AFI FEST 2002, the AmericanFilm Institute's Los Angeles film festival, will honour Michael Cainewith a special tribute at this year's event which takes place Nov 7 to 17this year. The tribute includes an on-stage interview with the double Oscar-winningactor (Nov 16) as well as a short retrospective of his films including Alfie (1966), The Ipcress File (1965), Get Carter (1971), The Italian Job (1969), Educating Rita (1983) and The Cider House Rules (1999).

The tribute is concludedwith the US premiere screening (Nov 17) of Caine's latest film TheQuiet American, which had its worldpremiere to great acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival lastmonth. Financed by Intermedia and Miramax Films and directed by Philip Noyce, TheQuiet American features Caine as acynical English journalist in Saigon in the early 1950s who stumbles across USespionage and interference in local affairs. Brendan Fraser co-stars in thetitle role.

Undated going into Toronto,the film has now been given a Dec 27 platform release by Miramax to qualify forAcademy Award consideration following rapturous reviews for Caine'sperformance at the festival. Caine himself said that he thought he gave hisfinest ever performance in the film.

"Sought out by many ofthe world's greatest filmmakers, a Michael Caine performance has been thelynchpin of many great films for over 40 years," said festival directorChristian Gaynes in a statement. "It will be a delight to get a lookbehind the scenes of his remarkable career at AFI FEST 2002."

Caine's oeuvre is oneof the most fascinating of living actors, ranging from classics like Zulu (1964), Sleuth (1972), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), California Suite(1978), Dressed To Kill (1980), MonaLisa (1986) and Hannah And HerSisters (1986) to famous bombs like TheSwarm (1978) and Jaws: TheRevenge (1987). He has worked forsome of cinema's legendary directors including John Huston, Sidney Lumet,Joseph Losey, Woody Allen, Richard Attenborough, Robert Aldrich, Otto Premingerand John Frankenheimer.

AFI FEST, which this year isto headquartered at the new ArcLight Hollywood multi-screen complex, opens onNov 7 with the US premiere of Denzel Washington's Antwone Fisher and closes with Pedro Almodovar's Talk ToHer. Centrepiece gala on Nov 12 isthe US premiere of Atom Egoyan's Ararat.