Francis Ford Coppola To Receive 50th AFI Life Achievement Award In April

Megalopolis helmer Francis Ford Coppola is set to receive the American Film Institute’s 50th Life Achievement Award, AFI’s highest honor for a career in film, during a Gala Tribute at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 26, 2025.

Coppola is the latest in a line of esteemed artists to receive the award. Nicole Kidman took last year’s, with Julie Andrews, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Diane Keaton and John Williams also recently being honored.

Said Kathleen Kennedy, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees, “Francis Ford Coppola is a peerless artist – one who has created seminal works in the canon of American film, and has also inspired generations of filmmakers who now embody his artistry and his independent spirit. AFI is honored to present him with the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award.”

Most recently seeing Lionsgate release his film Megalopolis, a Roman epic set in modern times starring Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel and many more, Coppola’s The Godfather, The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now are ranked among history’s greatest films in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies list. A six-time Academy Award-winning, his other iconic feature credits, as writer, director and/or producer, include Patton, American Graffiti, The Conversation, The Outsiders, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, to name just a few.

As the co-founder of American Zoetrope with America Graffiti’s George Lucas, Coppola initiated and nourished the careers of such filmmaking talents as Carroll Ballard, John Milius and Sofia Coppola, along with actors like Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, James Caan, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfus, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, Matt Dillon and Diane Lane.

The AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute returns this year to TNT, with encore presentations to follow on Turner Classic Movies.