Produced in collaboration with the American Film Institute, the AFI Catalog is the premier resource for studying American motion pictures. It is the most comprehensive and detailed national filmography in the world. The Catalog includes the entire print version, which comprises fifteen volumes documenting all films produced in the United States from 1893 to 1970, as well as new digital content and important updates for all records through 2015. Also included are complete records for AFI Awards winners for the years 2000 to 2015. The Catalog offers authoritative plot summaries and insider production notes, as well as subject and song indexing for each film record.
AFI Catalog now includes new content and functionality:
- Quick Search on Home Page
- AFIs Top Ten Films of 2000-2007
- Webmaster to answer your questions
- Search history
- Editorial guidelines
- Extensive updates to existing records
The film experts at AFI are continually updating and revising their more than 48,000 records so as to reflect the very latest in scholarship and research. Each of the twice annual releases includes not only new film records, but revised and updated records.
The Catalog is an esteemed and highly reputable research tool for students of film. It is a unique filmographic resource - a standard in libraries throughout the world. The reputation for quality, comprehensiveness, accuracy, and level of detail is unmatched. Only AFI Catalog guarantees the authority of its content.
The process of creating a catalog volume is a painstaking one of locating and viewing films and researching studio records and contemporary and modern resources to produce thousands of unbiased entries on films ranging from well-known studio blockbusters to obscure, once-lost period films. The catalog is an unmatched tool for film research and preservation activities-recording the development of the moving image as a unique means of artistic and cultural expression in the 20th century.
Fields Indexed:
- Keywords will search all fields
- Film Title browse a list (also searches alternative, foreign titles)
- Character Names browse a list (can search non-inverted names)
- Cast and Crew browse a list
- Production browse a list (see chart)
- Based On browse a list of source information (see chart)
- Release browse a list (see chart)
- Release Year
- Subject browse a list
- Genre browse a list
- Songs browse a list
Each indexed list contains many levels of selection (for example, the Cast and Crew list contains 11 different types of jobs indexed).
Authoritative. AFI Catalog is developed by the film experts at the famous American Film Institute, the premier film research and educational facility in the United States.
Detailed coverage. Coverage begins with the very earliest American films and thoroughly covers this early era. It is the premier resource on early American films.
Plot Summaries. The AFI Catalog is noted for its thorough and extensive plot summaries. For major movies, such as Casablancaand Gone with the Wind, the plot summaries are often over 1,700 words in length.
Production Notes. The AFI Catalog is also noted for its detailed production notes, which offer inside information on casting preferences, debuts, delays, script re-writes and other important information. For major movies, these notes are often over 1,400 words in length.
Scholarly. Rich index content enables students to track down in-depth information on films. All fields are fully searchable by keyword and allow users to search for films by 11 different fields. Most fields also allow you to select from an extensive list. For the Cast and Crew field, you may select from 11 different types of jobs. Records also include references to content in periodicals to allow students to extend their research.