TheAmerican Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofitfilm organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of themotion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.
The institute is composed of leaders from the film, entertainment, business, and academic communities. The board of trustees is chaired byKathleen Kennedy and the board of directors chaired byRobert A. Daly guide the organization, which is led byPresident andCEO,film historianBob Gazzale. Prior leaders were founding directorGeorge Stevens Jr. (from the organization's inception in 1967 until 1980) andJean Picker Firstenberg (from 1980 to 2007).[2]
The institute established a training program for filmmakers known then as the Center for Advanced Film Studies. Also created in the early years were a repertory film exhibition program at theKennedy Center for the Performing Arts and theAFI Catalog of Feature Films — a scholarly source for American film history. The institute moved to its current eight-acreHollywood campus in 1981.[5] The film training program grew into theAFI Conservatory, an accredited graduate school.
AFI moved its presentation of first-run andauteur films from the Kennedy Center to the historicAFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, which hosts the AFI DOCS film festival, making AFI the largest nonprofit film exhibitor in the world. AFI educates audiences and recognizes artistic excellence through its awards programs and10 Top 10 Lists.
In 2017, then-aspiring filmmaker Ilana Bar-Din Giannini claimed that the AFI expelled her after she accused Dezso Magyar ofsexually harassing her in the early 1980s.[6]
American Film Institute Awards – an honor celebrating the creative ensembles of the most outstanding motion picture and television programs of the year
AFI Conservatory – a film school led by master filmmakers in a graduate-level program[8]
AFIDirecting Workshop for Women – a production-based training program committed to increasing the number of women working professionally in screen directing[9]
In 2013,Emmy andOscar-winning director, producer, and screenwriterJames L. Brooks (As Good as It Gets,Broadcast News,Terms of Endearment) joined as the artistic director of the AFI Conservatory where he provides leadership for the film program.[19] Brooks' artistic role at the AFI Conservatory has a rich legacy that includesDaniel Petrie, Jr.,Robert Wise, andFrank Pierson. Award-winning director Bob Mandel served asdean of the AFI Conservatory for nine years. Jan Schuette took over as dean in 2014 and served until 2017. Film producerRichard Gladstein was dean from 2017 until 2019, when Susan Ruskin was appointed.[20]
AFI Conservatory's alumni have careers in film, television and on the web. They have been recognized with all of the major industry awards—Academy Award, Emmy Award,guild awards, and theTony Award.[21]
Commonly shortened toAFI Fest, it is the American Film Institute's annual celebration of artistic excellence. It is a showcase for the best festival films of the year as selected by AFI and an opportunity for masterfilmmakers and emerging artists to come together with audiences. It is the only festival of its stature that is free to the public. TheAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI Fest as a qualifying festival for the Short Films category for the annualAcademy Awards.
The festival was first announced in January 1987 to take the place ofFilmex in March 1987 withKen Wlaschin, former Filmex artistic director, named as director of the new festival. The first festival was funded with a grant of $200,000 from the Interface Group and was to feature 80 films in a non-competitive format with a mix of independent American and foreign films. Its primary venue was theLos Feliz Theater.[22]
The festival has paid tribute to numerous influential filmmakers and artists over the years, includingAgnès Varda,Pedro Almodóvar andDavid Lynch as guest artistic directors, and has screened scores of films that have gone on to win Oscar nominations and awards.
The movies selected by AFI are assigned to different sections for the festival; these include Galas/Red Carpet Premieres, Special Screenings, Documentaries, Discovery, and Short Film Competition.[23]
Held annually in June,AFI Docs (formerly Silverdocs) is adocumentary festival inWashington, D.C. The festival attracts over 27,000 documentary enthusiasts.
The AFI Catalog, started in 1968, is a web-based filmographic database. A research tool for film historians, the catalog consists of entries on more than 60,000 feature films and 17,000 short films produced from 1893 to 2011, as well as AFI Awards Outstanding Movies of the Year from 2000 through 2010. Early print copies of this catalog may also be found at local libraries.[34]
Created in 2000, the AFI Awards honor the ten outstanding films ("Movies of the Year") and ten outstanding television programs ("TV Programs of the Year").[35] The awards are a non-competitive acknowledgment of excellence.
The awards are announced in December, and a private luncheon for award honorees takes place the following January.
TheAFI 100 Years... series, which ran from 1998 to 2008 and created jury-selected lists of America's best movies in categories such as Musicals, Laughs and Thrills, prompted new generations to experience classic American films. The juries consisted of over 1,500 artists, scholars, critics, and historians.Citizen Kane was voted the greatest American film twice.
TheAFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center is a moving image exhibition, education and cultural center located in Silver Spring, Maryland. Anchored by the restoration of noted architect John Eberson's historic 1938 Silver Theatre, it features 32,000 square feet of new construction housing two stadium theatres, office and meeting space, and reception and exhibit areas.
The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center presents film and video programming, augmented by filmmaker interviews, panels, discussions, and musical performances.
TheDirecting Workshop for Women is a training program committed to educating and mentoring participants in an effort to increase the number of women working professionally in screen directing. In this tuition-free program, each participant is required to complete a short film by the end of the year-long program.[36]
AFI released a set of hour-long programs reviewing the career of acclaimed directors. The Directors Series content was copyrighted in 1997 by Media Entertainment Inc and The American Film Institute, and the VHS and DVDs were released between 1999 and 2001 on Winstar TV and Video.[38]
^Howe, Desson (June 5, 1987)."Film Notes".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. RetrievedJune 10, 2017.And the AFI was born June 5, 1967 – exactly 20 years ago.
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