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AFI Awards 2001

Welcome to Digital Hit Entertainment's coverage of the American Film Institute's AFI Awards 2001. Just when you thought the world didn't need another kudofest, the AFI proves us wrong and brings us their first awards show, the AFI Awards 2001, which honor the best in film and television. We'll have results and commentary below.

Results:

AFI Movie of the Year

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
    Barrie M. Osborne [Producer], Peter Jackson [Producer], Fran Walsh [Producer] and Tim Sanders [Producer]

AFI Actor of the Year - Male

AFI Actor of the Year - Female

  • In the Bedroom
    Sissy Spacek [as Ruth Fowler]

AFI Featured Actor of the Year - Male

AFI Featured Actor of the Year - Female

AFI Director of the Year

  • Gosford Park
    Robert Altman and B2K

AFI Screenwriter of the Year

  • Memento
    Christopher Nolan

AFI Cinematographer of the Year

  • The Man Who Wasn't There
    Roger Deakins

AFI Editor of the Year

  • Moulin Rouge
    Jill Bilcock

AFI Production Designer of the Year

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
    Grant Major

AFI Digital Artist of the Year

  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
    Jim Rygiel

AFI Composer of the Year

  • Moulin Rouge
    Craig Armstrong

AFI Drama Series of the Year

  • The Sopranos

AFI Comedy Series of the Year

  • Curb Your Enthusiasm

AFI Movie or Mini-Series of the Year

  • Band of Brothers

AFI Actor of the Year - Male - Series

  • The Sopranos
    James Gandolfini [as Tony Soprano]

AFI Actor of the Year - Female - Series

  • The Sopranos
    Edie Falco [as Carmela Soprano]

AFI Actor of the Year - Male - Movie or Mini-Series

  • Boycott
    Jeffrey Wright [as Martin Luther King Jr.]

AFI Actor of the Year - Female - Movie or Mini-Series

  • Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows
    Judy Davis [as Judy Garland]

The nominations for this new awards show were announced on December 17th, 2001. The nominees were chosen by the 100 members of the AFI Jury, which is comprised of film and television artists, scholars, critics and AFI Trustees. The Jury includes people like Debbie Allen, writer Alan Ball, producer Marcy Carsey, TIME's Richard Corliss, effects wizard Richard Edlund, director Milos Forman, Spike Jonze, Martin Landau, Lucy Liu, Shirley MacLaine, Steven Spielberg and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times.

The awards show began with a montage of film clips from the films of 2001. Dustin Hoffman started off the night by explaining the purpose of the awards and explaining the awards selection process.

Allison Janney of The West Wing was out next. She was there to introduce the nominees for the AFI Actor of the Year - Male - Movie or Mini-Series. The winner was Jeffrey Wright for Boycott. Jeffery said that he was proud to play Martin Luther King, and that in this time of upheaval and violence, it was important to note that battles could be one with the mind and spirit.

Luke Wilson, recently of The Royal Tenenbaums, was up next to present the AFI Actor of the Year - Female - Movie or Mini-Series. The winner was Judy Davis, for Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. Judy Davis wasn't there, so the film's producer (and Garland's daughter) Lorna Luft, accepted the award for her.

In an Almanac segment, they showed clips of movies released in January as well as significant events like the anniversary of Laverne & Shirley and the passing of Ray Walston.

Shrek's producer, Jeffrey Katzenberg, was there to introduce the clip of his film, the first of ten pictures nominated for Best Picture. You can see one of the differences in the presentation. Rather than just showing the clips, they also have interviews with members of the production, as well as members of the jury who explain why it was selected.

The next presenter was Rachel Griffiths, who presented the AFI Featured Actor of the Year - Male. The award went to Gene Hackman, who wasn't able to attend the event.

The show's moving at a good clip. Andy Garcia was up next to present AFI Featured Actor of the Year - Female. The winner of the award was Jennifer Connelly for A Beautiful Mind. Alas, Jennifer wasn't there either. Oh well, at least the show isn't getting bogged down with speeches. Of course it would be funny to see it go short as opposed to long.

They then showed another Almanac clip, featuring the passing of director Stanley Kramer.

The atmosphere of the show seems a little less slick than its older siblings. A little more clubby as well, as the event is taking place at an awards dinner.

A.I.'s Haley Joel Osment was up next to introduce the presenters of the clip for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Fellow Hobbits Sean Astin and Elijah Wood did a little of the usual cheesey intro schtick before presenting the clip.

Haley then presented the award for AFI Digital Artist of the Year. The winner was Jim Rygiel for The Lord of the Rings. Guess what? Jim wasn't there. Did people need a map to the Beverly Hills Hotel? So they cut to March's Almanac clip.

Marisa Tomei, one of the stars of In the Bedroom introduced the next clip for Movie of the Year, yes, you guessed it, In the Bedroom.

Dennis Franz was up next to present the AFI Actor of the Year - Female - Series. The lucky woman to take home a new trophy for the mantle was Edie Falco for The Sopranos. And hey! All of the nominees for the category were there. So we finally get another acceptance speech. Edie's speech was short on thanks and long on awe for the other folks in the room.

The next award was for AFI Actor of the Year - Male - Series. Another varied category with actors ranging from James Gandolfini to Ray Ramano. James Gandolfini was the winner and wouldn't you know it, he was the only nominee who wasn't there. So it's time for April's Almanac clip, including the return of the US spy plane crew from China.

Eugene Levy was up next. He said it was a great year for trolls, with great roles for them in Shrek, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. He then introduced director Ridley Scott, who presented the clip for Black Hawk Down.

