Francis Ford Coppola was honored by a star-studded group of friends and collaborators on Saturday night as he received this year’s AFI Life Achievement Award at the Dolby Theatre.
Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Dustin Hoffman, Ron Howard, C. Thomas Howell, Diane Lane, Spike Lee, Ralph Macchio, son Roman and granddaughter Gia all took part in the American Film Institute event, this year celebrating its landmark 50th anniversary.
Freeman kicked things off by joking that although he had “never, ever been in a movie written, directed or produced by Francis Ford Coppola,” he had profoundly moved by his films. Celebrating Coppola for being an independent filmmaker, Freeman called him a “weaver of dreams on a dime, teller of tales that cost and lost millions — but tonight, fuck the bankers and the backers. We are here to celebrate art and we are here to celebrate Francis Ford Coppola.”
And so set the tone for the evening, as star after star applauded Coppola for prioritizing art over box office success and inspiring so many of them. Ford, who was a struggling actor when he landed a role in the Coppola-produced American Graffiti, told the crowd, “I’m here tonight because of the community that Francis nurtured — a place where storytellers could be free, with their ideas unencumbered by doubt, by commerce, by the fucking rules.” (Ford was also a carpenter between acting gigs and it was while he was working as a carpenter at Coppola’s office that he met Lucas, who was looking for his Han Solo.)
Pacino and De Niro took the stage together as Pacino recalled how on The Godfather, “Francis just fought for us all the time. He fought for his film and his vision, which he always does.” De Niro added, “Francis, you changed my career, you changed my life. We’re all here tonight because of you. We love you.”
Driver — who starred in Coppola’s most recent film, 2024’s Megalopolis — gave a passionate speech about the filmmaker’s bravery throughout his career, which ultimately led to Coppola spending $120 million of his own money on Megalopolis and “not letting the money dictate the content of the film,” Driver said. “Believe me, I was there — there was no talk about, ‘How do we make this more commercial?’” (The film bombed at the box office following its September release.)
“This is a principled life, and for a year in our culture when the importance of the arts is minimized and our industry is seemingly out in the open that the only metric to judge a film’s success is by how much money it makes, I hang on to individuals like Francis for inspiration, who live through their convictions, through big moves, all in service of pushing the medium forward,” Driver continued. “Francis took $120 million and created a singular gesture for what he thought film could be, and I think that’s pretty great.”
The A-list speeches were broken up throughout the night with scenes from Coppola’s films as well as video clips of an interview between him and daughter Sofia. Josh Groban also performed “Brucia La Terra” from The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.
Coppola took in the tribute from a table in the center of the Dolby — with his Coppola wine flowing throughout the room — flanked by Spielberg on one side and Lucas on the other, and his family members nearby. When it finally came time to present the Life Achievement Award, Spielberg went first, recalling how they first met in 1967 and how Coppola had asked a group of filmmakers to watch and give feedback on an early cut of Apocalypse Now.
“I’m not talking about studio notes, I’m talking about friends and fellow storytellers who have been in the trenches, talking intellect and emotion — not what we think will make good box office, but what we think will make great art. Because that’s what creates films like Apocalypse Now,” Spielberg said, then going on to call The Godfather “the greatest American film ever made” as Coppola covered his face with his hands. “I always want to make you proud of my work,” Spielberg added, before bringing out Lucas.
Lucas and Coppola have a long history of mentorship and collaboration, including being co-founders of production company American Zoetrope. In his speech, Lucas said Coppola taught him “don’t be afraid of jumping off cliffs.”
“You’re our hero, Francis,” Lucas continued, recalling how their group of film students entered Hollywood and “we had no rules — we wrote them with you holding the pen. Thank you for creating an era of filmmakers who loved the movies.”
Coppola took the stage to end the night, musing, “I feel as if after many years I’ve returned to the old neighborhood where I grew up, and everything around me is so familiar and yet it’s all changed.”
He concluded, “Now I understand here, this place that created me, my home, isn’t really a place at all but you friends, colleagues, teachers, playmates, family, neighbors — all of the beautiful faces are welcoming me back because I am and will always be nothing more than one of you.”
For those not in attendance, televised special The AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Francis Ford Coppola will premiere on TNT on June 18, with an encore airing on TCM on July 31.