A number of theatre-adjacent screen projects are included in the American Film Institute’s 2021 Top 10 List. Officially known as the 2021 AFI Awards, the honorees for movies and television (two separate lists) included West Side Story; tick, tick…BOOM!; The Tragedy of Macbeth; and Schmigadoon!.
The honorees will be celebrated on January 7, 2022, at a private ceremony.
West Side Story, directed by Steven Spielberg and adapted by Tony Kushner from Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerome Robbins’ 1957 musical, arrives in theatres December 10. tick, tick…BOOM!, adapted from Jonathan Larson’s semi-autobiographical musical and directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, began streaming November 19. Joel Coen’s take on Shakespeare’s tragedy, starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, will hit Apple TV+ January 14 after a limited cinema run starting Christmas Day.
Joining those three movies on the best films list were Coda, Don’t Look Up, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, and The Power Of The Dog.
Schmigadoon!, which Playbill recapped all 6 episodes of last summer, was honored alongside Hacks, Maid, Mare Of Easttown, Reservation Dogs, Succession, Ted Lasso, The Underground Railroad, Wandavision, and The White Lotus.
In addition, Kenneth Branagh’s film Belfast—which is not American and therefore ineligible—will receive a special citation. Netflix’s South Korean thriller Squid Game and Questlove’s documentary Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) will also be honored.
