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The prodigious talent and "Let's-put-on-a-show!" enthusiasm that was Mickey Rooney departed this world on Sunday at age 93. A movie giant at five-foot-two, Rooney appeared in over 300 films and television shows, received four Oscar^® nominations and was among the most popular actors of the 1930s and ‘40s. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1920, Ninian Joseph Yule, Jr. made his vaudeville stage debut at 17 months and was last seen in THE WOODS in 2012. At the time of his death, he had three other film projects in various stages of production.

Rooney got his start in pictures at age six in a series of Mickey McGuire shorts, which kept him busy until he was 14. The following year he played Puck in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935) directed by William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt in a cast including James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland and Dick Powell. But his signature role arrived in A FAMILY AFFAIR (1937) as Andy Hardy, son of a small town, Depression-era judge. He first teamed up with Judy Garland in THOROUGHBREDS DON'T LIE (1937) and the song-and-dance pair went on to make LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY (1938), the fourth of the series, and two more Andy Hardy films together. They also appeared in several musicals, including BABES IN ARMS (1939), a Best Picture^® contender. Rooney went on to make 18 films in the Andy Hardy role, the last as "Andrew" in ANDY HARDY COMES HOME (1958).

In 1979, 40 years after being America's box-office champ – the last 20 of which were spent guest-starring in television series – Rooney co-starred with Ann Miller in the Broadway musical comedy smash "Sugar Babies" and caught his second wind as a film star. He was acclaimed for dramatic roles later in life, including that of the horse trainer Henry Dailey in THE BLACK STALLION (1979) and the mentally handicapped title character in the TV movie BILL (1981), for which he won an Emmy^® and Golden Globe^® award.

"We belong in show business," Rooney's character declared in BABES IN ARMS. "We gotta start young so we can get some steel in our backbone. Well, gee, we're developing. You couldn't teach us a trade: we've GOT one. And you couldn't do without it... Oh, we're only kids now, but someday we're gonna be the guys that make ya laugh and cry and think that there's a little stardust left on life's dirty old pan." In his long and remarkable career, Rooney made good on that promise. He left us an abundance of stardust and he will be missed.

Cloris Leachman will present her Oscar^®-winning performance in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971) at a celebration of classic cinema on April 3 at Sony Pictures Studio. AFI Premiere Circle members are invited to attend. A reception and conversation with the TV and film star moderated by The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg will be followed by the screening of a re-mastered director's cut of the film by Peter Bogdanovich. For those interested in becoming a member of the Premiere Circle, click here here to join.

A collection of eight short films developed through the AFI Directing Workshop for Women (DWW) will be screened for invited members of the film community at the Directors Guild of America at 7:00 p.m. on April 29. The showcase is also open to AFI Premiere Circle members (and if you want to learn more about joining that prestigious group, here's that link again.) The evening's films will include Kristine Namking's HEAD TRAUMA, about an Asian-American girl who loses the ability to control her impulses; Anne Hamilton's THE INHERITANCE, the story of a teenage girl and her estranged father; JENNY & LALO, a love story about members of rival gangs in East L.A directed by Janine Salinas Schoenberg; Erin Lee's KEPLER X-47, set in a human zoo on an alien planet; THE NIGHT IS OURS, the story of a reckless road trip with a re-animated friend directed by Aubree Bernier-Clarke; Tiffanie Hsu's father-daughter story, SUTURES; WILD & PRECIOUS directed by Cusi Cram in which a wayward grandmother turns up at a family funeral; and Sarah Doyle's sci-fi story, YOU ME & HER.

DWW is an intensive one-year training program during which artists learn from master filmmakers, make a short film and develop a path for a career in screen directing. The program is designed to advance women filmmakers who have with a minimum of three years of professional experience working in the arts. Only eight are selected for this tuition-free program. Since DWW's inception, more than 275 have been trained, and among their credits are the Emmy^®-winning MAD MEN and HOMELAND. Maya Angelou, Anne Bancroft, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Cicely Tyson and Joanne Woodward are among its distinguished alumnae.

When Jane Fonda receives the highest honor for a career in film, AFI's 42nd Life Achievement Award, will you be there? All 5-Star members of AFI are welcome to join us at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on June 5 to salute the Academy Award^®-winning star of KLUTE and COMING HOME. Each will receive two complimentary member tickets for Mezzanine 1 seating with a private black tie reception, tribute show and keepsake tribute book. Upgrade or join at the 5-Star level by May 2 to take advantage of this extra-special benefit.

"Behind the Fourth Wall: Actors and Directors on the Set 1926-2001," an exhibition of stunning black and white photographs of Ingrid Bergman, Federico Fellini, Dennis Hopper and many others is currently on display in the lobby of the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. For those who won't have a chance to take in these intimate, behind-the-scenes shots by May 26, Royal Books has issued a superb catalog of the images. For more information, e-mail mail@royalbooks.com or phone 410.366.7329.

