The ''AFI Catalog of Feature Films'', also known as the ''AFI Catalog'', is an ongoing project by the American Film Institute (AFI) to catalog all commercially-made and theatrically exhibited American motion pictures from the birth of cinema in 1893 to the present. It began as a series of hardcover books known as ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures'', and subsequently became an exclusively online filmographic database. Each entry in the catalog typically includes the film's title, physical description,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

and distribution companies, production and release dates, cast and production credits, a plot summary, song titles, and notes on the film's history. The films are indexed by personal credits, production and distribution companies, year of release, and major and minor plot subjects. To qualify for the "Feature Films" volumes, a film must have been commercially produced either on American soil or by an American company. In accordance with the

International Federation of Film Archives The International Federation of Film Archives (french: Fédération internationale des archives du film, FIAF) was founded in Paris in 1938 by the Cinémathèque Française, the Reichsfilmarchiv in Berlin, the British Film Institute and the Museum ...

(FIAF; French: ''Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film''), the film must have also been given a theatrical release in 35 mm or larger

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, ...

to the general public, with a running time of at least 40 minutes (or a length of at least four

reels A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

). With that said, the Catalog has included over 17,000

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s (those less than 40 minutes/four reels) from the first era of filmmaking (1893–1910). The print version comprises five volumes documenting all films produced in the United States from 1892 to 1993, while new records are created by the AFI editorial team and added each year to the online database.

History

In 1965, the "Arts and Humanities Bill" was signed into law by U.S. President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

; it established the American Film Institute (AFI), as well as the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. As there was no existing listings of films of the past—making preservation an immediate concern—the Bill obliged the AFI to build a new "catalog" of

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s that would protect

cultural history Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

from being lost in obscurity or disappearing entirely. In 1967, the AFI officially began operation, documenting the first century of American filmmaking through the ''AFI'' ''Catalog of Feature Films''. The Catalog would be the very first scholarly listing of American films, "with academically vetted information about the existence, availability and sources of motion pictures already produced, spanning the entirety of the art form since 1893." From 1968 to 1971, AFI researched film production between 1921 and 1930 (i.e., the

1920s File:1920s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Seán Hogan during the Irish War of Independence; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which ...

). The first AFI Catalog was published thereafter in 1971 by the

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facult ...

; the publication featured, as encyclopedic volumes, the records for every American feature film released during the 1920s' period.

Hardcover publications

The Catalog began as a series of hardcover books known as ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures'', published by the

(excluding vol. A) from 1971 to 1993. The print version comprises seven volumes documenting all films produced in the United States from 1892 to 1970. The publication of the hardcover volumes was suspended due to budgetary reasons after volume F4 (1941–50) in 1997. Feature films released from 1951 to 1960 and from 1971 to 1993 have been cataloged only in the online database. The project estimates that additional years will be cataloged at 6-month intervals. Film School students are offered the opportunity to provide plot synopses and original research, but input from other, experienced film researchers is not encouraged. The project will also eventually catalog short films (beyond 1910) and

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...

References

External links

* – official site
''The International Film Index, 1895-1990''
{{Authority control American Film Institute Catalogues Film guides Books about film Online film databases

History

Hardcover publications

See also

References

External links