August 31, 2026

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BARBIE (2023) – AFI Movie Club

A movie moment that resonated beyond the screen and throughout our collective consciousness, director Greta Gerwig’s BARBIE (2023) made an undeniable mark on culture, earning acclaim from audiences and critics alike – as well as an AFI AWARD, recognizing it as one of the year’s most outstanding achievements in the art of the moving image. According to the official rationale, “BARBIE smashes the glass ceiling of cinema with the imaginative power of a child at play. Greta Gerwig and her talented creative ensemble bring a plastic icon to life in this tour de force – and tour de fun. Standing tall is Margot Robbie, who embodies an American “ideal” while releasing it from the shadows of heels and history – and, ultimately, asking us all to consider what we were made for. And then there’s Ken. Nice work, Ryan.” Among the creative ensemble bringing this candy-colored confection to the screen were a number of graduates of the AFI Conservatory, including supervising art director Andrew Max Cahn (AFI Class of 1992), additional script supervisor Catherine Jelski (AFI Class of 1982), casting director Allison Jones (AFI Class of 1981), assistant chief lighting technician Frankie Martinez (AFI Class of 2004) and Jake Vollmer (AFI Class of 2019). Working across the feature slate since 2018, Bronte Payne (AFI Class of 2017) was in 2025 named co-head of film for Robbie’s LuckyChap production banner.