Awards season has officially kicked off with the announcement by The American Film Institute (AFI) of its official selections for the AFI Awards 2011. The AFI Awards are noted as a different kind of awards ceremony in the television and film industry—less bombastic, and giving more of a nod towards the collaborative effort of filmmaking by naming Movies of the Year and a TV Programs of the year, as well as two special awards.
The AFI Awards recognize the creative community’s collaborations as a whole—collaboration being the true driving force behind most—if not all—projects.
The list of selections:
AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR
“Bridesmaids”
“The Descendants”
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“J. Edgar”
“Midnight in Paris”
“Moneyball”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”
AFI TV PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR
“Breaking Bad”
Boardwalk Empire”
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Game of Thrones”
“The Good Wife”
“Homeland”
“Justified”
“Louie”
“Modern Family”
“Parks and Recreation”
AFI SPECIAL AWARDS
“The Artist”
The “Harry Potter” Series
"AFI Awards represents the proudest of moments in the Institute's calendar of events," said Bob Gazzale, AFI President & CEO. "The event brings together the year's top artists in a celebration of community, not competition. We're further honored that Verizon supports the event by creating scholarships in the name of each honoree for the next generation of storytellers at the AFI Conservatory."
The 2011 selections were made through a jury process involving industry scholars, film and television professionals, and AFI Trustees. This year's juries – one for film and one for television – were chaired by producers and AFI Board of Trustees Vice Chairs Tom Pollock (former Vice Chairman of MCA, Chairman of Universal Pictures) for the movies and Richard Frank (former Chairman of Walt Disney Television, President of Walt Disney Studios, President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) for television, and included Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg; film historian Leonard Maltin; scholars from prestigious universities across the nation (AFI Conservatory, Georgia Institute of Technology, USC and Wesleyan); prominent and award-winning producers and directors; AFI Board of Trustees; and critics from leading media outlets such as The Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine and USA Today.
From the AFI Press Release:
In addition to the top ten AFI AWARDS for movies and television, AFI SPECIAL AWARDS are given to outstanding achievements in the moving image that do not match AFI's standard criteria as summarized below:
Feature-Length Motion Picture
Narrative fiction format, over 60 minutes in length.
American
Motion picture with significant creative and/or production elements from the United States. The motion picture need not be presented in the English language if it is incontrovertibly American.
Theatrically-Released
Motion pictures originally released between January 1 and December 31, 2011, which have been publicly exhibited in a commercial theater in Los Angeles for paid admission and screened for at least seven consecutive days.
AFI will honor the creative ensembles for each of the selections at an invitation-only luncheon on Friday, January 13, 2012 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
