‘The Producers’ Director Mel Brooks Praises ‘JoJo Rabbit’ At AFI Awards

Awards season is upon us and the annual AFI Awards, which is a celebration of the year’s top 10 American films and TV programs — as decided by a jury appointed by the American Film Institute — always attracts some of the industry’s biggest stars, directors and producers.

The 20th edition of the awards ceremony, which took place on Friday afternoon at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, did not disappoint, with an appearance and speech from famed director Mel Brooks, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

AFI chief Bob Gazzale welcomed the audience before introducing the very special guest who was there to applaud the organization’s work in promoting female filmmakers.

Mel Brooks, famed director of such racial satires as Blazing Saddles (1974), received a standing ovation from the crowd before joking that “It’s almost a pleasure to be here.” He then went on to thank AFI for supporting his late wife Anne Bancroft‘s work on the 1972 film Fatso.

Since Brooks also helmed his own 1968 satire about dictator Adolf Hitler (film classic The Producers), the director then went on to praise the recent film Jojo Rabbit.

“Taika Waititi [Jojo‘s writer/director] did not ask my permission to use Hitler — neither did Quentin [Tarantino, who was in the room as the writer/director of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood] in [the 2009 film] Inglourious Basterds,” Brooks joked before getting serious. “But I want to say, I just saw Jojo Rabbit, and it’s really a terrific and eloquent and beautiful picture.

Taika, where are you? [People pointed at Waititi] Well, you did a great job. Even as an actor, you were good, which is hard!”

Michael is a music and television junkie keen on most things that are not a complete and total bore. You can follow him on Twitter — @Tweetskoor

WHERE TO STREAM JOJO RABBIT