Latest in AFI Life Achievement Award

Perhaps it is telling us something about the history of the film industry that Denzel Washington, last night’s highly deserving honoree for the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award, is only the third African American to ever receive it, and before Morgan Freeman was honored in 2011, Sidney Poitier in 1992 was the…

The American Film Institute said this morning that Denzel Washington will receive the 47th AFI Life Achievement Award. The honor will be presented to the two-time Oscar winner on June 6, 2019 at the AFI’s annual gala tribute. “Denzel Washington is an American icon,” said Howard Stringer, chair of the AFI Board of…

Presenter of the  46th Annual  American Film Institute Life Achievement Award Shirley MacLaine  told recipient George Clooney on Thursday night at the Dolby Theatre gala that ,yes, maybe he was too young to get a “lifetime achievement award” but that she observed he was a very “old soul”  so it was okay. As someone…

Julia Roberts, who has starred alongside George Clooney in big movies and starred for him as a director and producer, will present Clooney with the AFI Life Achievement Award when it is bestowed June 7 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Clooney was selected in October as the recipient of the 46th annual AFI Life Achiev…

George Clooney has been selected as the recipient of the 46th annual AFI Life Achievement Award in a ceremony to be held on June 7, 2018.  Clooney , a two time Oscar winner and one of only two people (along with Walt Disney)  to be nominated for Academy Awards in six different categories, was selected for his…

It was quite a night at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood as Diane Keaton became the 45th recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award. It was also the most star-studded of these evenings I have witnessed in a long time, maybe since Mike Nichols in 2010. Keaton knows how to bring them in and just about everyone came to…

UPDATED, May 24, 9:32 AM: Ellen DeGeneres, Morgan Freeman, Steve Martin, Meryl Streep and Reese Witherspoon will help honor the 45th AFI Life Achievement Award recipient Diane Keaton at the gala tribute on Thursday, June 8, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. In addition, cinematographer Frederick Elmes who has…

Well, la-di-da. Diane Keaton, who scored a Best Actress Oscar for Annie Hall and has had three nominations since, will receive the 45th AFI Life Achievement Award next year. The honor will be bestowed June 8 during a Gala Tribute in Los Angeles. TNT will air the ceremony. Keaton has appeared in numerous iconic films…

“When [AFI board chair] Sir Howard Stringer rang me about this event my first thought was, ‘I’m really much too young for a thing like this’,” 84-year-old maestro John Williams told a heavyweight industry crowd packed into the Dolby Theatre on Thursday night for the presentation of the 44th AFI Life Achievement Award…

In 2013 when they honored Mel Brooks with the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award, the AFI suddenly seemed to discover that those who can make audiences laugh may have just as significant a career on film as all the more serious awardees that came before. After that highly successful evening ( the broadcast version even…

Cinematographer and director Caleb Deschanel will receive the 2015 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal, the organization announced today. The award recognizes the creative talents of an AFI Conservatory alumnus who “embodies the qualities of filmmaker Franklin Schaffner: talent, taste, dedication and commitment to…

Turner Broadcasting System has extended its deal to air the American Film Institute’s annual AFI Life Achievement Award gala tribute through the next three years. The tribute will air on TNT or TBS through 2018, with encores each year on sister network Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Turner said today. This year, the AFI…