Search results
The American Film Institute is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to celebrating excellence in the art form and to creating national education initiatives that inspire artists and audiences alike.
- CONSERVATORY
AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE. The American Film Institute is a...
- LISTS
LISTS - American Film Institute
- AFI SILVER THEATRE
Through September 15 This week: Fred Astaire's wit and...
- SUPPORT
With your support, AFI protects our past and creates our...
- AFI
AFI - American Film Institute
- Alumni
Alumni - American Film Institute
- Innovative Programs
Innovative Programs - American Film Institute
- Library
The Library provides information and research resources to...
- CONSERVATORY
Learn about the nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of American cinema. Find out its history, programs, awards, campus, and notable alumni.
AFI's list of the 100 greatest American movies of all time, based on a poll of film experts and critics. Learn more about the criteria, the impact and the evolution of the art form, and see how many you have seen.
- Overview
- Origin of the American Film Institute
- The AFI Conservatory
- Film preservation and the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- The AFI Silver Theatre
- AFI festivals and awards
- AFI 100 Greatest American Films of All Time
American Film Institute (AFI), U.S. national arts organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of the moving image as an art form. The AFI oversees an extensive operation that maintains archives and databases, trains young professionals in film and television production, and operates a state-of-the-art media laboratory.
In 1965 Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act that created the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), an independent federal agency charged with supporting the arts in the United States. In 1967 the NEA, with contributions from the Motion Picture Association of America and the Ford Foundation, established the American Film Institute as an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the heritage of film and television and increasing the recognition and understanding of the moving image as an art form. One of the AFI’s first projects was an effort to locate and preserve 250 rare and historically significant American films. Since then the AFI has served as a national resource for the many individuals and institutions actively involved in the art of the moving image.
Britannica Quiz
The AFI directs many educational programs from its campus in the Hollywood hills overlooking Los Angeles. Founded in 1969 as the Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies, the AFI Conservatory is a graduate program that trains aspiring filmmakers in one of six disciplines: directing, producing, screenwriting, cinematography, editing, and prod...
The AFI was at the forefront of late 20th-century efforts to preserve motion pictures. Under the aegis of the National Center for Film and Video Preservation (founded in 1984 with support from the NEA), it coordinated efforts to locate and acquire historically important films and television programs and then passed them on to the Library of Congres...
The AFI sponsors many programs and events to increase public awareness of the art of the moving image. From 1973 to the early 2000s the AFI National Film Theater at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., served as a national cinema that offered many annual screenings, retrospectives, thematic series, and tributes. Since 200...
The AFI stages a number of significant film festivals. The most prominent of these is AFI Fest, which began in 1987 as the AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival and is held annually in Los Angeles. The Silver Theatre hosts the AFI European Union Film Showcase and the AFI Latin American Film Festival.
Exclusive academic rate for students! Save 67% on Britannica Premium.
Learn More
To celebrate the creative evolution of this visual art form, the AFI annually presents the AFI Life Achievement Award to an individual whose talent has, in a fundamental way, advanced the art of filmmaking. The first recipient was director John Ford in 1973. Other recipients include Orson Welles (1975), Frank Capra (1982), Gregory Peck (1989), Sidney Poitier (1992), Steven Spielberg (1995), Martin Scorsese (1997), Tom Hanks (2002), Meryl Streep (2004), Mike Nichols (2010), Jane Fonda (2014), Denzel Washington (2019), and Julie Andrews (2022).
The year 1998 marked 100 years of moviemaking in the United States, and the AFI launched a celebration of this momentous event by spearheading a project to rank the 100 greatest American movies of all time. The 1,500 judges selected to rank the films were leaders in the American film community, including critics, filmmakers, historians, and movie executives. Of the top 100 films selected on the basis of critical recognition, major award wins, popularity over time, historical significance, and cultural impact (see full list), the top 10 films were:
1.Citizen Kane (1941)
2.Casablanca (1942)
3.The Godfather (1972)
4.Gone with the Wind (1939)
5.Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Watch videos from the official YouTube channel of the American Film Institute, a nonprofit organization that honors and preserves the legacy of film and television. See tributes, interviews, seminars and more from the AFI Life Achievement Award, AFI Conservatory and AFI Fest.
A list of the 100 best American movies, as determined by the American Film Institute from a poll of more than 1,500 artists and leaders in the film industry. The list was unveiled in 1998 and updated in 2007, with criteria such as critical recognition, popularity, historical significance and cultural impact.
Jan 1, 2024 · AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE. The American Film Institute is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to celebrating excellence in the art form and to creating national education initiatives that inspire artists and audiences alike.
People also ask
What is the American Film Institute (AFI)?
What is AFI Fest?
What did the American Film Institute do?
What is AFI 100 Years & 100 American movies?
