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In addition to the scripted rationales for honorees in both film and television, which were read at the AFI Awards 2012, the AFI website – AFI.com – now carries a slide show of images from the star-studded event at the Four Seasons Los Angeles on January 11. Don’t miss it!

It’s no surprise when AFI Conservatory alumni are nominated for Academy Awards^® – but it thrills us every single time! Here’s a list of alumni you can cheer during ABC’s 85th Academy Awards^® broadcast on February 24:

DJANGO UNCHAINED
Robert Richardson (AFI Class of 1979), Cinematographer
Cinematography

THE INVISIBLE WAR
Kirby Dick (AFI Class of 1983), Director/Screenwriter
Documentary Feature

LINCOLN
Janusz Kamiński (AFI Class of 1987), Cinematographer
Cinematography

NO
Daniel Dreifuss (AFI Class of 2007), Producer
Foreign Language Film

From Chaplin’s silent era to the awkward modern love of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, the top 10 films from AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions won’t leave you sobbing in your sweatpants and scraping the bottom of the ice-cream container. Then again, they might. Check out the AFI list here to see how your love life compares to Hollywood’s most romantic pairings from over the decades.

For the third consecutive year, AFI Conservatory alumni have collaborated on the Sundance Film Festival’s top award. FRUITVALE, like BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (2012) and LIKE CRAZY (2011) before it, was presented with the U.S. Grand Jury Prize. Congratulations to its cinematographer, Rachel Morrison (AFI Class of 2006), and every one of the 40 AFI Conservatory alumni competing in the Park City, Utah, event. We wish all winners and nominees below the best of luck as they continue their path of extraordinary filmmaking and storytelling:

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

AFTERNOON DELIGHT
James Burke (AFI Class of 1993), Executive Producer
Rick Rosenthal (AFI Class of 1973), Executive Producer
Jean-Paul Leonard (AFI Class of 2011), Art Director
Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic (Winner)

EMANUEL AND THE TRUTH ABOUT FISHES
Polly Morgan (AFI Class of 2010), Cinematographer
Anne Costa (AFI Class of 2010), Production Designer
Brittany Bradford (AFI Class of 2010), Art Director
Katelynn Wheelock (AFI Class of 2010), Set Decorator
Erika Walters (AFI Class of 2010), On-Set Dresser

FRUITVALE
Rachel Morrison (AFI Class of 2006), Cinematographer
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic (Winner)
Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic presented by Acura (Winner)

IN A WORLD...
Seamus Tierney (AFI Class of 2004), Cinematographer
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic (Winner)

MAY IN THE SUMMER
Rick Rosenthal (AFI Class of 1973), Executive Producer

THE SPECTACULAR NOW
Linda Sena (AFI Class of 2001), Production Designer
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting (Winner)

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

BLACKFISH
Manuel Oteyza (AFI Class of 1990), Producer

MANHUNT
Diane Becker (AFI Class of 2006), Co-Producer

TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM
Catherine Goldschmidt (AFI Class of 2009), Additional Photography
Meena Singh (AFI Class of 2009), Camera Operator

PREMIERES

BREATHE IN
Drake Doremus (AFI Class of 2005), Director/Screenwriter
John Guleserian (AFI Class of 2005), Cinematographer
Jonathan Alberts (AFI Class of 2001), Editor

THE EAST
Zal Batmanglij (AFI Class of 2006), Director/Screenwriter

VERY GOOD GIRLS
Naomi Foner (AFI Directing Workshop for Women, Class of 1980), Director/Screenwriter

THE WAY, WAY BACK
Allison Jones (AFI Class of 1981), Casting Director

NEXT <=>

COMPUTER CHESS
Matthias Grunsky (AFI Class of 2000), Cinematographer
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize (Winner)

ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW
Soojin Chung (AFI Class of 2008), Associate Producer/Editor
Lucas Lee Graham (AFI Class of 2008), Cinematographer
Katelynn Wheelock (AFI Class of 2010), Art Director
Jeong-Seok Park (AFI Class of 2009), Assistant Editor