Maybe we're taking a chance, but we think you'll enjoy close-upfilm.com's countdown of their top 10 movie gamblers. It inspired us to check the AFI Catalog of Feature Films to see how many American movies have gambling as one of its subjects. A simple word search gave us the answer: 794, beginning with HIS SECRETARY in 1912. Now what are the odds that your friends will know that?

Steve Coogan isn't just an actor in PHILOMENA; he co-wrote the script. We enjoyed getting to know him in this fresh filmmakermagazine.com interview conducted by Nick Dawson. From standup monologues to sitcom scripts to screenplays, Coogan has developed as a writer by combining humor with "character stuff."
http://filmmakermagazine.com/77356-id-rather-take-the-risk-id-rather-go-somewhere-thats-unknown-steve-coogan-on-screenwriting/#.Uw-EJFG-Tw4

British cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, RUSH) spoke recently at a BAFTA Master Class with Ian Haydn Smith. This screendaily.com interview captures the event, covering Mantle's collaboration with directors Kevin MacDonald, Ron Howard and Lars Von Trier.

http://www.screendaily.com/comment/bafta-masterclass-anthony-dod-mantle/5068008.article?blocktitle=COMMENT-&-BLOGS&contentID=40298

Todd Hitchcock, Director of Programming for the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland, spoke to us from the Best Western Mitte near Potsdamer Platz where he was attending the Berlin Film Festival. Originally from Pulaski, New York, Hitchcock attended the University of Rochester.

What did you do before you came to AFI? I moved to Washington, DC, right after college and worked for a number of years at a law firm as a proofreader/ paralegal-type position, which had absolutely nothing to do with anything I wanted to do. For those first few years, right out of college, in my 20s, it was enough to have a paycheck and be living in a new, sometimes exciting city. But I had this abiding interest in film and, as it turned out, Washington, DC, is a great city for one to pursue that interest – with a wide variety of museums and some terrific art house cinematheques. I was going to see films with great frequency – five or six a week, typically – including a lot at the AFI Theater, which was then at the Kennedy Center. I took a job working on an educational video project for National Geographic. That free-lance project turned into a job with the television archives there. Next stop was AFI in the inaugural year of the Silverdocs Documentary Festival.

How long have you been at AFI? It's just over 10 years.

What do you do at AFI? I'm the Director of Programming so [I select] the [Silver Theatre's] combination of first-run features, films in release and retrospectives, series and special events. A handful of festivals – the Latin American Film Festival, the European Union Film Showcase, both of which are in the fall and very popular – all that is tripped up on my side. It's a lot of fun to put together, trying to figure out the things that are going to work best for us, and also giving some thought to variety and what time of year things are best going to work out. It all adds up to well over 500 titles a year.

What was your best day on the job? The answer that sprung to mind immediately is kind of a sentimental one, which is Day One – because, right from the get-go, I was in love with the place and the people that I worked with in a way that I had never experienced before. Another would have to be an event. Milos Forman presenting ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST is a pretty good answer. He was absolutely the most dazzling raconteur, humorist, easy-going…The audience absolutely loved him, and he just gave so much as a guest. The onstage discussion was wonderful, and then he stayed for about an hour afterwards, signing autographs, posing for pictures. So many people had a memorable experience at the theater that evening because he was so generous with his time and energy.

What are you working on today? I'm attending the Berlin Film Festival. Jacqueline [Lyanga] and Lane [Kneedler] are here, as well, for AFI FEST. I just saw my final film for the day. I've been seeing, typically, five films a day. And the highlight of today's film-going, by a long shot, was Richard Linklater's BOYHOOD. It's an utterly unique effort in the history of filmmaking. He spent 13 years on this film, starting out with child actors – six, seven, eight-years-old – and filmed every year. The parents are played by Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette. They divorce early on; the kids grow up. There have been some efforts in the documentary realm to have this effect, but to take this on as a feature narrative is really unique. The kids are very engaging actors. The girl is actually Richard Linklater's own daughter. And even though it's called BOYHOOD and the boy is the central character, there's a lot going on with the mom and the dad and the sister, too. It just premiered at Sundance and the international premiere was here about two weeks later. It played like gangbusters with the audience. To look back over this past decade-plus was really a wonderful, wonderful experience.

What don't your colleagues know about you? I'm nowhere near as serious as I may appear to be.

Who would play you in the movie of your life? Oh my God! Well, for years people have told me that I'm a dead ringer for Robert Sean Leonard. He was Wilson on HOUSE, M.D. and in DEAD POETS SOCIETY. When that movie came out I was a high school senior and people commented on us having a resemblance, which has then continued all the way through the last 20 years, and includes my wife.

What's your favorite film? It's hard to pick just one, but an honest answer would be IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. I really, truly have great affection for that film and watch it every year, so that has to count for something. Another one that comes to mind for this question is CHINATOWN. You could put it on right now and I'd love to watch it again. Those are favorites in terms of films I both think highly of, have watched multiple times and look forward to watching multiple times in the future. If you want to talk about greatest films of all time, that's a different idea...