AFI's 100 Years....100 Movies Counts Down the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time  5/8/07

"AFI'S 100 YEARS… 100 MOVIES -- 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION," A NEW ENTERTAINMENT SPECIAL

COUNTING DOWN THE 100 GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME, TO BE BROADCAST WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20 ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

"Citizen Kane," "Casablanca," "The Godfather," "Titanic" and "Lord of the Rings"

Among 400 Films to Vie for the Title of Greatest Movie of All Time

AFI'S 100 YEARS… 100 MOVIES -- 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, a new entertainment special counting down the 100 greatest movies of all time, will be broadcast on Wednesday, June 20 (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. During the broadcast, the confidential list of the 100 greatest movies will be revealed by some of Hollywood's biggest stars. The program will consider classic favorites and newly eligible films released from 1996 to 2006. AFI has previously announced it will now undertake this as a decade-by-decade program to mark changing cultural perspectives.

This will be the 10th annual special in the AFI's continuing celebration of American cinema, following the nine critically-acclaimed Network specials: "AFI's 100 Years… 100 Movies," "…100 Stars," "…100 Laughs," "…100 Thrills," "…100 Passions," "…100 Heroes & Villains," "…100 Songs," "…100 Movie Quotes" and "…100 Cheers" which annually spark a national discussion of America's film history among movie lovers across the nation.

AFI distributed a ballot with the names of 400 nominated movies to a jury of over 1,500 leaders in the creative community, including film artists (directors, screenwriters, actors, editors, cinematographers), critics and historians.

The jurors have been asked to consider the following criteria in making their selections:

FEATURE-LENGTH FICTION FILM

Narrative format, typically over 60 minutes in length.

AMERICAN FILM

Motion picture with significant creative and/or production elements from the United States.

CRITICAL RECOGNITION

Formal commendation in print, television and digital media.

MAJOR AWARD WINNER

Recognition from competitive events including awards from peer groups, critics, guilds and major film festivals.

POPULARITY OVER TIME

Including success at the box office, television and cable airings, and DVD/VHS sales and rentals.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

A film's mark on the history of the moving image through visionary narrative devices, technical innovation or other groundbreaking achievements.

CULTURAL IMPACT

A film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance.

AFI allows five write-in votes per ballot.

AFI celebrates its 40th Anniversary in 2007. 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. AFI trains the next generation of filmmakers at its world-renowned Conservatory, maintains America's film heritage through the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and explores new digital technologies in entertainment and education through the AFI Digital Content Lab and K-12 Screen Education Center. As the largest nonprofit exhibitor in the US, AFI ON SCREEN encompasses the annual AFI FEST presented by Audi: AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival—as well as year-round programming at ArcLight Hollywood and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, including SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival. AFI AWARDS, the annual almanac for the 21st century, honors the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year, while AFI's 100 Years . . . series has ignited extraordinary public interest in classic American movies. And, during the past 34 years, AFI's Life Achievement Award has become the highest honor for a career in film. Additional information about AFI is available at AFI.com.

For the 10th consecutive year, multi-Emmy Award winner Gary Smith is the executive producer and director of the AFI primetime special. AFI Board Chair Emeritus Frederick S. Pierce is the executive producer for AFI. Dann Netter ("The 2002 Emmy Awards") and Bob Gazzale ("AFI Life Achievement Award, A Tribute to Sean Connery") are the producers. SFM Entertainment LLC is the distributor of the program. Past sponsors of the series have included General Motors, Pepsi, Home Depot, Best Buy, Anheuser-Busch, Colgate-Palmolive, Breyer's Ice Cream, S.C. Johnson, Sony and all major motion picture companies.

Source: CBS Press Release