By Marla Lewin

The American Film Institute held its annual awards luncheon today in Los Angeles. The tenth annual event remained an honoree-only affair, with no press and no public in attendance. For each of the honored films and television programs, Hewlett-Packard, the event sponsor creates a scholarship to the world-renowned AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles.

Because 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic NORTH BY NORTHWEST, AFI acknowledged this landmark by offering the event’s final word to Eva Marie Saint, who shared stories about the making of the film and raised a glass to the work of artists today.

AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale said, “50 years ago, she was the 5th and most beautiful face on Mount Rushmore.” Saint jokingly offered a willingness to return for a sequel if George Clooney were available to play the Cary Grant role. She concluded her remarks to the honorees by reflecting on how the joy of watching the performances onscreen inspired her own legendary career, saying “You make a difference to people around the world. Maybe out there somewhere you’ve made a difference to another little blonde girl.”

Among the artists present were: Adam Arkin and Michael Stuhlbarg (A SERIOUS MAN); Kathryn Bigelow and Jeremy Renner (THE HURT LOCKER); Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS); Anna Kendrick and Jason Reitman (UP IN THE AIR); Lee Daniels and Gabourey Sidibe (PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH’ BY SAPPHIRE); Pete Docter and Bob Peterson (UP); Michelle Forbes and Sam Trammell (TRUE BLOOD); Tom Ford and Julianne Moore (A SINGLE MAN); Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Jena Malone and Oren Moverman (THE MESSENGER); Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Todd Phillips (THE HANGOVER); Jon Hamm, Christina Hendricks and Matthew Weiner (MAD MEN); Ryan Murphy (GLEE); Mark V. Olsen, Bill Paxton and Will Scheffer (BIG LOVE); Henry Selick (CORALINE).

AFI Board of Trustees members present included: Chris Albrecht; Jon Avnet; Bob Daly; Jean Picker Firstenberg; Rich Frank; Brad Grey; Marshall Herskovitz; Alan Horn; Daniel Petrie, Jr.; Frank Pierson; Tom Pollock; Anne Sweeney; Ed Zwick.

Norman Jewison, the Chairman for the AFI Jury for Motion Pictures, and CCH Pounder, a member of the AFI Jury for Television, entered the jury rationales into the almanac by reading them as scenes from the films and TV programs were presented. Announced for the first time today, the complete rationales can be found at AFI.com.

The official selections are listed below in alphabetical order:

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR—OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

CORALINE

THE HANGOVER

THE HURT LOCKER

THE MESSENGER

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH’ BY SAPPHIRE

A SERIOUS MAN

A SINGLE MAN

SUGAR

UP

UP IN THE AIR

AFI TV PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR—OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

THE BIG BANG THEORY

BIG LOVE

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

GLEE

MAD MEN

MODERN FAMILY

THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY

NURSE JACKIE

PARTY DOWN

TRUE BLOOD

Additional information and video of the honorees can be found at afi.com/afiawards.