American Film Institute facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
American Film Institute

Abbreviation	AFI
Founded	June 5, 1967; 58 years ago (1967-06-05)
Type	Nonprofit
Purpose	To educate filmmakers and honor the heritage of the history of cinema in the United States
Location	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Key people	Bob Gazzale (President and CEO) Kathleen Kennedy (Chair, Board of Trustees) Robert A. Daly (Chair, Board of Directors)

The American Film Institute (AFI) is a special group in the United States that teaches people how to make movies. It also celebrates the amazing history of movies made in America. AFI gets its money from private donations and from people who become members.

Who Leads the AFI?

The historic AFI campus in Los Angeles, California.

AFI is guided by leaders from the movie, business, and education worlds. The main group of leaders, called the Board of Trustees, is led by Kathleen Kennedy. Another important group, the Board of Directors, is led by Robert A. Daly. The whole organization is run by its President and CEO, Bob Gazzale, who is also a movie historian. Before him, the leaders were George Stevens Jr. (from 1967 to 1980) and Jean Picker Firstenberg (from 1980 to 2007).

AFI's Story: How It Started

The American Film Institute was created because of a special request from President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. He wanted a national group to protect America's movie history, teach new filmmakers, and honor artists. Two years later, in 1967, AFI officially began. It received support from groups like the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ford Foundation.

The first group of 22 leaders for AFI included famous actors like Gregory Peck and Sidney Poitier. It also had director Francis Ford Coppola and film historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr..

AFI started a training program for filmmakers, which was first called the Center for Advanced Film Studies. They also began showing classic movies and created the AFI Catalog of Feature Films. This catalog is a detailed record of American movie history. In 1981, AFI moved to its current campus in Hollywood. The film training program grew into the AFI Conservatory, which is now a graduate school for filmmakers.

AFI also moved its movie showings to the historic AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. This made AFI the biggest nonprofit movie exhibitor in the world. AFI helps people learn about movies and celebrates great artistic work through its awards and famous "10 Top 10 Lists."

What AFI Does: Programs and Activities

AFI has many educational and cultural programs. Here are some of them:

• American Film Institute Awards: These awards celebrate the best movies and TV shows of the year.
• AFI Catalog of Feature Films and AFI Archive: This is a written history of almost all feature films made in America during the first 100 years of movies. You can find it online for free.
• AFI Conservatory: This is a film school where master filmmakers teach students in a graduate-level program.
• AFI Directing Workshop for Women: This program trains women to become professional screen directors. It helps more women work behind the camera.
• AFI Life Achievement Award: This is a very high honor given to people who have had amazing careers in film since 1973.
• AFI 100 Years... series: These were TV events and movie lists that helped people discover classic American films.
• AFI's two film festivals: AFI Fest in Los Angeles and AFI Docs in Washington, D.C..
• AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center: This is a historic theater in Silver Spring, Maryland, that shows classic and new art house films all year.
• American Film: This was a magazine that explored new and old film classics. It is now a blog on AFI's website.

AFI Conservatory: The Film School

AFI Conservatory Fellows filming on the AFI campus.

In 1969, AFI started its film school, the AFI Conservatory, in Beverly Hills, California. Some of the first students included famous filmmakers like Terrence Malick and Paul Schrader. Today, the AFI Conservatory is a respected graduate film school in Hollywood. It teaches students six main areas of filmmaking:

• cinematography (how to film)
• directing (how to lead a movie)
• editing (how to put scenes together)
• producing (how to manage a movie)
• production design (how to create the look of a movie)
• screenwriting (how to write movie scripts)

Students at the Conservatory work together to make many films, just like in a real movie production. It's hard to get into the AFI Conservatory, and only about 140 students graduate each year.

Since 2013, Oscar and Emmy-winning director James L. Brooks has been the artistic director of the AFI Conservatory. He helps guide the film program. Other famous directors like Robert Wise and Frank Pierson also held this role before him.

Famous Graduates

Many graduates from the AFI Conservatory have gone on to have successful careers in movies, TV, and online. They have won major awards like the Academy Award (Oscars) and Emmy Awards.

AFI Film Festivals

AFI runs two film festivals: AFI Fest in Los Angeles and AFI Docs in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Washington, D.C..

AFI Fest: Celebrating Film Excellence

AFI Fest is AFI's yearly celebration of great movies. It shows the best films from festivals around the world. It's a chance for famous filmmakers and new artists to meet with audiences. What's special about AFI Fest is that it's free for everyone to attend. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the group that gives out the Oscars) recognizes AFI Fest. This means that short films shown at AFI Fest can qualify for the annual Academy Awards.

The festival first started in 1987. It has honored many important filmmakers over the years, like Agnès Varda and David Lynch. Many films shown at AFI Fest have later won Oscar nominations and awards.

Movies at the festival are put into different groups, such as Red Carpet Premieres, Special Screenings, Documentaries, and Short Film Competition.

Red Carpet Premieres

This section features the most anticipated films at AFI Fest. These are usually feature-length movies from world-class filmmakers. Even though only a few movies are chosen for this section, many of them later get nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Some examples include Maestro (2023), The Fabelmans (2022), King Richard (2021), and La La Land (2016).

AFI Docs: Documentary Festival

Held every June, AFI Docs is a festival that focuses on documentary films. It takes place in Washington, D.C. and attracts many people who love documentaries.

More AFI Programs

AFI Catalog of Feature Films

The AFI Catalog started in 1968. It's an online database that helps film historians. It has information on over 60,000 feature films and 17,000 short films made from 1893 to 2011. It also includes AFI Awards Outstanding Movies of the Year from 2000 to 2010. You might also find older printed copies of this catalog in libraries.

AFI Life Achievement Award

This award is one of the highest honors for a career in film. It has been given out since 1973 to celebrate people who have made a huge impact on movies.

AFI Awards

Started in 2000, the AFI Awards celebrate the ten best movies and ten best TV shows of the year. These awards are not a competition but a way to recognize excellent work. The awards are announced in December, and a special lunch for the winners happens the following January.

AFI 100 Years... series

The AFI 100 Years... series ran from 1998 to 2008. It created lists of America's best movies in different categories like Musicals, Laughs, and Thrills. These lists encouraged new generations to watch classic American films. Over 1,500 artists, scholars, and critics helped choose the films. The movie Citizen Kane was voted the greatest American film twice.

AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center

The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center is a place in Silver Spring, Maryland, where people can watch movies, learn, and enjoy culture. It includes the restored historic Silver Theatre, built in 1938, and new buildings with two modern theaters, offices, and event spaces. The AFI Silver Theatre shows films and videos, and also hosts interviews with filmmakers, discussions, and music performances.

The AFI Directing Workshop for Women

The Directing Workshop for Women is a program that trains and guides women who want to direct movies. It aims to increase the number of women working as professional screen directors. In this free program, each participant must make a short film by the end of the year. Famous people who have been part of this program include Maya Angelou, Anne Bancroft, and Lily Tomlin.

AFI Directors Series

AFI also released a series of hour-long programs that looked at the careers of famous directors. These programs were released on VHS and DVD between 1999 and 2001.

Some of the directors featured included:

See also

In Spanish: American Film Institute para niños

• British Film Institute – a similar organization in the United Kingdom