Austin Film Society Announces Recipients of the AFS Grant for Short Films
February 5, 2026, AUSTIN, TX— The Austin Film Society announces the 15 filmmakers receiving the 2025 AFS Grant for Short Films, a production fund for emerging Texas filmmakers. Since its creation in 1996, the AFS Grant has awarded more than $3 million in cash grants to 570+ Texas filmmakers, creating life-changing opportunities for exceptional emerging artists making visionary work from a region far from the film industry’s coastal centers.
The full list of 2025 AFS Grant for Short Films recipients can be found below.
Stills and headshots can be found here.
Grants in this funding cycle are awarded to short films — films under 40 minutes — in either pre-production, production, or post-production. For short-film funding in 2025, 14 projects by 15 director applicants were selected from 225 eligible applications, spanning narrative, documentary, animation and experimental work in diverse genres and styles. Among this year’s grant recipients, 12 of the 15 directors are receiving AFS grants for the first time.
AFS Head of Film and Creative Media Holly Herrick commented: “Austin Film Society’s Grant funds for short films are a key strategy for supporting developing artists in our region. Short films are where a lot of our medium’s creativity and vitality lives; shorts are also critical for emerging artists to experiment and strengthen their voices.” Herrick continued, ”We’re proud of this program’s history in launching early career filmmakers. These funds are essential for Texas artists, and we’re committed to ensuring that this resource remains available to them.”
The AFS Grant for Short Films has an impressive track record. Recent jury prizes at Tribeca, AFI, SXSW and Doc NYC have gone to AFS-supported short projects (Sangre Violeta/Sangre Violenta, Birds, Walker, More Than I Want to Remember). Repeat grantees Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence and Megan Trufant Tillman won the Special Jury Award at the SXSW Film and TV Festival for their AFS-supported project, Newbies.
AFS’s history with short film grantees indicates many filmmakers build their film and TV careers after honing their craft with AFS support for short films, for example, David Lowery (A Ghost Story, Pete’s Dragon), Cristina Ibarra (The Infiltrators), Kat Candler (Queen Sugar, 13 Reasons Why) and Greg Kwedar (Train Dreams, Sing Sing) were all supported by AFS Grants for short films early in their careers.
AFS received support from MPS Camera and Lighting to provide an additional in-kind grant for production rentals and services for a filmmaker receiving cash funds from the AFS Grant. Director Maria Mealla received the MPS Camera and Lighting Award for her short Body Shop, which awarded her $10,000 for a multi-day camera package rental.
New to the AFS Shorts Grant this year is the TBD Post Color and Conform Award, provided by local editing, sound, color and finishing studio TBD Post, which includes a session with a professional colorist and a session to conform all final assets into festival deliverables (including a DCP) with a value up to $12,000. Director Ryan Darbonne received the TBD Post Color and Conform Award for his short We Skip Skool.
AFS Grant Selection Process
The AFS Grant selections are made by a panel of industry experts. Those who jury the production grant reside outside of the state of Texas and are integral in selecting new and diverse talent. This year’s panel for the AFS Grant for Short Films included three independent filmmakers. Angel Kristi Williams is an award-winning writer and director from Baltimore, Maryland, who currently serves as Filmmaker in Residence at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her feature debut, Really Love (produced by MACRO), earned Special Jury Recognition
for Acting at SXSW. Williams has been distinguished as a Sundance Momentum Fellow, Film Independent Project Involve and ReFrame Rise Fellow, and she won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative in Directing for her work on Netflix’s Colin in Black and White. Neil Creque Williams is a producer and writer who currently serves as Head of Filmmaker Relations and Concierge Services at GATHR. Neil has been recognized as a fellow by the Sundance Creative Producing Lab, Gotham/Cannes Producers Network and the inaugural Blumhouse/K Period Screamwriting Lab for his horror script The Plat-Eye. Williams also produced Miss Juneteenth with Sailor Bear and Leyline Entertainment, which premiered in Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival and was supported by the Austin Film Society. Jason Fitzroy Jeffers is a Barbadian filmmaker who has produced award-winning shorts such as T, winner of the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlinale. He is co-founder and former festival director of Third Horizon Film Festival, a 2023 USA Fellow, a 2024 Sundance Screenwriters Lab fellow, and was named one of Filmmaker Magazine‘s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2024.
When asked about reviewing submissions for the 2025 AFS Grant for Short Films, the panelists said: “The quality, diversity and excellence of the work we reviewed is a testament to Texas’ thriving film culture and robust creative community.”
A diverse committee of filmmakers, film industry professionals and former AFS Grant recipients act as first-round reviewers, providing feedback and recommendations to the panel. Reviewers included: Bethiael Alemayoh, Emily Basma, Jennifer Bracy, Mandy Kim Clinton, Spencer Cook, Katie Creegan-Rios, Giselle De La Rosa, Steven DeBose, Linda Eaddy, Isaac Garza, Lydia Garza, Sabiha Khan, Andee Kinzy, Daniel Labbs, Clay Liford, Samantha Rae Lopez, Keith Maitland, Alejandra Martinez, Lisandra Montes, Maverick Moore, Diffan Norman, Norma Ortiz, Nicky Pitts, Tamar Price, PJ Raval, Andrew Richey, Adam Rocha, Samuel Thomas, Andy Volk, Aí Vuong, Jessica Wolfson and Carlos Zapata. This year’s grant was administered by AFS Head of Film and Creative Media Holly Herrick, Senior Manager of Filmmaker Support Sharon Arteaga and Alekka Hernandez, Interim Associate (Filmmaker Support).
