The American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California, in mid-June 1998 commemorated the extraordinary first 100 years of American movies by making a "definitive selection of the 100 greatest American movies of all time, as determined by more than 1,500 leaders from the American film community."

The 400 Nominated Films were feature-length fictional movies produced between 1912 and 1996 "with the goal of amassing a capsule of the first 100 years of American cinema, across decades and across genres."

In subsequent years, the AFI has also produced other lists of the following:

AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies (1998)
AFI’s 100 Years…100 Stars/Legends (1999)
AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs (2000)
AFI’s 100 Years…100 Thrills (2001)
AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions (2002)
AFI's Heroes and Villains (2003)
AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs (2004)
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes (2005)
AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers (2006)
AFI's 100 Greatest American Films - 10th Anniversary Edition (2007)

Judging Criteria for the Selection Process of the Top 100 films included:

Feature-Length Fiction Film - narrative format typically over 60 minutes in length
American Film - English language film with significant creative and/or financial production elements from the United States
Critical Recognition - formal commendation in print
Popularity Over Time - including figures for box office adjusted for inflation, television broadcasts and syndication, and home video sales and rentals
Historical Significance - a film's mark on the history of the moving image through technical innovation, visionary narrative devices or other groundbreaking achievements
Cultural Impact - a film's mark on American society in matters of style and substance
Major Award Winner - recognition from competitive events including awards from organizations in the film community and major film festivals