Honorees of AFI Awards Revealed

LOS ANGELES, December 17: The American Film Institute (AFI)
has unveiled the official selections for the eighth annual AFI Awards, which
honor the best of this year’s film and television.

For its top 10 TV programs of 2007, AFI’s official
selections include the ABC series Pushing Daisies and Ugly Betty; The CW’s Everybody Hates Chris; the NBC series 30 Rock
and Friday Night Lights; the
HBO/Granada/Channel 4 co-production Longford; the AMC series Mad Men; and the Showtime series Dexter. Two
other HBO dramas also made it to the list: the The Sopranos, which wrapped its last season this year, and the
new series Tell Me You Love Me.

Among the 10 official selections for AFI’s movie of the year
were Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,
Into The Wild, Juno, Knocked Up, Michael Clayton, No
Country For Old Men, Ratatouille, The Savages and There Will Be Blood.

The 20 selections for the AFI Awards were made through AFI's
13-person jury process, in which scholars, film artists, critics and AFI
trustees discuss, debate and determine the most outstanding achievements of the
year, as well as provide a detailed rationale for each selection. There are two
AFI juries—one for motion pictures and one for television.

Additionally, HP has created 20 scholarships to the AFI
Conservatory for a second consecutive year, one for each of the AFI
honorees. The AFI Conservatory is
world-renowned for its advanced training of the next generation of
storytellers.

"AFI was established 40 years ago to educate and to
honor great American film artists,” commented Bob Gazzale, AFI's president and
CEO. “AFI Awards does both—it celebrates the achievements of these 20
extraordinary ensembles and through the HP scholarships in their name, the
program invests in the next generation of storytellers.”

AFI is a national institute providing leadership in screen
education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film,
television and digital media.

—By Irene Lew