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Ray Barry Retires After Nearly Five Decades at AFI

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“My world doesn’t exist.”

That’s how Ray Barry, whose long tenure as director of the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center ended on March 31, sums up the sea of changes he’s seen in his time working for the American Film Institute. 

Anyone in the D.C. area who’s ever seen a movie at the AFI, whether it’s a Hollywood classic, a foreign film, or a documentary, can thank Barry. He’s been at the institute for nearly half a century. His time goes back to the days when the AFI meant a Kennedy Center auditorium festooned with artfully hung car parts painted a rugged Yves Klein blue. He saw the institution through a stunning new chapter, leading the effort to transform a then-shuttered and neglected movie house on Silver Spring’s Colesville Road into the majestic AFI Silver of today.

And now he’s closing the curtain on this storied career.

Barry was instrumental in making D.C. a city rich in film festivals. His initiatives included the AFI/Discovery Channel SILVERDOCS Documentary Film Festival and the annual AFI European Union Film Showcase, as well as the Latin American Film Festival.

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