In their new book, Becoming AFI: 50 Years Inside the American Film Institute, authors Jean Picker Firstenberg and James Hindman offer deep insight into the formation and development of the American Film Institute, an organization which promoted for the art of film and connected a slew of filmmakers, artists, and educators in order to bolster cinema.
Published this month by Santa Monica Press and dedicated “to all those who celebrate the past and create the future of the movies,” this substantial book pulls back the curtain to candidly share a personal history of the AFI, with each chapter focusing on one story about the institute which, when read in succession, comprise a larger view of the institution.
Becoming AFI Breaks Down the American Film Institute’s History
Firstenberg and Hindman have smartly constructed their deep dive into the American Film Institute’s history by breaking it down into easily digestible chunks that serve as focal points which discuss key historical moments in the institute’s lifetime.
Across thirteen chapters, you will learn about the formation of the American Film Institute, how technology has influenced its development, and about its various commitments over its fifty year history. Many of these commitments have had a profound and lasting impact on the development of film as an American art form, such as their commitment to film preservation, exhibition, and the formation of the Directing Workshop for Women, an initiative which addressed issues of equity in film with a top-down approach, educating women and helping create more female filmmakers.
