HAMILTON Wins a Special AFI Award

The Disney Plus pro-shot edition of "Hamilton" will be honored with a special award at the 2020 AFI Awards!

Other honorees include "One Night in Miami" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."

The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today the recipients of AFI AWARDS 2020. AFI's global Movie Club program will showcase the official selections beginning in February, with new and exclusive content released daily, including special guests from the honored works introducing the titles and AFI "Behind the Scene" conversations with filmmakers and actors.

"For 20 years, AFI AWARDS has been a moment to gather artists in one room with a singular goal - to create community over competition," said Bob Gazzale, AFI President & CEO. "This year we cannot gather but will instead celebrate each honoree by creating exclusive content to be shared with a global audience through AFI Movie Club, shining a proper light on excellence."

On February 26, the AFI AWARDS tributes will culminate with a virtual benediction premiering on YouTube.com/AFI and AFI.com.

The AFI AWARDS celebration will be sponsored by Audi, a supporter of AFI programs for the past 17 years. To commemorate each of the AFI AWARDS recipients, Audi has created the AFI AWARDS Audi Scholarships initiative providing scholarships in the name of the honorees to women and BIPOC Fellows at the AFI Conservatory - for a total contribution of $250,000.

Celebrating film and television arts' collaborative nature, AFI AWARDS is the only national program that honors creative teams as a whole, recognizing those in front of and behind the camera. AFI AWARDS honorees include 10 outstanding films and 10 outstanding television programs deemed culturally and artistically representative of this year's most significant achievements in the art of the moving image. AFI also recognizes HAMILTON with an AFI Special Award, designated for a work of excellence outside the Institute's criteria for American film and television.

Hamilton premiered on Disney+ on July 3. It features the original Broadway cast, including Tony Award® winners Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton; Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson; Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler; Leslie Odom, Jr. as Aaron Burr; Tony Award® nominees Christopher Jackson as George Washington; Jonathan Groff as King George; Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton; and Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds; Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison; and Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton.

The cast also includes Carleigh Bettiol, Ariana DeBose, Hope Easterbrook, Sydney James Harcourt, Sasha Hutchings, Thayne Jasperson, Elizabeth Judd, Jon Rua, Austin Smith, Seth Stewart, and Ephraim Sykes.

All of the honored works advance the art of the moving image, inspire audiences and artists alike, enhance the rich cultural heritage of America's art form and make a mark on American society. When placed in an historical context, these stories provide a complex and rich visual record of our modern world.

AFI AWARDS selections are made through a jury process where AFI Trustees, artists, critics and scholars determine the year's most outstanding achievements and provide artistic and cultural context for the selection of each honoree.

This year's jury featured acclaimed artists including Debbie Allen, Cynthia Erivo, Rian Johnson, David Mandel, Marlee Matlin, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Wes Studi and Lulu Wang; renowned authors and scholars representing prestigious universities with recognized motion picture arts and television programs; film historians Mark Harris, Molly Haskell and Leonard Maltin; the AFI Board of Trustees; and film and television critics from media outlets such as the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, TV Guide and The Washington Post. The jury was chaired by AFI Board of Directors member Jeanine Basinger (Chair Emerita and Founder of the Film Studies Department, Wesleyan University) and AFI Board of Trustees Vice Chair Richard Frank (former Chairman of Walt Disney Television, President of Walt Disney Studios, President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences).

Honorees will be celebrated across all AFI platforms leading up to the benediction on Feb. 26.

The 2020 recipients join a distinguished group of previous AFI AWARDS honorees whose works define the art form and contribute to our rich cultural legacy. View all past AFI AWARDS honorees here.

See the full list of honorees for this year's awards here:

AFI SPECIAL AWARD

HAMILTON

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR

DA 5 BLOODS

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM

MANK

MINARI

NOMADLAND

ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI...

SOUL

SOUND OF METAL

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

AFI TELEVISION PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR

BETTER CALL SAUL

BRIDGERTON

THE CROWN

THE GOOD LORD BIRD

LOVECRAFT COUNTRY

THE MANDALORIAN

MRS. AMERICA

THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT

TED LASSO

UNORTHODOX