Freeman toasts American Film Institute at 50th year gala
WASHINGTON: On Wednesday night, the swamp got a small dose of sparkle as the American Film Institute celebrated its 50th anniversary in the appropriately named Great Hall of the Library of Congress.
An exclusive group of policymakers, philanthropists and famous people (hey, isn’t that Bradley Cooper?) gathered specifically to toast the institute’s partnership with the Library of Congress to preserve America’s cinematic history by safely storing more than 37,000 motion pictures.
Is saving the movies anything like saving the world? One ex-president said yes.
Oscar winner Morgan Freeman (OK, so he’s only an ex-president on the big screen) told us that the evening wasn’t about politics, but then added that the enduring message of the movies is needed now more than ever.
“In today’s world, what we really would like to promote is what we’re talking about tonight — togetherness,” said Freeman, wearing dark sunglasses on the red carpet before the programme started. Despite shying away from wonky talk, much was made of the institute’s political birth story. It all started in the Rose Garden of the White House, where President Lyndon B. Johnson announced in 1965, “We will create an American Film Institute.” Two years later, on a “fine spring Sunday,” Oscar winner Gregory Peck arrived at the Georgetown home of AFI founder George Stevens. Together the two wrote the institute’s first news release, recalled Stevens at Wednesday’s gala. During her official remarks, the librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, the first woman and the first AfricanAmerican to hold the post, said the library, home to nearly five million audiovisual works, is “proud to be (caretaker) of America’s treasures.”
After the programme, which featured sweeping scenes from America’s most iconic films, guests (including Hollywood representatives Cooper, director Christopher Nolan and “Homeland” director Lesli Linka Glatter, and Washington boldfacers House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright) sat for dinner in the elaborately decorated Great Hall.
But before the glittery crowd could dig in, Freeman, a recipient of AFI’s Lifetime Achievement award, offered a toast.
“Tonight is not about politics. Tonight is about art,” said the man who’s played a senator, a secretary of state and God. “I offer today a request — tell us your story. Because these stories become our story as a nation, as a world.” — WP-Bloomberg Freeman on stage at the 2017 American Film Institute Life Achievement Award show in June. — Reuters file photo