The American film Institute awards luncheon, honoring the top 10 films and TV shows of the year, just kicked off a busy awards weekend that will end with Sunday night’s Golden globe Awards.
Every year, the AFI luncheon is special because there are no losers—everyone there represents a movie or TV show already named among the best of 2025.There aren’t any acceptance speeches, just a nice lunch and inspiring words, plus clips from the films and shows. “this is so nice. It’s my favorite. It’s so chill,” one film producer told another guest.
This year’s film honorees were Avatar: Fire And Ash, Bugonia, frankenstein, Hamnet, Jay Kelly, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Sinners, Train Dreams, and Wicked: For Good. The TV honorees were Adolescence, Andor, Death By Lightning, The Diplomat, The Lowdown, The Pitt, Pluribus, Severance, The Studio, and Task. It was Just an Accident,by Jafar Panahi, also received a special Award,given to films that don’t quite meet the requirements for the Top 10 list.
The event always draws a big crowd, and this year was no different.Hollywood’s biggest stars mixed with the most powerful executives at the Four seasons hotel. Leonardo DiCaprio stood up to greet Tim Cook, arguably the most famous person in the room. Cook, who doesn’t often attend Hollywood events, was surrounded by people wanting to say hello, as he was there to support Apple’s shows, including Severance and The studio. Steven Spielberg, who attended as a producer on Hamnet, was another well-known face. When a montage of films played and Jaws appeared, everyone in the ballroom applauded, knowing the iconic director was present.
