February 3, 2026
BEYOND THE LIGHTS (2014) – AFI Movie Club
The New York Times called BEYOND THE LIGHTS (2014) “a stirring romantic melodrama” – depicting the story of a pop singer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) on the verge of superstardom who must combat her stage mom (Minnie Driver), the pressures of fame and her own loneliness. AFI Honorary Degree recipient Gina Prince-Bythewood served as an Artist-in-Residence for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women in 2015. Visit...
January 14, 2026
LOVE AND BASKETBALL (2000) – AFI Movie Club
Starring Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps and AFI Honorary Degree recipient Alfre Woodard, LOVE & BASKETBALL (2000) marked the feature directorial debut of another recipient of the American Film Institute’s degree: Gina Prince-Bythewood. The Sundance Institute helped get the film off the ground by inviting her to participate in its Directors Lab; after a staged reading...
August 20, 2025
THE WOMAN KING (2022) – AFI Movie Club
Featuring two recipients of the AFI Honorary Degree – director Gina Prince-Bythewood and star Viola Davis – and shot by AFI Alum Polly Morgan (AFI Class of 2010), THE WOMAN KING (2022) was honored in the year of its release with an AFI AWARD, recognizing it as one of the most outstanding achievements in the...
February 14, 2022
AFI Movie Club Rewind: LOVE & BASKETBALL
LOVE & BASKETBALL, starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps, is the feature directorial debut of Gina Prince-Bythewood. When Prince-Bythewood wrote Monica’s character, she was inspired by the basketball players she studied and idolized as a kid – Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson, Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes. In 2015, Prince-Bythewood served as an Artist-in-Residence for the...
December 6, 2020
AFI Movie Club: THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES
Written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES follows a young girl who searches for the truth about her dead mother while befriending a family of beekeepers. The film’s producer Jada Pinkett Smith is on AFI’s Board of Trustees, and Prince-Bythewood has previously served as an Artist in Residence for AFI’s Directing Workshop for…
August 3, 2020
Watch: Gina Prince-Bythewood on Directing
Following the successful premiere of her new film THE OLD GUARD on Netflix, Gina Prince-Bythewood joined a Harold Lloyd Master Seminar to share her journey as a trailblazing director in the industry. Watch Prince-Bythewood talk about her breakthrough film LOVE & BASKETBALL, which was recently featured as an AFI Movie Club pick, and speak about…
July 1, 2020
AFI Movie Club: LOVE & BASKETBALL
LOVE & BASKETBALL, starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. In 2015, writer/director Gina Prince-Bythewood served as an Artist-in-Residence for AFI’S Directing Workshop for Women. Watch LaToya Morgan (AFI Class of 2005) announce LOVE & BASKETBALL: Movie Trivia about Today’s Film -DID YOU KNOW that LOVE & BASKETBALL is the feature directorial debut of…
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