AwardsWatch - afi fest

2021 AFI FEST announces full lineup; adds ‘Parallel Mothers’ to red carpet premieres

Erik Anderson October 13, 2021

Full lineup features 6 world premieres Films are 51% women-directed and 39% directed by BIPOC filmmakers The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today the full... Read More

NEON to screen Ninja Thyberg’s Sundance hit ‘Pleasure’ at AFI FEST 2021

Erik Anderson October 7, 2021

NEON has acquired North American rights to Ninja Thyberg’s daring debut feature Pleasure, which made its world premiere to critical acclaim at this year’s Sundance Film Festival... Read More

‘Swan Song,’ ‘Bruised’ to world premiere at AFI FEST 2021

Erik Anderson September 28, 2021

Today, AFI FEST announced that this year’s fest will include the World Premieres of Academy Award winner Benjamin Cleary’s feature directorial debut Swan Song (not to... Read More

‘King Richard’ to close AFI Fest 2021

Erik Anderson September 15, 2021

Today, the American Film Institute (AFI) announced that AFI FEST 2021 will close with Warner Bros. Pictures’ King Richard, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green with... Read More

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ to open AFI FEST

Erik Anderson August 11, 2021

AFI FEST 2021 has officially announced that the 35th edition of the festival will take place November 10–14, 2021. The festival will open with the... Read More

AFI FEST Review: The brilliant ‘Belushi’ captures a complicated artist by those who knew him best

Catherine Springer October 18, 2020

One of the biggest problems with fame, I would imagine, is the sense that, because everyone knows who you are, they think they know you.... Read More

AFI FEST Review: ‘Sound of Metal’ is thunderous

Catherine Springer October 18, 2020

Writer/director Darius Marder’s new film, The Sound of Metal, explores, quite beautifully and somewhat elegiacally, how losing all control of your life can be the... Read More

AFI FEST Review: ‘Whirlybird’ is a fascinating chronicle of the birth of breaking news

Catherine Springer October 17, 2020

I live in Los Angeles, and I can tell you two things are ubiquitous: helicopters and an insatiable appetite for live news. If you don’t... Read More

AFI FEST Review: ‘I’m Your Woman’ flips the script on your dad’s mob drama

Catherine Springer October 16, 2020

Hollywood, despite its recent struggles, still remains at the forefront of the movement to push through more opportunities for women and minorities. With that push... Read More

AFI FEST to feature conversations with casts and crews of ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ ‘The White Tiger,’ ‘The Witches’

Erik Anderson October 15, 2020

The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today that AFI FEST 2020 presented by Audi will feature extended clips and in-depth conversations with filmmakers from three... Read More