AFF is accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences®, making all Jury Award-winning Narrative Short, Documentary Short, and Animated Short films eligible for an Academy Award®. In addition, 2012’s Animated Short Jury and Audience Award winner, Head Over Heels, and the Narrative Short Jury and Audience Award winner, Asad, as well as the 2011 Narrative Short Jury and Audience Award winner, Salar, were all shortlisted for the 2013 Academy Awards®. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, the 2011 AFF Best Animated Short Jury and Audience Award Winner, went on to win the Academy Award® for Best Animated Short in 2012.
WE’LL SAY WE KNEW YOU WHEN…
Countless films and filmmakers that have played at Austin Film Festival have gone on to find tremendous success. Year after year, Official Selections from AFF continue to get picked up for distribution. Not only do individual films gain recognition after playing AFF, but our filmmakers are able to find exciting careers post-fest. In 2000, Jason Reitman won the Jury Award for his short film In God We Trustand later won AFF Audience Awards for Juno (2007) and Up in the Air (2009). In 2003 and 2005, Cary Fukunaga received AFF awards for his student short films and has since gone on to direct the popular HBO drama True Detective as well as the critically acclaimed Sin Nombre (2009) and Jane Eyre. Writer/Director Jeff Nichols won the Narrative Feature Award for his debut feature, Shotgun Stories in 2007. His last two features, Take Shelter and Mud, debuted at Sundance and Cannes.
At Austin Film Festival, we pride ourselves on finding fresh, relevant and gifted voices from around the world. AFF is a place where new visions and untapped talent can flourish and join our dynamic and welcoming community. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what you believe; if you have a story to tell, we want to see it.
