The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act. The organization describes itself as "a national institute providing leadership in screen education and the recognition and celebration of excellence in the art of film, television and digital media."

The AFI Conservatory focuses on training through hands-on experience with established artists. In July 2011, the AFI Conservatory was voted the #1 film school in the world by The Hollywood Reporter. With this inaugural list and ranking of worldwide film schools, The Hollywood Reporter stated the Conservatory is “among the most selective film schools in America,” with its Fellows benefiting from “speakers and teachers drawn from the highest levels of the industry, supported by the full weight of AFI itself...AFI's glittering parade of alumni, from David Lynch to Darren Aronofsky, remains unrivaled when it comes to auteur filmmakers...If you know where you're going, AFI can get you there.”

The American Film Institute operated the National Film Theatre in Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center until 1998. Prior to Kennedy Center, it screened films in the auditorium of the National Gallery of Art. In April 2003, AFI re-opened the 1938 AFI Silver theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland just north of Washington.