Levy then presented the award for AFI Production Designer of the Year. The winner was Grant Major for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Needless to say, Grant wasn't there so we cut to the Almanac clip for May, which featured the last episode of 3rd Rock From the Sun.

Halle Berry introduced the clip for the next Movie of the Year nominee, Monster's Ball.

Everybody Love Raymond's Patricia Heaton was up next to present the award for Drama Series of the Year. The winner was The Sopranos. Creator David Chase did the accepting honors while members of the cast and staff joined him on stage. He joked that the AFI once turned him down as a member.

The Almanac for June featured the passing of Carroll O'Connor and Jack Lemmon and the fake film critic scandal.

It's almost 9:30pm and we're just minutes away from the halfway point. Joe Mantegna was the next presenter, honoring the winner of the AFI Movie or Mini-Series of the Year. The award went to Band of Brothers. Luckily a few of the production team were there to accept. They dedicated the award to the men of Easy Company.

Alan Cumming then presented the award for AFI Comedy Series of the Year. The lucky show to get that award was Curb Your Enthusiasm. The show's star and executive producer, Larry David, accepted the award. He said it was a rare opportunity for his family to seem him on TV "since they refuse to get HBO." He also said that apologizing was easier than thanking people, "So on behalf of everybody involved...I'm sorry."

Time once again for the Almanac segment, this time featuring the month of July.

The Practice's Steve Harris presented the next clip for Movie of the Year, Memento. To introduce the clip was one of the star's, Joe Pantoliano.

Steve Harris then presented the award for AFI Editor of the Year. And the winner is Moulin Rouge's Jill Bilcock. Jill was not there, so actress Joan Allen came out to introduce the nominees for AFI Screenwriter of the Year. The award went to Christopher Nolan for Memento. He said that screenwriting is a notoriously solitary profession, but that he still had people to thank.

It was now time for the August Almanac, which included the 20th anniversary of MTV and the 50th anniversary of A Place in the Sun.

William H. Macy introduced the star of the next nominated film The Man Who Wasn't There, Billy Bob Thornton. Billy Bob then introduced the clip.

Macy then presented the AFI Cinematographer of the Year to Roger Deakins for The Man Who Wasn't There.

Live from New York, Dan Rather introduced the Almanac for September. He discussed the terrible events of September 11th, David Letterman's honest and emotional return to his stage in New York and then showed a clip from the all network telethon that helped raise money for the survivors.

A Beautiful Mind's producer/director Ron Howard introduced the film's clip for Movie of the Year.

Recently knighted Ben Kingsley had a unique way of introducing the nominees of the AFI Actor of the Year - Female. He toasted each woman in turn, discussing them and their current and previous performances. He then presented the award to Sissy Spacek for In the Bedroom. She said the film was a real labour of love and quite close to her heart. She thanked the other cast members and said she felt like she was standing on their shoulders to accept the award.

The CEO of the AFI came out next to thank the friends and supporters of the AFI, including the Target chain of stores who announced they would be presenting a scholarship to young filmmakers in the name of each winner tonight. She then introduced a series of clips honoring AFI Lifetime Achievement winners.

Next up was the Almanac for October, which featured the 50th anniversary of I Love Lucy.

Natalie Cole introduced the next nominee for Movie of the Year, Moulin Rouge, by introducing its director Baz Luhrmann. Natalie then awarded the AFI Composer of the Year award to Craig Armstrong for Moulin Rouge. Craig wasn't there.

Diane Keaton was out next to present the AFI Actor of the Year - Male award. She said all of the nominees were risk takers and the winner was Denzel Washington. Was it just me, or did Keaton seem a little disappointed announcing that? They quickly cut to the November Almanac, which featured the passing of George Harrison and the twice-delayed Emmy Awards.

The final nominee for Movie of the Year was Mulholland Drive and it was introduced by the film's writer/director/producer David Lynch.

Samuel L. Jackson was the next presenter. Perhaps referring to Keaton's comments, Jackson said that Denzel Washington could not be there and that they had accepted the award on his behalf. He then announced the nominees for Director of the Year. The winner is Robert Altman for Gosford Park. Altman wasn't there and Jackson joked that his award and Denzel's could be found at his house.

Time for the last Almanac of the evening, December's, which featured the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth.

Just one more award folks and then I can give my fingers a rest!

And now it's time for the Movie of the Year award. The presenter was Michelle Pfeiffer and the winner out of the ten nominees was The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Producer Barrie M. Osborne spoke on behalf of the production team.

Well, it wasn't the most exciting night in Hollywood, but let's give 'em a chance. After all, it's their first year.

Good night and take care...

UPDATE: Well, the world didn't need another kudofest. The 2001 AFI Awards were also the last.

Here are the nominees:

AFI Movie of the Year

AFI Actor of the Year - Male

AFI Actor of the Year - Female

AFI Featured Actor of the Year - Male

AFI Featured Actor of the Year - Female

AFI Director of the Year

AFI Screenwriter of the Year

AFI Cinematographer of the Year

AFI Editor of the Year

AFI Production Designer of the Year

AFI Digital Artist of the Year

AFI Composer of the Year

AFI Drama Series of the Year

AFI Comedy Series of the Year

AFI Movie or Mini-Series of the Year

AFI Actor of the Year - Male - Series

AFI Actor of the Year - Female - Series

AFI Actor of the Year - Male - Movie or Mini-Series

AFI Actor of the Year - Female - Movie or Mini-Series