Austin Film Society aims to actively work against the well-documented history of structural racism and sexism in the screen industries and brings an equity lens to the administration of all of its programs. Texas is among the nation’s most ethnically and culturally diverse places. The exceptional artists that AFS supports reflect the rich diversity of Texas, and many hail from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in the film industry. Demographics of directors submitting to and receiving the grant are listed in the addendum.
About the AFS Grant
The AFS Grant is administered with two application periods and deadlines.
- The AFS Grant for Feature Films application cycle is for documentary and narrative feature-length film projects (40 minutes or longer) in any phase of production. The next application cycle for the AFS Grant for Feature Films will open in April 2026.
- The AFS Grant for Short Films application cycle is for short films, under 40 minutes in length.
The AFS Grant has been a part of launching many significant careers. Filmmakers Margaret Brown (The Yogurt Shop Murders, Descendant), Yen Tan (All That We Love, 1985, Pit Stop), Kat Candler (former showrunner of O Network’s Queen Sugar, Hellion, 13 Reasons Why), David Lowery (The Green Knight, Pete’s Dragon, A Ghost Story), David and Nathan Zellner (Showtime’s The Curse, Damsel, Sasquatch Sunset), Channing Godfrey Peoples (Disney+’s Genius: MLK/X, Miss Juneteenth), Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas (Skip Day, Directors’ Fortnight winners), Andrew Bujalski (Support The Girls, Funny Ha Ha) and Annie Silverstein (Bull, Cannes 2019 and SXSW 2020) all received production grants for shorts and/or independent feature films through the AFS Grant fund. This year’s Academy Award®-nominated feature Train Dreams was directed and co-written by two filmmakers previously supported by the AFS Grant: Clint Bentley (Jockey) and Greg Kwedar (Sing Sing).
The AFS Grant is generously supported by grant partners Ley Line Entertainment, David Lowery, Oak Cliff Film Festival, the Warren Skaaren Charitable Trust, Kyle and Noah Hawley, South by Southwest, William Knox Holt Foundation, MPS Camera and Lighting, Stuck On On and TBD Post in addition to a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Recipients of the 2025 AFS Grant for Short Films
Pressure Points
Narrative Short in Production
Janelle Lee Austin (Austin, TX)
Lifelong friends Cora and Maya’s marriages face a “drought” until they both secretly turn to Duong, an elderly Asian man with a knack for pressure-point orgasms, reigniting sparks in their marriages. When Duong dies, they must unite to keep the spark alive.
An Adequate Place to Die
Narrative Short in Pre-Production
Yeajoon “Joon” Cho (Austin, TX)
In middle-of-nowhere Texas, a vagrant searches for an adequate place to die.
Si Dios quiere (God Willing)
Narrative Short in Pre-Production
Costantino Ciminiello (Austin, TX)
An elderly woman receives a frantic call claiming her granddaughter has been kidnapped and a ransom must be paid … but as she races to gather the money, her slipping memory blurs the line between crisis and delusion.
Tito Ritmo
Narrative Short in Post-Production
Ulises Córdova (El Paso, TX)
In early 1941, a zoot suit toting mechanic enters a “dance till you drop” competition in order to win a new car. In 2009, the car is now in the family lineage, and his grandson attempts to sell the classic car out of financial desperation.
We Skip School
Narrative Short in Post-Production
Ryan Darbonne (Austin, TX)
September 11, 2001. Grieving their best friend’s suicide, two Black teens ditch school to buy the new Slayer album, unaware of the world falling apart around them.
The Rabbit Story and Tomato
Animated Narrative Short in Production
Elham Doust (Dallas, TX)
After finishing daily chores, a woman sits alone in front of the television and revisits a long-postponed story idea. She begins to ponder about the story concept but is distracted by tomorrow’s chores.
Grandma’s House
Documentary Short in Production
Sarah Michelle Kuck (Austin, TX)
Grandma’s House is a documentary short that celebrates the voices of Central Texas matriarchs. They have experienced joy and hardship, and they carry wisdom that helps us understand who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going as a community.
Body Shop
Narrative Short in Pre-Production
Maria Eugenia Mealla (Austin, TX)
In an alternate reality where body shops replace hospitals, a young mechanic discovers a wealthy client pressuring her boss to loan her a Latina body for a night out. Appalled by the request and determined to stop it, she takes measures into her own hands.
Help Is on the Way
Narrative Short in Production
Chinwe Okorie (Austin, TX)
After her car mysteriously breaks down on an isolated rural Texas road, a Black woman must decide if she can trust the help that comes her way.
The Light She Keeps
Narrative Short in Production
Zariyah Perry (Dallas, TX)
With a storm behind her eyes, a teenage girl confronts the unspoken tension between herself and the person sitting across the table … over waffles.
Three Dollar Bet
Narrative Short in Production
Brittney Rodriguez and Pablo Mejia (Beaumont, TX)
While waiting for the next bus out of town, a sharp-tongued drifter makes a bet that ends in humiliation by the local pageant queen. Reeling from rejection, she bonds with the runner-up, and their encounter reveals two girls searching for home — perhaps finding it in each other.
SkinFolk
Narrative Short in Production
Shianne Salazar (Austin, TX)
An injury ends Ayra’s tenure as cheer captain just ahead of the homecoming game. