American Film Institute

The American Film Institute (AFI) is an independent, organization that is designed not to make money created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was started in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. George Stevens, Jr. was the first director of the organization. Jean Picker Firstenberg was the director from 1980 to 2007. Bob Gazzale is the current President and CEO. The AFI Conservatory trains new filmmakers. Even though its name only mentions film, AFI also works on television and video. In 1973, the AFI began handing out Life Achievement Awards. In 1998, when American cinema had existed for 100 years, AFI began its 100 Years Series, which helped people become interested in the history of movies. Recently, it built and started the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultrual Center in Silver Spring, Maryland near Washington, D.C. AFI 100 Years series In honor of the hundredth birthday of American cinema, the AFI has made several lists of the best movie-related things: 1998: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies 1999: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs 2001: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills 2002: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions 2003: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains 2004: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs 2005: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes 2005: AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores 2006: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers References Other websites Official Website History of AFI AFI Los Angeles Film Festival - History and Information Archived 2009-07-17 at the Wayback Machine