NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 18: (L-R) Phil Lord and Chris Miller attend the “Project Hail Mary” New York Premiere at Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center on March 18, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios)
LOS ANGELES,CA (LA ELEMENTS) 9/27/2026 – “Project Hail Mary answered the prayers of movie lovers this year,” says AFI President & CEO Bob Gazzale. “And it is AFI’s honor to welcome two of the most inventive, entertaining and impactful storytellers in the world to AFI FEST 2026 as our Guest Artistic Directors.”
Academy Award-winning filmmakers (Best Animated Feature Film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) Phil Lord and Chris Miller have been tapped to serve as the Guest Artistic Directors for AFI FEST 2026 presented by Canva. “We feel so lucky to be the Guest Artistic Directors for AFI FEST 2026,” said the filmmakers in a prepared statement. “After years of dragging our friends and families to screenings of films we love, we are delighted to get to do it for hundreds of strangers We chose four films that inspired us not only while making Project Hail Mary but also as filmmakers and people. We stand on the shoulders of giants like Hal Ashby and Fozzie Bear.”
Their work in directing and producing Project Hail Mary, resulted in one of the biggest movie success stories of this year. Starring Ryan Gosling and based on the novel by Andy Weir, the Project Hail Mary is Amazon MGM Studios highest grossing film ever grossing over $684 million at the global box office.
The Guest Artistic Directors Program will be held on October 24. “An Evening with Lord and Miller” will include a Q & A with the directors as well as a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The selection of films that they have curated for AFI, are ones that also inspired their work on Project Hail Mary. These include Harold and Maude (1971), The Muppet Movie (1979) and Rififi (1955).
Previous Guest Artistic Directors for AFI FEST include Pedro Almodóvar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Guillermo del Toro, Ava DuVernay, Greta Gerwig, David Lynch and Agnès Varda.
The 40th annual AFI Film Festival will take place October 21-25 at the TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood. Opening with the U.S premiere of Travis Knight’s Wildwood, the festival will present a specially curated selection of Red Carpet Premieres, Special Screenings, World Cinema, Documentaries and Short Films. Holding its world premiere at AFI Fest will be The Mosquito Bowl, starring Bill Skarsgård and Nicholas Gallitzine. Closing the festival will be Being Heumann, directed by Academy-Award winner Sian Heder (CODA) based on the life of disability rights activist Judith Heumann. The full slate of films in competition will be announced Tuesday, September 29.
Passes to AFI FEST 2026 are available now for purchase at FEST.AFI.com Festivalgoers can choose from the Star Pass (access to all screenings excluding Red Carpet Premieres), early screening selection and theater access, access to the AFI FEST Festival Lounge, AFI FEST merch and free rush access. The Patron Pass features all the benefits of the Star Pass, plus access to Red Carpet Premieres and priority screening selection and theater access.
AFI FEST is recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Animated and Documentary Short Film categories for the annual Academy Awards. AFI Fest is also a qualifying festival for consideration for the British Short Film categories of both the BAFTA Film Awards and the British Independent Film Awards.
Presenting sponsor Canva is the all-in-one visual communication and collaboration platform. Entertainment professionals use Canva to fulfill a host of needs including developing storyboards and to pitch projects. Canva will be hosting industry networking events and hands-on training workshops for filmmakers. Please visit canva.com/entertainment to learn more about Canva.
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