American Film Institute (AFI) announced the official selections of AFI Awards 2008, AFI's almanac that records the year's most outstanding achievements in film and television, as well as significant moments in the world of the moving image on Sunday.

The Top 10 film honorees are: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Frozen River, Gran Torino, Iron Man, Milk, WALL?E, Wendy and Lucy and The Wrestler.

AFI's Top 10 TV Programs of the Year include: Breaking Bad, In Treatment, John Adams, Life, Lost, Mad Men, The Office, Recount, The Shield, and The Wire.

"AFI AWARDS honors the community of artists who come together each year to create films and television programs of excellence. They are not competitors at an event, but colleagues, in a world that needs art and entertainment more than ever," commented Bob Gazzale, AFI's President and CEO.

AFI Awards is the only recognition that honors the film and television creative ensembles as a whole -- those both in front of and behind the camera -- acknowledging the collaborative nature of film and television.

Unlike any other film or television award, the AFI Awards 2008 selections are made through AFI's unique 13-person jury process in which scholars, film artists, critics and AFI trustees discuss, debate and determine the most outstanding achievements of the year, as well as provide a detailed rationale for each selection. Two AFI juries -- one for motion pictures and one for television -- convened in Los Angeles for two days of deliberations at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel. The jurors have remained confidential until Sunday.

AFI -- a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media -- will honor the creative ensembles for each of the selections at a luncheon on Friday, January 9, 2009 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

(China.org.cn December 15, 2008)