Francis Ford Coppola to receive AFI lifetime achievement award

NEW YORK (AP) — Francis Ford Coppola will receive the 50th AFI Life Achievement Award, the American Film Institute announced Tuesday. Coppola, who recently released his long-in-development epic “Megalopolis,” will be presented with the award in a gala tribute at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on April 26. The 85-year-old filmmaker will be the 50th recipient of the award first handed out to John Ford in 1973. Coppola released “Megalopolis,” a Roman epic set in modern-day New York, in September. The film, which first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, drew mixed reviews from critics and flopped with audiences. Coppola, though, has maintained he was compelled to make “Megalopolis” as an artist, not as a businessman. He self-financed the film.