SPOTLIGHT

NO
Daniel Dreifuss (AFI Class of 2007), Producer

PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT

ASS BACKWARDS
Andre Lascaris (AFI Class 2005), Cinematographer

S-VHS
Tarin Anderson (AFI Class of 2004), Cinematographer
Seamus Tierney (AFI Class of 2004), Cinematographer
Tom Hammock (AFI Class of 2004), Production Designer
Andrew Spieler (AFI Class of 2009), First Assistant Director

VIRTUALLY HEROES
Dwjuan Fox (AFI Class of 2007), Co-Producer
Jay Reid (AFI Class of 2008), Line Producer

SHORTS COMPETITION

BROKEN NIGHT
Janusz Kamiński (AFI Class of 1987), Cinematographer

PALIMPSEST
Todd Banhazl (AFI Class of 2009), Cinematographer
Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting (Winner)

PRIMATE CINEMA: APES AS FAMILY
Augie Robles (AFI Class of 1995), Editor

WHAT DO WE HAVE IN OUR POCKETS?
Mikal Lazarev (AFI Class of 2001), Producer
Goran Dukic (AFI Class of 2001), Director/Screenwriter
Tobias Datum (AFI Class of 2002), Cinematographer
Linda Sena (AFI Class of 2001), Production Designer

WHIPLASH
Edd Lukas (AFI Class of 2008), Cinematographer
Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction (Winner)

NEW FRONTIER FILM

WRONG COPS
Josef Lieck (AFI Class of 2001), Producer

We climbed a narrow flight of wooden stairs to find John LeGrande, AFI’s Coordinator of Media Services, sitting at his desk in the projection booth behind the Ted Ashley Screening Room in the Warner Bros. Building on the Institute’s Hollywood campus. Over the faint whine of a power-saw coming from the other side of the glass, where upgrades on the theater are in progress, we posed our 10 questions.

1. Where are you from? Missouri. Jefferson City, Missouri. I grew up in the Midwest, and that’s where all my roots are. It’s where I went to school.

2. Where? Back then, it was Southwest Missouri State University; now it’s known as Missouri State University.

3. What did you do before you came to AFI? I was an actor in college. Then I went to Chicago for four years to get my union cards and gain experience. I worked at the Goodman Theatre, I worked at the Drury Lane – those kinds of places. Then I came out here. 

4. How long have you been at AFI? I started in March 1979, so 30-some-odd years.

5. What do you do at AFI? My title is Coordinator of Media Services. My job has changed so much over the years. We used to have a couple of screening rooms and we ran films. Now they’ve become media centers because, as technology evolves, our biggest users are cinematographers, and they’re right on the cutting edge of what’s happening technologically. We provide them with the best image that we can, and we’ve become more of a technology arm than a film projection arm. It all remains geared toward the image on the screen.

6. How does that affect our members? I think it creates a better viewing experience. The more technology happens, the more the filmmakers have better tools, the better off for our members. I recently saw a screening of LIFE OF PI. You look at what they’ve done technologically with that and it’s just awesome. It’s a new world.

7. What was your best day at AFI? Since what we do is so equipment-centric, my best days are whenever we get something new. It opens up a whole new avenue for the filmmakers that we service and our whole mission is to enable filmmakers.

8. What are you working on today? We’re remodeling the screening rooms – this one and the Frankovich/Barnes up the hill. We’re going to 4K projection and have all the tools that are available now to enable filmmakers to make what they envision. In classroom 102, thanks to the generosity of Sony, we were able to get this huge 84-inch state-of-the-art Sony TV. It’s 3-D, 4K. I’m excavating part of the room to install it! It’s going to be a beautiful installation. One of the things the cinematographers do is shoot 3-D; now they can view it on that awesome screen. It’s a tool for everybody at the Institute – all of the classes that are in there, all of the meetings, everyone who views in that room now will have an awesome experience.

9. What don’t your colleagues know about you? I’ve been a musician and writer for a long time. I have a studio at my house. I’ve had some songs cut and made a lot of records – country, mostly; country and pop. Probably a lot of people don’t know that.

10. What’s your favorite film? Can I give you a couple? One is THE ELEPHANT MAN because David Lynch…what he captured was the whole feel of the Industrial Revolution, and those images stay with me always. Another one is Coppola’s APOCALYPSE NOW because it’s just so dense. You’re seeing down in the corner of the screen something that foreshadows something that’s going to happen two hours later. He captured in a modern film what Fellini captured in SATYRICON, so that’s one of my favorites, as well.