A Star Is Born, Black Panther, Roma Among A.F.I. Award Winners

A Star Is Born, Black Panther, and The Favourite are among the 10 films that have been announced as the American Film Institutes 2018 award winners. The honorees were announced Tuesday, with features like Green Book, Eighth Grade, and First Reformed also making the cut. A Quiet Place, John Krasinskis horror debut, made a surprise entry in the selection too, as did the upcoming Mary Poppins Returns, Disneys long-awaited sequel starring Emily Blunt in the titular role. The list is rounded out by Barry Jenkinss If Beale Street Could Talk and Spike Lees BlacKkKlansman.

Alfonso Cuaróns Roma, which does not meet the A.F.I.s criteria for an American film, but is widely considered one of the best (if not the best) films of the year, will receive a special award. Such is the power of the directors critically acclaimed black-and-white drama, starring newcomer Yalitza Aparicio as a nanny in Mexico City in the 1970s.

The A.F.I. also announced the 10 TV shows that will be honored at next years January 4 ceremony in Los Angeles. The list includes a slew of expected titles, such as Atlanta, The Americans, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Newcomers like Pose, Succession, Barry, and The Kominsky Method will also be honored, while the one-off The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story and network hit This Is Us also made the list.

As far as film-awards-season predictors go, the A.F.I. winners dont perfectly line up with future Oscar best-picture nominees—but theyre not far off, either. Almost all of last years A.F.I. Award winners went on to land best-picture nods, save for The Florida Project (robbed!), Wonder Woman (comic-book movies are always a long shot, no matter how acclaimed), and The Big Sick, though the Amazon rom-com did receive a best-original-screenplay Oscar nomination. If anything, the A.F.I. nods are a solid mic check for perceived front-runners as they barrel ahead. This list is certainly more reliable than, say, critics circle award winners, the National Board of Reviews singular selections, and even the Golden Globes, all of which honor varied films and performances. The films that have been left out of this years batch of A.F.I. honorees include Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Widows, as well as yet-to-be-released titles like Mary Queen of Scots and Vice, both of which will have to fight their way into a crowded race.