AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

The sequel to the blockbuster phenomenon AVATAR which itself was released on Earth Day in 2010, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER (2022) was honored with an AFI AWARD, with the official rationale stating that the film “plunges audiences into another world and soars beyond the edges of imagination. James Cameron’s endlessly inventive vision is fully realized with awe-inspiring images and a pulse-pounding narrative.” Watch this exclusive 2022 AFI AWARDS clip of James Cameron and star Sigourney Weaver talking about the film.

THE CHINA SYNDROME

Released in the 1970s when the threat of nuclear energy was paramount, THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979) follows Jane Fonda as an ambitious reporter and Michael Douglas as a camera operator who find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy to cover up safety hazards at a nuclear plant. Coincidentally, only 12 days after the film’s release, nuclear safety was in the headlines due to the Three Mile Island meltdown accident in Pennsylvania. Learn more about THE CHINA SYNDROME, which AFI ranked as one of the greatest cinematic thrillers of all time, in the AFI Catalog.

DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST

Written, directed and produced by AFI Alum Julie Dash (AFI Class of 1974), DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST (1991) is a groundbreaking and visually stunning historical film set on a small barrier island along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia. Taking place over two days, the film tells the story of three generations of the Peazant family as they are about to embark to the mainland. Centered on the importance of one’s land and heritage, the film grapples with the significance of the family leaving Saint Helena Island, honoring their ancestors and putting their hopes in the promise of a new beginning. Learn more about DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST in the AFI Catalog.

DON’T LOOK UP

Celebrated at the 2021 AFI AWARDS event as a film that “rockets into the stratosphere of hilariously dark satires,” DON’T LOOK UP (2021) sends up a complicit media and willful American ignorance, and transforms this disaster film into a screamingly funny action film that, ultimately, demands action. Directed by Adam McKay, the film features a stellar ensemble cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry, and uses an imminent asteroid impact on earth as a stand-in for the real threat of climate change. Watch an exclusive video from AFI AWARDS about DON’T LOOK UP.

ERIN BROCKOVICH

ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000), written by AFI Alum Susannah Grant (AFI Class of 1991), brought chromium-6 into our national consciousness and told the true story of cancer-causing dangers in our waters – and one law firm’s fight to make it right. In addition to being honored with an AFI AWARD, the film landed on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Cheers list of the most inspiring films, and the character of Erin Brockovich – played by Julia Roberts who won an Oscar® for her performance – was named as one of the greatest heroes in film. Watch this exclusive AFI video of Erin Brockovich discussing the film based on her life.

FIRST REFORMED

From the AFI AWARDS rationale, FIRST REFORMED (2018) “asks no forgiveness as it embraces the most complex issues of our day in an exalted, explosive search for redemption.” This psychological drama centers on a pastor (Ethan Hawke) going through a personal crisis and his encounter with a radical environmentalist who is wrestling with bringing a child into a world set on a collision course with climate change. The film was written and directed by AFI Alum Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969), who received a nomination for an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay. Learn more about 2018 AFI AWARDS honoree FIRST REFORMED.

INTERSTELLAR

Set in a dystopian future where humans are in a desperate search for a new planet, this epic science fiction film was honored with a 2014 AFI AWARD. Directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Matt Damon and more, INTERSTELLAR (2014) imagines a future in which NASA scientists must search for a more habitable landmass for humanity after earth is plagued with extreme weather including drought and massive dust storms. Lauded as one of the year’s most outstanding films, the official rationale said the film “is proof on earth that artists provide our strongest voice to rage against the dying of the light.” Learn more about INTERSTELLAR in the AFI Catalog.

SNOWPIERCER

Set on a train trapped in perpetual motion to keep the remaining vestiges of humanity alive after global warming reduces the planet to an uninhabitable icy wasteland, director Bong Joon-ho’s SNOWPIERCER (2013) features an international all-star cast that includes Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Go Ah-sung (credited as Ko Asung) and AFI Trustee Octavia Spencer. The film is based on the post-apocalyptic French graphic novel “Le Transperceneige” written by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette. Learn more about AFI Movie Club selection SNOWPIERCER.

SOYLENT GREEN

“Soylent Green is people!” This iconic proclamation in the dystopian ecological thriller SOYLENT GREEN (1973) is included on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes list of the greatest cinematic lines of all time. Released in April 1973, the film imagines the state of the world in 2022 with overpopulation, global warming and a vast discrepancy between rich and poor, and has since become a cult classic. Learn more about AFI Movie Club selection SOYLENT GREEN in the AFI Catalog.

WALL-E

Set on a deserted Earth, its only occupant – Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth-Class, or WALL-E – spends every day compacting trash and stacking the piles, a truly Sisyphean task. The robot’s world is upended when EVE lands on the desolate planet. As announced in the official AFI AWARDS rationale, “Writer/director Andrew Stanton and his team have created a classic screen character from a metal trash compactor who rides to the rescue of a planet buried in the debris that embodies the broken promise of American life.” Learn more about WALL-E (2008) in the AFI Catalog.

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