AFI Announces 10th Anniversary of AFI'S 100 Years...100 Movies and the Launch of Decade-to-Decade Program

AFI Announces 10th Anniversary of AFI'S 100 Years...100 Movies and the Launch of Decade-to-Decade Program

CITIZEN KANE, CASABLANCA, THE GODFATHER, TITANIC and LORD OF THE RINGS Among 400 Films to Vie for the Title of Greatest Movie of All Time

List Revealed Live During CBS Television Event in June

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- American Film Institute (AFI) today announced the 10th annual installment of its Emmy Award-winning AFI's 100 Years... series. AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies -- 10th Anniversary Edition will count down the 100 greatest movies of all time in a three-hour television event on CBS in June. The program will consider classic favorites and newly eligible films released from 1996 to 2006. AFI will undertake this program every 10 years to mark changing cultural perspectives.

"AFI has created the most comprehensive and credible examination of excellence in American film with the AFI's 100 Years... series," said AFI President and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg. "And, whether you agree with these lists or not, they have sparked a 10-year conversation on what makes a great movie and why. We are excited to ignite this conversation once again, this year and every 10 to come. Let the debate begin!"

Today's announcement also marks the beginning of a national "conversation" with the public, conducted on the institute's website, www.AFI.com. Movie fans who register online and download the official ballot of 400 films will be eligible to win a chance to attend the AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Al Pacino, as well as posters and other AFI memorabilia.

Film enthusiasts will also be able to add their own voices to the online conversation by naming their favorite movie of all time, and sharing the reasons for their choices. A video gallery of stars' favorite movies, as well as other interactive features, will also be added during the coming months leading up to the June broadcast.

Since its inception, the AFI program has garnered considerable attention and included AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (1998), 100 Stars (1999), 100 Laughs (2000), 100 Thrills (2001), 100 Passions (2002), 100 Heroes & Villains (2003), 100 Songs (2004), 100 Movie Quotes (2005) and 100 Cheers (2006).

For the 10th consecutive year, the primetime special will be executive produced and directed by Gary Smith; executive produced for AFI by former AFI Board Chair Emeritus Frederick S. Pierce; and produced by Dann Netter and Bob Gazzale. SFM Entertainment LLC is the distributor of the program. Past sponsors of the series have included AT&T, General Motors, Pepsi, Johnson & Johnson, Best Buy, Anheuser-Busch, Colgate-Palmolive, Sony and all major motion picture companies.

About the Jury Process

Today, AFI distributed a ballot with 400 nominated movies to a jury of over 1,500 leaders from the creative community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers), critics and historians.

AFI asks jurors to consider the following criteria in their selection process:

FEATURE-LENGTH FICTION FILM
Narrative format, typically over 60 minutes in length.

AMERICAN FILM
Motion picture with significant creative and/or production elements from
the United States.

CRITICAL RECOGNITION
Formal commendation in print, television and digital media.

MAJOR AWARD WINNER
Recognition from competitive events including awards from peer groups,
critics, guilds and major film festivals.

POPULARITY OVER TIME
Including success at the box office, television and cable airings, and
DVD/VHS sales and rentals.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
A film's mark on the history of the moving image through visionary
narrative devices, technical innovation or other groundbreaking
achievements.

CULTURAL IMPACT
A film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance.

AFI allows five write-in votes per ballot.

Interesting Facts About the Ballot

* All of the 100 honored films from the original AFI's 100 Years...100
Movies list appear on the ballot.

* Henry Fonda is the most represented male actor with 10 films. James
Stewart and Cary Grant each have nine, while Robert De Niro and Jack
Nicholson have eight.

* Katharine Hepburn is the most represented female actor with seven
films. Lillian Gish and Bette Davis each have five.

* 1939 and 1942 are the most represented years with 11 films each.

* Alfred Hitchcock and William Wyler are the most represented directors
with 10 films each. Steven Spielberg and Howard Hawks are represented
with eight films each, and Billy Wilder and George Stevens have seven.

* Ernst Lehman is the most represented screenwriter with six films.

* The ballot includes entries that span from Cecil B De Mille's THE CHEAT
from 1915, to CRASH, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK and
HOTEL RWANDA, all from 2005.

* About 11 percent of the ballot (44 films) comes from the last 10 years,
newly eligible since the original AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies. These
films include, in chronological order: LA CONFIDENTIAL, GOOD WILL
HUNTING, TITANIC, AS GOOD AS IT GETS, AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN
OF MYSTERY, BOOGIE NIGHTS, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN,
RUSHMORE, THE MATRIX, FIGHT CLUB, THREE KINGS, THE SIXTH SENSE, THE
INSIDER, THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, AMERICAN BEAUTY, BEING JOHN
MALKOVICH, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, GLADIATOR, TRAFFIC, ERIN BROCKOVICH,
SHREK, MOULIN ROUGE!, MEMENTO, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF
THE RING, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS,
CHICAGO, THE HOURS, FINDING NEMO, MYSTIC RIVER, PIRATES OF THE
CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE
RETURN OF THE KING, LOST IN TRANSLATION, SIDEWAYS, HARRY POTTER AND THE
PRISONER OF AZKABAN, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, THE AVIATOR, ETERNAL SUNSHINE
OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, SPIDER-MAN 2, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, GOOD NIGHT, AND
GOOD LUCK, CRASH and HOTEL RWANDA.

About the American Film Institute
AFI celebrates its 40th Anniversary in 2007.

AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory, maintains America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in entertainment and education through the AFI Digital Content Lab and K-12 Screen Education Center. As the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the US, AFI ON SCREEN encompasses the annual AFI FEST presented by Audi: AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival -- as well as year-round programming at ArcLight Hollywood and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, including SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival. AFI AWARDS, the annual almanac for the 21st century, honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year, while AFI's 100 Years . . . series has ignited extraordinary public interest in classic American movies. And, during the past 34 years, AFI's Life Achievement Award has become the highest honor for a career in film. Additional information about AFI is available at AFI.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A copy of the ballot is available to the media at:
http://www.AFI.com/drop/ballot.pdf, Password: AFIpress

Source: American Film Institute

CONTACT: Alison Deknatel of American Film Institute, +1-323-856-7896,
adeknatel@AFI.com; or Jennifer Almer of Edelman, +1-323-202-1411,
jennifer.almer@edelman.com, for American Film Institute

Web site: http://www.afi.com/

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