The American Film Institute was founded in 1967 as a national arts organization to train filmmakers and preserve America’s vanishing film heritage. The National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities recommended creating AFI as a nonprofit “to enrich and nurture the art of film in America.”
“We will create an American Film Institute that will bring together leading artists of the film industry, outstanding educations, and young men and women who wish to pursue this 20th century art form as their life’s work,” declared President Lyndon Johnson upon signing the legislation that brought AFI into being.
The Conservatory awards the Master of Fine Arts in Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Screenwriting. Since its inauguration in 1969, the AFI Conservatory’s two year production program has won AFI its reputation as one of the world’s leaving film conservatories where more than 3,000 aspiring filmmakers have mastered their craft.
Visit AFI.com.
Notable Alumni:
David Lynch (Dir.) Mulholland Dr., Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Dune
Amy Heckerling (Dir.) Clueless, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Terrence Malick (Dir.) Tree of Life, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, Badlands
Darren Aronofsky (Dir.) Black Swan, Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler
Wally Pfister (Cin.) The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, The Prestige, Memento
Robert Richardson (Cin.) Kill Bill, The Aviator, Inglorious Basterds
Janusz Kaminski (Cin.) Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, Munich
Steven Rosenblum (Edit.) Braveheart, X-Men, Blood Diamond, Defiance
Victor Du Boi (Edit.) The Last Samurai, Profiler, Roswell
Steve Golin (Pro.) Babel, Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Dana Lustig (Pro.) Brick, Dancing at the Blue Iguana, Kill Me Later
Susannah Grant (Scr.) Erin Brockovich, Unfaithful, Everafter, 28 Days
Paul Schrader (Scr.) Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Bringing Out the Dead
Todd Cherniawsky (Des.) Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, Armageddon
Joe Garrity (Des.) Sunshine Cleaning, Waiting for Guffman, My Girl