Press Releases

  • AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES AFI DOCS 2018 AUDIENCE AWARD WINNERS 

     ***PHOTOS AVAILABLE HERE***Best Feature Goes to MR.

  • NBC NEWS' "MEET THE PRESS" JOINS AFI DOCS AS A MEDIA SPONSOR

    "Meet the Press" Presents a Strand of Four Films Moderated by NBC News Journalists,Including Moderator Chuck Todd FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — JUNE 13, 2018, WASHINGTON, DC — The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today that NBC News' "Meet the Press" has joined AFI DOCS 2018 as a media sponsor.

  • AT&T RETURNS TO AFI DOCS AS PRESENTING SPONSOR

    FESTIVAL SPONSORS INCLUDECORPORATIONS, CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS,ARTS ASSOCIATIONS AND PHILANTHROPISTSFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — June 13, 2018, WASHINGTON, DC — The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced the AFI DOCS 2018 festival sponsors — with AT&T returning this year as Presenting Sponsor, which represents the top level of support.

  • AFI DOCS AND RABEN_IMPACT ANNOUNCE 2018 AFI DOCS IMPACT LAB FILM PROJECTS

    Four Features and One Short Selected for the AFI DOCS Impact Lab FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — JUNE 5, 2018, WASHINGTON, DC — AFI DOCS — the American Film Institute's five-day documentary film festival in the nation's capital, supported by Presenting Sponsor AT&T — has announced the five films selected for the fourth annual AFI DOCS Impact Lab in partnership with RABEN_IMPACT.

  • AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES AFI DOCS 2018 FORUM

    AFI DOCS Forum Will Feature Discussions on the Rise of Short Filmmaking, the State of Documentary Filmmaking in the DC Region, Resources for Filmmakers and More FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — MAY 23, 2018, WASHINGTON, DC — AFI DOCS — the American Film Institute's five-day documentary film festival in the nation's capital, supported by Presenting Sponsor AT&T — has announced its 2018 Forum.

  • STEVE JAMES NAMED 2018 GUGGENHEIM HONOREE BY AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE

    AFI DOCS Will Celebrate Academy Award®-Nominated Filmmaker on June 14 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — MAY 18, 2018, WASHINGTON, DC — AFI DOCS — the American Film Institute's five-day documentary film festival in the nation's capital, supported by Presenting Sponsor AT&T — has announced that it will pay tribute to Steve James as the 2018 Charles Guggenheim Symposium honoree.

  • AFI DOCS 2018 UNVEILS FULL SLATE OF FILMS

    AFI DOCS 2018UNVEILS FULL SLATE OF FILMS 92 Films From 22 Countries, Including Five World Premieres,Will Screen June 13–17 in Washington, DC, and Silver Spring, MD FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — MAY 11, 2018, WASHINGTON, DC — AFI DOCS has announced its full slate of films for 2018 — with AT&T returning as Presenting Sponsor of the American Film Institute's five-day documentary film festival in the nation's capital.

  • AFI DOCS 2018 ANNOUNCES OPENING AND CLOSING NIGHT FILMS, CENTERPIECE AND SPECIAL SCREENINGS

    PERSONAL STATEMENT and UNITED SKATES to Bookend Five-Day Festival in Nation's Capital AT&T Returns as Presenting Sponsor FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — MAY 4, 2018, WASHINGTON, DC — AFI DOCS has announced its Opening and Closing Night films, and Centerpiece and Special Screenings — with AT&T returning as Presenting Sponsor of the festival for the fifth consecutive year.

AFI DOCS 2016 ANNOUNCES DATES AND CALL FOR ENTRIES

14th Annual Documentary Festival Will Bring Together
Filmmakers and Our Nation’s Leaders
June 22–26, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, October 16, 2015, Los Angeles, CA — The American Film Institute’s (AFI) documentary film festival, AFI DOCS 2016, will take place in the nation’s capital June 22–26, 2016.   Entries are now being accepted and filmmakers are invited to submit feature and short documentaries at AFI.com/AFIDOCS or through Withoutabox.com.  AFI DOCS presents a diverse slate of documentaries from around the world that convenes filmmakers with policymakers and opinion leaders in Washington, DC.  The 14th edition of AFI DOCS will have three submission date deadlines — early, regular and late — for both short films (40 minutes and under) and feature films.  Filmmakers can email [email protected] for more information about the submissions process.

December 4, 2015: Early submission
February 5, 2016: Regular submission
March 4, 2016: Late submission

In 2015, AFI DOCS presented 81 films from 25 countries.  Among the films were BEST OF ENEMIES (DIRS Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon); LISTEN TO ME MARLON (DIR Stevan Riley); THE LOOK OF SILENCE (DIR Joshua Oppenheimer); MAVIS! (DIR Jessica Edwards); STEVE JOBS: THE MAN IN THE MACHINE (DIR Alex Gibney); WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE? (DIR Liz Garbus); and THE WOLFPACK (DIR Crystal Moselle).  Among last year’s attendees were some of America’s greatest documentary filmmakers, including Alex Gibney, Barbara Kopple and Morgan Neville.  Stanley Nelson, whose film THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION also screened, was the AFI DOCS 2015 Guggenheim honoree.  National leaders in attendance included White House Cabinet Secretary and Chair of My Brother’s Keeper Task Force Broderick Johnson, U.S. Representative Steve Cohen, U.S. Representative Ted Lieu, civil rights leader Julian Bond and Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.  Global leaders at AFI DOCS 2015 included Ambassadors of Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon.

About AFI DOCS
AFI DOCS is the American Film Institute’s annual documentary festival in Washington, DC.  Presenting the year’s best documentaries, AFI DOCS is the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to screenings and events that connect audiences, filmmakers and policy leaders in the heart of our nation’s government.  The AFI DOCS advisory board includes Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Errol Morris, D A Pennebaker and Frederick Wiseman.  Now in its 14th year, the festival will be held June 22–26, 2016 in landmark Washington, DC, venues and the historic AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, MD.  Visit AFI.com/AFIDOCS and connect on twitter.com/AFIDOCS, facebook.com/AFIDOCS and youtube.com/AFI.


CONTACT:  Liza Ameen, AFI, 323.856.7885 or [email protected]