Netflix’s Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez has become one of a only a handful of predominantly non-English-language films ever to make the top 10 films list released by the American Film Institute annually since 2001 as part of the AFI Awards. It follows 2004’s Spanish-language Maria Full of Grace and 2007’s French-language The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
AFI’s eligibility rules declare, “Stories need not be presented in the English language if incontrovertibly American,” meaning that they include “significant creative and/or production elements from the United States,” which, in this case, presumably means American-born actresses Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez.
Partially non-English titles that have made the list in years past include 2006’s Letters from Iwo Jima, 2019’s The Farewell, 2020’s Minari and 2023’s Past Lives. Fully non-English titles have occasionally been given special awards, as was the case for 2011’s The Artist, 2018’s Roma and 2019’s Parasite.
Joining Emilia Pérez on the top 10 films list are Universal’s Wicked and Universal subsidiary Focus’ Conclave, A24’s The Brutalist and Sing Sing, Searchlight’s A Complete Unknown and A Real Pain, Neon’s Anora, Warners’ Dune: Part 2 and Amazon/MGM’s Nickel Boys.
Prominent films missing from the top 10 list include Paramount’s Gladiator II and September 5, Apple’s Blitz, Universal’s The Wild Robot, Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2, Warners’ Juror #2 and Mubi’s The Substance.
The list of the top 10 TV programs, which was chosen by a different jury, includes FX’s largely non-English-language limited series Shōgun, as well as that same network’s The Bear, HBO’s Hacks, The Penguin and True Detective: Night Country, Netflix’s The Man on the Inside and Nobody Wants This, Apple’s Shrinking, Amazon’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and ABC’s Abbott Elementary.
TV programs that came up short include Netflix’s The Diplomat and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, Apple’s Palm Royale and Presumed Innocent, HBO’s House of the Dragon and FX’s English Teacher.
A special award will be bestowed upon Netflix’s Baby Reindeer, a British production.
“AFI Awards is never about competition, but community,” AFI president and CEO Bob Gazzale said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing these artists together as one and celebrating their collective power to drive culture forward.”
This year’s jurors included artists Sterlin Harjo, Gale Ann Hurd, Charles Melton, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Jane Seymour; scholars Mark Harris and Leonard Maltin; members of the AFI Board of Trustees; and film critics Ann Hornaday, Mary McNamara, Janet Maslin and Peter Travers. The film jury was chaired by AFI Board of Trustees member Jeanine Basinger, while the TV jury was chaired by AFI Board of Trustees vice chair Richard Frank.
The AFI Awards luncheon will take place on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills.
