George Lucas, Steven Spielberg to Present Francis Ford Coppola the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award

The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg will present the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award to Francis Ford Coppola.

Gia Coppola, Roman Coppola, Robert De Niro, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Dustin Hoffman, Ron Howard, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Spike Lee, Ralph Macchio, and Al Pacino will be among the guests and presenters. The Gala Tribute will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, CA, on April 26, 2025.

“There is only one Francis Ford Coppola,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “And it is AFI’s honor to gather the art and entertainment communities, along with his family, friends and colleagues to celebrate cinema – all of it – and the very best of it.”

The official sponsor of the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala dinner is Canva, the all-in-one visual communication platform. The official water sponsor is FIJI Water.

The televised special, THE 50TH AFI LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: A TRIBUTE TO FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, will premiere on TNT with an encore airing on TCM. This marks the 10th year the Emmy-winning AFI Life Achievement Award special will air on TNT. The air date will be announced soon.

The AFI Life Achievement Award, established by the AFI Board of Trustees in 1973, is presented to a single honoree each year based on the following criteria as mandated through a resolution passed by the AFI Board of Trustees: “The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time.”

Coppola’s The Godfather, The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now are ranked among history’s greatest films in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies list. He is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of our time; a six-time Academy Award-winning (including the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award) director, writer and producer of such films as Patton, The Godfather Trilogy, American Graffiti, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and his latest epic, Megalopolis.

As the co-founder of American Zoetrope with George Lucas, Coppola nourished the careers of talents such as Carroll Ballard, John Milius, Sofia Coppola, and actors Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, James Caan, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, Matt Dillon and Diane Lane. As a writer, director, producer and technological pioneer, he created a body of work that has helped shape contemporary American cinema. Coppola’s latest film Megalopolis is a Roman epic set in modern times with an all-star cast including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne and Aubrey Plaza. The film made its world premiere to a 10-minute standing ovation at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, and was released theatrically and in IMAX globally last fall.

The American Film Institute is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. All proceeds from the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award Gala support AFI’s education and arts initiatives.

AFI Life Achievement Award Recipients

The 50th AFI Life Achievement Award Honoree joins an esteemed group of individuals who have been chosen for this distinguished honor since its inception.

1973   John Ford

1974   James Cagney

1975   Orson Welles

1976   William Wyler

1977   Bette Davis

1978   Henry Fonda

1979   Alfred Hitchcock

1980   James Stewart

1981   Fred Astaire

1982   Frank Capra

1983   John Huston

1984   Lillian Gish

1985   Gene Kelly

1986   Billy Wilder

1987   Barbara Stanwyck

1988   Jack Lemmon

1989   Gregory Peck

1990   David Lean

1991   Kirk Douglas

1992   Sidney Poitier

1993   Elizabeth Taylor

1994   Jack Nicholson

1995   Steven Spielberg

1996   Clint Eastwood

1997   Martin Scorsese

1998   Robert Wise

1999   Dustin Hoffman

2000   Harrison Ford

2001   Barbra Streisand

2002   Tom Hanks

2003   Robert De Niro

2004   Meryl Streep

2005   George Lucas

2006   Sean Connery

2007   Al Pacino

2008   Warren Beatty

2009   Michael Douglas

2010   Mike Nichols

2011   Morgan Freeman

2012   Shirley MacLaine

2013   Mel Brooks

2014   Jane Fonda

2015   Steve Martin

2016   John Williams

2017   Diane Keaton

2018   George Clooney

2019   Denzel Washington

2022   Julie Andrews

2024   Nicole Kidman