American Film Institute

About the American Film Institute

AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory, maintains America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in entertainment and education through AFI's New Media Ventures. As the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the US, AFI ON SCREEN encompasses the annual AFI FEST presented by Audi: AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival and SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival, while offering year-round programming at ArcLight Hollywood and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. AFI AWARDS, the annual almanac for the 21st century, honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year, while AFI's 100 Years . . . series has ignited extraordinary public interest in classic American movies. And, during the past 32 years, AFI'S LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD has become the highest honor for a career in film.

At its eight acre campus in Los Angeles, in the hills above Hollywood, AFI serves as a point of national focus and coordination for the many individuals and institutions which make up the moving image community. In this effort, AFI is guided by four primary missions:

Training the next generation of filmmakers;
Presenting the moving image in its many forms to a national and international public;
Preserving America's great movie heritage; and
Redefining the moving image in the new digital era.

Founded in 1967, the original AFI mandate continues to guide the institute but as technology has brought storytelling to the world in ways that were not envisioned 35 years ago, today AFI has grown to encompass all aspects of the moving image arts.

At its prestigious Conservatory, AFI trains many of the world's most prominent filmmakers with alumni including directors Jon Avnet, Carl Franklin, Amy Heckerling, Mimi Leder, David Lynch, Terrence Malick, John McTiernan and Ed Zwick. The AFI Conservatory is formally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.

AFI coordinates the preservation of America's great film heritage through its AFI Film Collection held at the Library of Congress and other American archives, the American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films, the definitive reference book on American film (available online to AFI members) and the AFI Silent Film Database which features complete information about American silent feature films available for viewing on film, video and DVD, as well as information about the films from the AFI Catalog.

AFI has the most extensive non-profit exhibition program in the US with over 3,000 film events throughout the year. The recently-opened AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center is a state-of-the-art three theatre complex, offering a year-round program of the best of American and international cinema, both classic and contemporary in Silver Spring, Maryland, seven miles north of the White House . Since 1987, AFI has been presenting the best new movies and moviemakers at its annual film festival (AFI FEST) in Los Angeles. AFI's film programs are also held throughout the year at the ArcLight Cinemas and Skirball Cultural Center (both in Los Angeles) and the AFI National Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, among other locations.

AFI is perhaps most recognizable to the public through its annual, nationally-televised Life Achievement Award, the highest honor given for a career in film and television. On June 12, 2003, Robert De Niro received the 31st AFI Life Achievement Award. In 1998, AFI began its AFI's 100 Years series, an ongoing celebration of the first centennial of American movies which raises worldwide interest in film history. The sixth program, AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains, aired on CBS on June 3, 2003. AFI Almanac, established in 2000 to record the current century in film arts, is the institute's annual recognition of outstanding motion pictures and television programs along with the year's moments of significance.

AFI is guided by a prestigious Board of Trustees-chaired by Sir Howard Stringer-and a Board of Directors-chaired by Jon Avnet and John F. Cooke-and is comprised of key figures from the entertainment, business and academic communities. It is led by longtime President and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg and Jonathan Estrin, Executive Vice President.