February 5, 2020
AFI Remembers Cinema Legend Kirk Douglas
We join movie-lovers around the world in mourning the loss of a true cinema legend. Kirk Douglas was larger-than-life – with a legacy that includes towering onscreen performances and heroism offscreen during the dark days of the Hollywood blacklist. The American Film Institute was honored to celebrate these contributions at the AFI Life Achievement Award in…
February 4, 2020
PALM SPRINGS Director and Writer Talk Inspiration, Collaboration and Meeting at the AFI Conservatory
AFI alumni Max Barbakow (Directing, Class of 2015) and Andy Siara (Screenwriting, Class of 2015) just sold their debut feature film, PALM SPRINGS, breaking the record for the biggest sale ever at Sundance – by 69 cents. PALM SPRINGS stars Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti as two wedding guests stuck in an endless time loop….
February 4, 2020
Production Designer Yong Ok Lee on her Sundance films MINARI and THE FAREWELL
Following her work on the critically-acclaimed THE FAREWELL – a 2019 AFI AWARDS recipient, AFI alum Yong Ok Lee (Production Design, Class of 2013) returned to Sundance for the second year in a row with MINARI – which won the U.S. dramatic grand jury prize and the dramatic audience award at this year’s festival. The film, inspired by director…
January 30, 2020
AFI Member Spotlight: Elika Portnoy on Producing and Premiering NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS at Sundance
Producer and AFI National Council member Elika Portnoy’s critically acclaimed new film NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS follows a teenage girl and her best friend’s perilous journey from their native Pennsylvania to New York City to obtain an abortion. Directed by indie auteur Eliza Hittman, the film recently premiered at Sundance and is set to be…
January 28, 2020
Did You Know? Julia Crawford Ivers Wrote First Feature Adaptation of this Mark Twain Novel
Did You Know? Julia Crawford Ivers wrote the first feature film adaptation of HUCKLEBERRY FINN which was released 100 years ago this month. She has 48 credits in the AFI Catalog for writing, directing and producing silent films. She worked for Famous Players-Lasky Corp. in the early 1920s when it became known as Paramount Pictures, and collaborated with director William Desmond Taylor until…
January 28, 2020
Did you know? This Film Was The First Onscreen Representation Of African-American Intimacy
Did you know? SOMETHING GOOD-NEGRO KISS, released in either 1898 or 1903, is believed to be the first onscreen representation of African-American intimacy. When the film was rediscovered in 2017 and entered into the National Film Registry in 2018, it showed a significant contrast to the racist and caricatured representations of black culture that were...
January 21, 2020
AFI Directing Alum Zoé Wittock on her Sundance Feature JUMBO
AFI Alum Zoé Wittock (Directing, Class of 2010) is set to debut her feature film JUMBO at Sundance 2020. The film follows a shy young woman who develops an intense relationship with the amusement park ride. Wittock joins over 25 other AFI Alumni with projects at Sundance 2020. Watch Wittock discuss the inspiration for her…
January 15, 2020
AFI Directing Workshop for Women Announces New Class of 2021
Congratulations to the eight new participants selected for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women Class of 2021: Michelle Krusiec, April Maxey, Mary Angélica Molina, April Moreau, Kelly Pike, Jessica Shields, Lucretia Stinnette and Em Weinstein. “We are thrilled to welcome these eight artists into the AFI family and can’t wait to see their unique stories…
January 7, 2020
AFI Alum Scott Silver Scores BAFTA and WGA Nominations for JOKER
Congratulations to AFI alum and Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter Scott Silver who received a BAFTA nomination and a WGA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing JOKER, alongside writer/director Todd Phillips. This marks his second BAFTA and WGA nominations, after he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for THE FIGHTER in 2011. JOKER, which premiered at…
December 18, 2019
Alex Michaelides On Writing “The Silent Patient,” Uma Thurman’s Advice & Plan B Optioning the Movie Rights
When Alex Michaelides (AFI Class of 2004) released his first novel “The Silent Patient” earlier this year, he not only had a taut and spellbinding psychological thriller on his hands, but also a hit novel that debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Sellers List. Michaelides studied English literature at Cambridge University, received…
December 13, 2019
Television Academy Honors AFI Conservatory Thesis Films
Another proud moment for AFI Conservatory Alumni! Two AFI thesis films – THEY WON’T LAST and BALLON – received nominations from the Television Academy’s 40th Annual College Television Awards for excellence in college student-produced films. And the AFI film FORT IRWIN was named as the recipient of the 2020 Loreen Arbus Focus on Disability Scholarship….
December 12, 2019
AFI Alumni Receive Grants for Directing and Screenwriting Achievement
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2019 AFI Alumni Awards! AFI Alumni Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement in directing and screenwriting, were awarded to the following members of the Class of 2018 during a private alumni reception at this year’s AFI FEST presented by Audi. Omer Ben-Shachar received a Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence…
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