AFI Fest marks Hollywood’s final major film festival of the year, turning the TCL Chinese Theatre into a hub for global cinema as the awards season nears its peak. This year’s edition is positioned as a high-stakes homecoming for studios eyeing a wide release and a chance to build momentum with critics and audiences alike. The festival’s boundary-pusting atmosphere blends red-carpet premieres with intimate conversations, amplified by Hollywood’s iconic venue and Los Angeles’s year-round appetite for cinema. A standout programming note is the festival’s headline moments, including a Bruce Springsteen–led event that brings a distinctive cultural crossover to the film-centric lineup. The pairing of a world-class musical performance with premieres and premieres-style events underscores AFI Fest’s ambition to attract diverse audiences while maintaining its core emphasis on top-tier cinema. In a move that signals deep industry cooperation, AFI Fest programmers are actively courting Guillermo del Toro for involvement, seeking his participation in retrospectives, conversations, or exclusive screenings. Del Toro’s presence would add a rich, visionary dimension to the festival’s slate and reinforce its reputation as a gathering place for auteur-driven cinema and genre-defining projects. For Los Angeles, AFI Fest is not just a sequence of movie screenings; it’s a critical pulse of the city’s avid filmgoing scene. Sold-out screenings, lively post-film Q&As, and robust press and industry coverage reflect LA’s status as a cinephile capital and a vital launchpad for titles aiming to expand beyond festival theaters. The festival also serves as a crucial platform for rising filmmakers—particularly graduates from American film programs—to present work, win distribution interest, attract festival kudos, and connect with producers, distributors, and peers who can accelerate their careers. Overall, AFI Fest stands at the intersection of prestige and pragmatism: a showcase for audacious cinema, a strategic springboard for awards-season campaigns, and a cultural touchstone for Los Angeles’s enduring love affair with cinema.