Protected:
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to Present 50th AFI Life Achievement Award to Francis Ford Coppola
Other participants include Robert De Niro, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Dustin Hoffman, Ron Howard, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Spike Lee, Ralph Macchio, Al Pacino and members of the Coppola Family
The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg will present the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award to Francis Ford Coppola. Gia Coppola, Roman Coppola, Robert De Niro, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Dustin Hoffman, Ron Howard, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Spike Lee, Ralph Macchio, and Al Pacino will be among the guests and presenters. The Gala Tribute will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, CA, on April 26, 2025.
“There is only one Francis Ford Coppola,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “And it is AFI’s honor to gather the art and entertainment communities, along with his family, friends and colleagues to celebrate cinema – all of it – and the very best of it.”
The official sponsor of the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala dinner is Canva, the all-in-one visual communication platform. The official water sponsor is FIJI Water.
The televised special, THE 50TH AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, will premiere on TNT with an encore airing on TCM. This marks the 10th year the Emmy®-winning AFI Life Achievement Award special will air on TNT. The air date will be announced soon.
The AFI Life Achievement Award, established by the AFI Board of Trustees in 1973, is presented to a single honoree each year based on the following criteria as mandated through a resolution passed by the AFI Board of Trustees: “The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time.”
Coppola’s THE GODFATHER, THE GODFATHER PART II and APOCALYPSE NOW are ranked among history’s greatest films in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies list. He is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of our time; a six-time Academy Award®-winning (including the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award) director, writer and producer of such films as PATTON, THE GODFATHER TRILOGY, AMERICAN GRAFFITI, THE CONVERSATION, APOCALYPSE NOW, THE OUTSIDERS, BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA and his latest epic, MEGALOPOLIS.
As the co-founder of American Zoetrope with George Lucas, Coppola nourished the careers of talents such as Carroll Ballard, John Milius, Sofia Coppola, and actors Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, James Caan, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, Matt Dillon and Diane Lane. As a writer, director, producer and technological pioneer, he created a body of work that has helped shape contemporary American cinema. Coppola’s latest film MEGALOPOLIS is a Roman epic set in modern times with an all-star cast including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne and Aubrey Plaza. This year, the film made its world premiere to a 10-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, and was released theatrically and in IMAX globally last fall.
The American Film Institute is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. All proceeds from the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala support AFI’s education and arts initiatives.
