

You voted, and you voted in your thousands - and the end result was an overwhelming victory for the 1994 Frank Darabont tale of humanity and hope, The Shawshank Redemption. Regularly voted one of the favourite films of all time by the public, this movie was selected as the best film never to have won "Best Picture" by more than half of you.

Five Live's resident film critic, Mark Kermode, said of the result: "The Shawshank Redemption is a classic choice for a 'people's favourite' Best Film. Having flopped in cinemas on its initial release (despite positive reviews and a brace of Oscar® nominations) the movie was subsequently discovered on video by viewers who then recommended it to their friends, proving that there's no better publicity than word of mouth.

"Having written a book and made a documentary both of which attempted to uncover the secret of the film's universal appeal, I can only conclude that writer/director Frank Darabont was right when he said that 'The film touches people, and apparently it gives them hope - hope to deal with whatever dificulties they face in their own lives.'

"I still think A Matter of Life And Death is a better film, though..."

See Day 1 results | See Day 2 results | See Day 3 results

The Shawshank Redemption Mark says: "It wasn't a huge hit on its first release, but has subsequently gone down in history as an absolute audience favourite... With all the years having passed, it's more important than Forrest Gump." Beaten by: Forrest Gump (1995 Awards) IMDb Top 250: #2 | C4 100 Greatest: #3 Official site | BBC Movies review
	view vote Listen to Mark Kermode's argument for The Shawshank Redemption

Citizen Kane Mark says: "Widely considered to be the greatest film ever made. Orson Welles redefined the language of cinema - you can study it and learn all you need to know about cinema." Beaten by: How Green Was My Valley (1942 Awards) IMDb Top 250: #11 | C4 100 Greatest: #19 Official site | BBC Movies review
	view vote Listen to Mark Kermode's argument for Citizen Kane

A Matter of Life and Death Mark says: "In my opinion, the best British movie ever made. An astonishing, visually splendid, thematically full and enriching, wonderful exploration of the very boundaries of cinema." Ignored by the Academy. Best Film that year: The Best Years of Our Lives (1947 Awards) IMDb Top 250: n/a | C4 100 Greatest: #59
	view vote Listen to James King's argument for A Matter of Life and Death

53% The Shawshank Redemption

23% Citizen Kane

24% A Matter of Life and Death

Total votes: 2099

More About film and the Oscars® BBC News: Oscars In-Depth All the 2005 Oscars news BBC Film Reviews, interviews and messageboards Asian Network Predict this year's FilmFare awards Radio 1 Film show The official site www.oscars.org The official site IMDb.com Earth's biggest movie database BFI top 100 Best ever British film poll AFI top 100 Best ever American film poll

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