Editing AFI 100 Years... series (section)

{{Short description|Lists of films for the commemoration of American cinema}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{AFI 100 Years... series}}
The '''AFI's 100 Years... series''' was a series of annual lists from 1998 to 2008 by the [[American Film Institute]]—typically accompanied by [[CBS]] television specials—celebrating the century of [[Cinema of the United States|American cinema]].<ref name=":0" />

As a [[centennial]] celebration of cinematic milestones, the series intended to inspire discussion and public interest in [[classical Hollywood cinema]]. As such, each list only included feature-length [[Lists of American films|American films]] that were typically released before 2005.<ref name=":0" /> AFI defined "American film" as an "English language motion picture with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States;" and "[[Feature film|feature-length film]]" as a "motion picture of [[Narrative film|narrative format]] that is typically over 60 minutes in length."<ref name=":0">{{cite press release|title='AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies,' to Be Broadcast Wednesday, June 14 on the CBS Television Network|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/afis-100-years--100-cheers-americas-most-inspiring-movies-to-be-broadcast-wednesday-june-14-on-the-cbs-television-network-55816522.html|location=Los Angeles|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|agency=[[PR Newswire]]|date=June 1, 2006|access-date=November 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419211804/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/afis-100-years--100-cheers-americas-most-inspiring-movies-to-be-broadcast-wednesday-june-14-on-the-cbs-television-network-55816522.html|archive-date=April 19, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=AFI's 100 Years…100 Stars |url=https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-stars/|access-date=2021-02-23|website=American Film Institute|language=en}}</ref>

To determine the composition of these lists, the names of a few hundred nominated films were listed on ballots that AFI would distribute to a jury of over 1,000 leaders in the [[creative industry]], including film artists ([[Film director|directors]], [[screenwriter]]s, [[Film Actor|actors]], [[Film editing|editors]], [[cinematographer]]s), [[Film criticism|critics]], and [[Film historian|historians]].<ref name=":0" />