Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Ted Sarandos Attend Luncheon at AFI Awards – The Hollywood Reporter
The talent behind Hollywood’s 10 best movies and 10 best TV shows – in the opinion of small boards of showbiz celebrities – gathered on Friday for the party. noon of the 22nd AFI Awards, has always been a favorite talent because, in the words of the AFI president and CEO, Bob Gazale“The game here is no game.”
Held for the first time in Beverly Wilshire, the event attracted A-list actors Meryl Streep (Don’t look up) and Bradley Cooper (Licorice pizza and Nightmare Alley); elite director Steven Spielberg (West story), Barry Jenkins (Underground Railroad) and Jane Campion (The power of the dog); breakout stars Troy Kotsur (CODA), Nicholas Braun (Heir) and Squid fishing game population; Netflix’s top executives Ted Sarandos and by Apple Tim Cook; and the president of the film academy David Rubin and the president of the television academy Frank Scherma – as well as a handful of 30 AFI colleagues who have participated in the honored films and shows, including Mare of Easttown creator Brad Inglesby, West story film editor Sarah Broshar and CODA writer / director Sian Heder.
Traditionally, the best work from 2021 ceremony begins with a montage assembled by AFI’s Chris Merrill highlights great movies and TV shows from previous years that end up in the same numbers – like 1931 (Frankenstein), 1951 (Wishing to be named on the tram), in 1971 (All in the family) and 1991 (Dust’s Daughter). It culminates with clips of the current year’s honored work, this time without the companionship of late works. Stephen Sondheim’s “Living.”
Then the TV judge’s chair Frank is rich called onstage, acknowledging the blurred lines between movies and TV shows during the pandemic (“It’s hard to separate categories at this point”) and introduce a clip of each choice. select television – Hacks, The Handmaid, Mare of Easttown, Booking Dogs, Schmigadoon! (clip brought home), Succession, Ted Lasso, Underground Railroad, WandaVision and White Lotus – along with the reasonableness of the jury in choosing them. Korean Drama Squid fishing game was acknowledged with a special honor.
Next is the film judge’s chair Ann Hornaday belong to washington articleswho featured a clip of each selected movie – CODA (This clip is especially awe-inspiring, showing the different experiences of watching a musical performance for the deaf and hard of hearing) Don’t look up, Sand dunes, King Richard, Licorice pizza, Nightmare Alley, The power of the dog, Clap, Clap… Boom!, Macbeth’s Tragedy and West story (crowds went wild over the “America” number) – as well as special tributes to the Irish film Belfast and documentaries Summer of the soul.
Notably some people – Cooper, Ariana DeBose (Schmigadoon! and West story), Timothee Chalamet (Don’t look up and Sand dunes) and cate Blanchett (Don’t look up and Nightmare Alley) – has appeared in many AFI Awards this year.
The ceremony closed, as always, with a special blessing from an industry veteran. This year, Morgan Freeman talk about his hero Sidney Poitier, who died in February. Poitier was a member of AFI’s original board of directors and was the recipient of the 1992 AFI life achievement award. Freeman likened Poitier to Jackie Robinson and Barack Obama and note, “No Sidney, no me.”
