Guillermo Del Toro, Aaron Sorkin Receive Honorary Degrees at AFI Commencement

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Tuesday, 11 August 2026 09:46

Written by AFI

During the recent AFI Conservatory's Class of 2026 commencement ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Doctor of Fine Arts were conferred upon Academy Award winning Director Guillermo del Toro and Oscar winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

The Doctorates of Fine Arts degrees, honoris causa, were awarded to each for contributions of distinction to the art of the moving image.

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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."

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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 Vice President 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."

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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. Learn more at AFI.edu.

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About the American Film Institute (AFI)

The American Film Institute (AFI) is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. Established in 1967, AFI launched the first comprehensive history of American film and sparked the movement for film preservation in the United States. In 1969, AFI opened the doors of the AFI Conservatory, a graduate-level program to train narrative filmmakers. The Conservatory, which counts Deniese Davis, Affonso Gonçalves, Susannah Grant, Matthew Libatique, David Lynch, Melina Matsoukas and Rachel Morrison as Alumni, is ranked as one of the top film schools in America. AFI's enduring traditions include the AFI Life Achievement Award, which honors the masters for work that has stood the test of time; AFI AWARDS, which celebrates the creative ensembles of the most outstanding screen stories of the year; and scholarly efforts such as the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and the AFI Archive that preserve film history for future generations. AFI exhibition programs include AFI FEST presented by Canva and year-round exhibition at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Maryland. AFI Movie Club is a destination for movie lovers from around the world to celebrate and engage with the art form every day. Other pioneering programs include workshops aimed at elevating emerging storytellers and technology, including AFI DWW+ and the AFI Cinematography Intensive Workshop.

Read about all of these programs and more at AFI.com and follow us on social media at Facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute, YouTube.com/AFI, X.com/AmericanFilm,

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About the AFI Conservatory

The AFI Conservatory opened its doors in 1969 to an inaugural class that included Terrence Malick, Caleb Deschanel and Paul Schrader. Today, the Conservatory offers a two-year MFA degree in six filmmaking disciplines: Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Producing, Production Design and Screenwriting. In a collaborative production environment, AFI Fellows learn to master the art of storytelling, collectively creating up to 175 films a year. Fellows actively participate in the entire life cycle of a film, from development through production and exhibition.

Alumni of this elite program, ranging from modern masters to bold new voices defining the state of the art form, include Andrea Arnold, Darren Aronofsky, Ari Aster, Deniese Davis, Sam Esmail, Brad Falchuk, Affonso Gonçalves, Susannah Grant, Liz Hannah, Patty Jenkins, Janusz Kamiński, Matthew Libatique, David Lynch, Melina Matsoukas, Polly Morgan, Rachel Morrison and Wally Pfister, among others.