History of AFI

In 1967, AFI was created to train the next generation of filmmakers and to preserve America's fast-disappearing film heritage. AFI immediately became a gathering place and point of focus and coordination for leading artists and educators who supported film and television as an art form.

Two years earlier, in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation in the White House Rose Garden creating the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), saying:

"We will create an American Film Institute that will bring together leading artists of the film industry, outstanding educators, and young men and women who wish to pursue this 20th century art form as their life's work."

In turn, the NEA funded a report by the Stanford Research Institute that defined the need for and functions of a new AFI. AFI was then established with initial funding from the NEA, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Ford Foundation.

Gregory Peck served as the first chair of AFI's original 22-member Board of Trustees, which included Sidney Poitier (vice chair), Francis Ford Coppola, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

George Stevens, Jr., was named AFI's first Director on June 6, 1967. His leadership characterized the first 12 years of AFI's evolution and growth. Succeeding Stevens in 1980 was Jean Picker Firstenberg, who continues as AFI Director and CEO today.

In 1973, AFI's Board of Trustees established the AFI Life Achievement Award. The recipient of the honor must be someone "whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art." In 1993, the trustees extended the criteria to encompass individuals "with active careers and work of significance yet to be accomplished." Over the past 30 years, members of the entertainment community have recognized this award as the highest honor given for a career in film. Past honorees include Billy Wilder, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Capra, Barbara Stanwyck, Jack Nicholson, Sidney Poitier, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks and Robert De Niro.

In September 1989, President George Bush hosted "Back to the Rose Garden," AFI's 25th anniversary celebration in Washington, DC. The gala event was attended by hundreds of prominent Americans, including members of Congress and the diplomatic corps, leaders from the worlds of business and academia, and, of course, top figures from the entertainment and creative community, including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Charlton Heston. President Bush said at the time:

"For almost a quarter century, the American Film Institute has nurtured and celebrated the art of the moving image. In doing so, it has had an immense impact on the mind and soul of America."