The American Film Institute (AFI) conferred Doctorates of Fine Arts degrees, honoris causa, for contributions of distinction to the art of the moving image upon Academy Award®- and Emmy®-winning screenwriter, director and producer Guillermo del Toro and Academy Award®- and Emmy®-winning screenwriter and director Aaron Sorkin during the AFI Conservatory’s Class of 2026 commencement ceremony on Friday (8/7) at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
Del Toro was introduced on stage by Academy Award®-winning actress and producer Octavia Spencer and Sorkin was introduced by Emmy®-winning actor and producer Bradley Whitford. The commencement celebrated the AFI Fellows’ completion of two years of concentrated study in AFI’s MFA program. The 128 graduating filmmakers specialized in one of six disciplines–Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design or Screenwriting–and collectively created 141 short films, roughly the equivalent of 19 feature films during their two years at AFI. The class comprises 52% female filmmakers, 37% domestic Fellows of color and 44% international filmmakers.
Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO, opened the ceremony by welcoming the graduating Fellows and their friends and families.
In accepting his AFI Honorary Degree, del Toro remarked, “Tell stories that matter to you. But more importantly, tell the stories that do not matter to anyone else. Those are the stories that need you. Those are the stories that would not exist if it wasn’t for you.”
Sorkin, in accepting his AFI Honorary Degree, shared with the graduating class, “Develop your own compass and trust it and, remember, the first person through a wall always gets hurt. Remember that you’re a citizen of this world and that decisions are made by those who show up.”
Del Toro and Sorkin join an esteemed group of distinguished past recipients, including Robert Altman, Maya Angelou, Saul Bass, Angela Bassett, Kathryn Bigelow, Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Anne V. Coates, Jamie Lee Curtis, Viola Davis, Ernest R. Dickerson, Clint Eastwood, Roger Ebert, Nora Ephron, Jodie Foster, Lesli Linka Glatter, Lawrence Herbert, James Earl Jones, Lawrence Kasdan, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Spike Lee, David Lynch, Walter Murch, Helen Mirren, Rita Moreno, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Paul Schrader, Quentin Tarantino, Lily Tomlin, Robert Towne, Cicely Tyson, Haskell Wexler, John Williams and Michelle Yeoh.
Following the conferment of the honorary degrees, Susan Ruskin, Dean of the AFI Conservatory and executive VP of AFI, praised the graduating Fellows and the faculty.
The ceremony concluded with class representative S.S. Ayers sharing, “Every collaboration is preparing us for the moment someone turns to us and says, ‘Lead.’ Not just the story. Not just the set. Lead the people entrusted to our care.”
In addition to the commencement ceremony, AFI is hosting a series of industry spotlights featuring the work of its graduating filmmakers. The spotlights are part of AFI’s Bridge to the Future program for Conservatory graduates. The Cinematography Spotlight will take place on Saturday, August 8 and will feature a collection of three-minute films all shot on motion picture film by AFI Conservatory Fellows. The Screenwriting Spotlight will be held at the WGA on September 22, while the Directing Spotlight will take place in October during AFI Fest presented by Canva at the TCL Chinese Theatres. The Production Design Spotlight took place earlier this week on the AFI Campus.
Applications to the AFI Conservatory open September 4, 2026.
