The American Film Institute (AFI) announced 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.
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.