As the American Film Institute paid tribute to Francis Ford Coppola with its 50th Life Achievement Award, the acclaimed director celebrated a homecoming of sorts.

In his acceptance speech during Saturday’s gala at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the Godfather director said he felt like he “returned to the old neighborhood where I grew up” as his peers in the film industry recognized him.

“I feel as if after many years, I’ve returned to the old neighborhood where I grew up. And everything around me is so familiar, yet it’s all changed. There are the empty lots I played in that are mostly gone, new buildings I don’t recognize, so many friends and neighbors returning my smiles,” he explained. “And so many others I remember have all grown older, but still somehow the same. One young friend is tall and strong as he used to be—no, that’s his son, the little boy he used to carry on his shoulders. There’s the stoop where my family used to sit on hot summer nights and drink beer. But where’s the old nickel vending machine which dispensed the first cashew nut I ever tasted?

“All my uncles, my aunts, everyone’s still here, out there, some giving me a welcome wave or blowing me a kiss. What a pull on my heart. Faces I knew and loved, some I feared, some helpful and encouraging, and those I felt wronged me. But they had their own reasons, and I forgave them long ago, because I learned that the only person really impossible to forgive is yourself.”

Coppola continued, “And now I understand, here, this place that created me, my home, isn’t really a place at all. But new friends, colleagues, teachers, playmates, neighbors, all the beautiful faces are welcoming me back because I am, and will always be, nothing more than one of you. So, thank you so much.”

Filmmaking peers like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Spike Lee and more were on hand to celebrate, as well as collaborators like Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Adam Driver and Elle Fanning.

The Life Achievement Award is AFI’s highest esteem for a career in film. Coppola’s predecessors include Nicole Kidman, Julie Andrews, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Diane Keaton and John Williams.

Coppola’s The Godfather, The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now are ranked among history’s greatest films in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies list. A six-time Academy Award winner, his other iconic feature credits, as writer, director and/or producer, include Patton, American Graffiti, The Conversation, The Outsiders and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, to name just a few.

The evening earned a record $2.5 million for AFI and will be broadcast on TNT on June 18 at 10pm ET/PT with an encore on TCM July 31 at 8pm ET/PT.