Globes weekend: Denzel Washington wants son to direct him

BEVERLY HILLS — Denzel Washington directed himself in Fences, but he’s hoping one day his son will take on the top job.

Washington spoke at the annual American Film Institute Awards luncheon Friday, held just days before the Golden Globes, reflecting on what it was like to watch his son, Malcolm, graduate recently from the AFI Conservatory.

“It was a proud moment for me to see my son up there and to know that we’re in the same profession. We’re just a couple of filmmakers trying to do our best. I’m hoping that one day he hires me,” he grinned.

Other than Washington, who was given the honor of closing the luncheon with a benediction, there were no recipient speeches at the affair, which annually proves to be a calm respite before the Globes storm.

"Those of you who have been here before know exactly what is expected of you: nothing,” said AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale, to laughter.

It’s true: Instead of compulsory thank-you speeches for the honor, the top 10 films and top 10 TV shows, as chosen by two AFI juries, were celebrated at the Four Seasons over light chatter and a waist-friendly lunch of tomatoes and burrata and fish over rice.

This year, the AFI’s top 10 films were: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell Or High Water, La La Land, Manchester By The Sea, Moonlight, Silence, Sully and Zootopia.

Of course, Andrew Garfield stars in both Silence and Hacksaw Ridge, and so he politely hopped between tables where his directors, Martin Scorsese and Mel Gibson (who brought his pregnant girlfriend, Rosalind Ross) held court. Garfield also swung by the La La Land table to chat with Emma Stone (director Damien Chazelle was sandwiched between her and Ryan Gosling).

The AFI’s top 10 TV shows this year were: The Americans, Atlanta, Better Call Saul, The Crown, Game Of Thrones, The Night Of, The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Stranger Things, This Is Us, and Veep. A special award was presented to the ESPN documentary OJ: Made In America from filmmaker Ezra Edelman.

Audi, a sponsor of the affair, also announced a new scholarship program which will send one promising female director to the two-year AFI Conservatory (where Washington's son attended), starting this August.

But perhaps most moving was the five-minute montage called March of Time that played after guests took their seats, showcasing some of Hollywood’s finest film work over the past century.

Set to a recording of America the Beautiful, it was hard not to be moved, particularly in a room that sat Hollywood legends including Scorsese, Clint Eastwood and Washington. You can watch that montage here.