On December 8, the American Film Institute announced the 10 oustanding film and 10 outstanding television honorees that the group deemed “culturally and artistically representative” of the year’s most significant screen achievements. AFI also named three additional honorees, among those works of excellence that are outside of the institute’s criteria of American work, for special awards. The musical works on the institute’s list of honorees were the film adaptations of the stage shows Tick, Tick … Boom! and West Side Story and the original TV miniseries Schmigadoon!, while the documentary film Summer of Soul was among the three works chosen for special awards. The honorees will be celebrated Jan. 7, 2022, at a private reception at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.
This year’s jury featured artists Lee Isaac Chung, Liz Hannah, Anjelica Huston, and Ed Zwick; film historians Annette Insdorf, L.S. Kim, Akira Mizuta Lippit, Leonard Maltin, Ellen Seiter, and Robert Thompson; the AFI trustees; critics Shawn Edwards and Claudia Puig as well as those from other outlets. The jury was chaired by AFI board member Jeanine Basinger and AFI board vice chair Richard Frank.