by Michelle Paster, AFI FEST Daily News

AFI alum Darren Aronofsky, director of THE FOUNTAIN, AFI FEST 2006 Centerpiece Gala Presentation.

American Film Institute alum Darren Aronofsky (D '92) brings his new film, THE FOUNTAIN, to AFI FEST 2006 presented by Audi.

THE FOUNTAIN screens as the AFI FEST Centerpiece Gala, November 11, 7:00 PM, at Grauman's Chinese Theater.

In the film, over the course of 1,000 years, from the 16th to the 26th centuries, two souls (Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz) find love, loss and the fountain of youth.

Fellow AFI alum Eric Watson (P '92) produced THE FOUNTAIN while AFI alum Matthew Libatique (C '92) is the director of photography.

AFI was a great place for the writer-director to find his collaborators.

"We all met the first week of AFI," explains Aronofsky, "and we've been great friends since then, working together all these years."

And at AFI, practice made perfect, as "I got to make a bunch of films really quickly and to learn the craft in a very intense way."

Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz in THE FOUNTAIN, directed by AFI alum Darren Aronofsky.

What helped him to springboard his career after AFI? "Basically it was me and Eric," Aronofsky explains. "We went out into the world and knew we could make a film for $60,000. We slowly raised the money to do that."

As the AFI FEST Centerpiece Gala film, Aronofsky looks forward to engaging audiences through his alma mater.

"It's always a pleasure to go back and see the students and the campus," he explains. "We're excited for our gala. It's going to be fun."

As for his third time releasing a feature film, "It's interesting when I've done most films like PI and REQUIEM you get the same questions over and over again. But THE FOUNTAIN has had just a whole arena of questions, so I've pretty much been asked everything across the board. I'm always on my toes with this one."

Another friend and collaborator, Ari Handel helped develop the story for THE FOUNTAIN. The two also created a graphic novel version of the film.