Austin Film Society Announces $300,000 in Filmmaker Grant Awards, Launches Texas Lights Funding Program (EXCLUSIVE)

The Austin Film Society has announced more than $300,000 in new filmmaker grant awards through the launch a new film funding program Texas Lights.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, AFS’ grants support emerging filmmakers. The launch of the Texas Lights fund will provide cash for rising artists to create independent films.

“Thirty years of the AFS Grant is a major milestone for the Austin Film Society. I’m so proud of what we have accomplished by committing our organization to funding filmmakers and showing films,” said Richard Linklater, the founder and artistic director of AFS. “When we started a grant for Texas filmmakers, the idea that artists could live and work here wasn’t taken very seriously. In looking back at the caliber of work and the artists supported through this program over the years, we’ve proven that artists can come from anywhere. With the launch of this new Texas Lights fund, we’re renewing our commitment to something we truly believe in – expanding creative culture by funding artists locally.”

Selected among Texas artists that previously received support through the AFS Grants program, the inaugural Texas Lights Grant recipients include Margaret Brown (“The Yogurt Shop Murders,”) Annie Silverstein (“Bull”), Monique Walton (“Bull,” “Sing Sing”), Diane Becker (“Navalny”) and Diffan Sina Norman (“Sitora”).

This year, the AFS Grant awarded over $160,000 to 14 feature-length productions, each receiving up to $20,000. The 2026 AFS Grants for Feature Films recipients include Leo Aguirre (“Verano”), Miguel Alvarez (“The Return”), Fernando Andrés (“The Movie Lovers”), Alexis Franco (“Where It All Begins”), Katy McCarthy (“The Heart is a Cul-de-sac”), Keith Maitland (“Gods of Fire”), Camille Morales-Zayas (“Alma”), Sachin Dheeraj Mudigonda (“A Silent Wave”), Matthew Q. Nelson (“State of Care”), Sara Nimeh (“Jedo”), Lanre’ Obisesan (“The Orange Seller”), Travis Lee Ratcliff (“Under My Command”), Karen Skloss (“Interpreter”) and Louise Min Van Assche (“Huntsville Dreams”).

The AFS Grant is the open application fund of Texas Lights. In its 30 years, the grant program has awarded more than $3.3 million for independent films and created an alumni network including Athina Rachel Tsangari (“Harvest”), Cristina Ibarra (“The Infiltrators”), Chelsea Hernandez (“Breaking The News”) and David Lowery (“Pete’s Dragon”).

Texas Lights is an initiative of the Austin Film Society and a statewide network. The program is led by AFS CEO Rebecca Campbell, head of film Holly Herrick and senior director of Texas Lights Liz Lodge Stepp.