AFI Docs

The AFI Docs (formerly Silverdocs) documentary film festival was an American international film festival. Created by the American Film Institute and the Discovery Channel, it was held annually in Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington, D.C.,^[1][2][3] from 2003 to 2022, when it was merged into AFI Fest, a Los Angeles-based film festival.^[4]

AFI Docs

Location	Washington, D.C., and Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.
Founded	2003 (2003)
No. of films	103 as of 2017

The festival was held for five days in June at the AFI Silver Theatre and other locations in Washington, D.C.

Yoruba Richen won the Audience Award in 2013 for The New Black, which looked at about the African-American community response to marriage equality initiatives.^[5][6]

Several organizations usually took part in the events: BBC, CPB, Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, The Ford Foundation, HBO, Latino Public Broadcasting, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Miramax, National Black Programming Consortium, National Geographic, PBS, the Sundance Institute, The Weinstein Company.

At one point, the AFI Docs Advisory Board included: Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Albert Maysles, Errol Morris, D A Pennebaker, and Frederick Wiseman.

Notable participants

• AOL vice-chairman emeritus Ted Leonsis
• BET co-founder Sheila Johnson
• Former Vice President Al Gore
• Academy Award-winning filmmakers:
  • Martin Scorsese
  • Jonathan Demme
  • Barbara Kopple
  • Alex Gibney

References

1. Dry, Kate Erbland,Eric Kohn,David Ehrlich,Ben Travers,Jude; Erbland, Kate; Kohn, Eric; Ehrlich, David; Travers, Ben; Dry, Jude (June 16, 2020). "AFI Docs 2020: 10 of the Most Exciting Films in This Year's Lineup". IndieWire. Retrieved April 14, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. Johnson, Ted (May 6, 2020). "AFI Docs Announces Plans For Online Film Festival, 'Boys State' Will Open Event". Deadline. from the original on May 9, 2020.
3. "The American Film Institute Announces Dates For 2021 AFI Docs Film Festival". SHOOTonline. November 18, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
4. Hornaday, Ann (February 3, 2022). "AFI Docs is hitting pause on programming". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
5. . newblackfilm.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
6. "The New Black | African American Debate over Marriage Equality". Independent Lens. PBS. Retrieved April 14, 2021.

External links

• Official website
• "AFI DOCS Film Festival" - FilmFreeway

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