AFI Awards Top 10 Films Include ‘Barbie,’ ‘May December,’ Past Lives;’ Top TV is ‘Jury Duty,’ ‘Reservation Dogs’ and More

Erik Anderson December 7, 2023

The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today the recipients of AFI AWARDS 2023, honoring 10 outstanding motion pictures and 10 outstanding TV programs deemed culturally and artistically representative of this year’s most significant achievements in the art of the moving image.

American Fiction, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, May December, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Poor Things and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse all made the film cut. Netflix was the only studio/streamer to earn two spots on the list. Among the glaring omissions included The Color Purple, which was also blanked from yesterday’s National Board of Review announcement.

Among the best of television, AFI chose Abbott Elementary, The Bear, Beef, Jury Duty, The Last of Us, The Morning Show, Only Murders in the Building, Poker Face, Reservation Dogs and Succession.

“As our nation and our world continue to navigate difficult times, AFI is honored to shine a proper light upon these works of art that lift us up and, ultimately, lead us to empathy,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “That we do so without competition is AFI’s hallmark, and we are proud to gather this community of artists together – as one – to celebrate their extraordinary contributions to our time.”

This year’s juries — one for motion pictures and one for television — included artists Paris Barclay, Sarah Broshar, David Chase, Carol Leifer, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Joe Weisberg; scholars Mark Harris, Leonard Maltin and more from Syracuse University, the University of Southern California and the University of Texas at Austin; members of the AFI Board of Trustees; critics Ann Hornaday, Mary McNamara, Janet Maslin, Peter Travers and others from The New Yorker, TV Guide and more. The juries were chaired by AFI Board of Trustees member Jeanine Basinger (Chair Emerita and Founder of the Film Studies Department, Wesleyan University) and AFI Board of Trustees Vice Chair Richard Frank (former Chairman of Walt Disney Television, President of Walt Disney Studios, President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences).

Honorees will gather on Friday, January 12, 2024, for recognition at the annual AFI AWARDS private luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills

AFI MOTION PICTURES OF THE YEAR

AMERICAN FICTION

BARBIE

THE HOLDOVERS

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

MAESTRO

MAY DECEMBER

OPPENHEIMER

PAST LIVES

POOR THINGS

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

AFI TELEVISION PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR

ABBOTT ELEMENTARY

THE BEAR

BEEF

JURY DUTY

THE LAST OF US

THE MORNING SHOW

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

POKER FACE

RESERVATION DOGS

SUCCESSION

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.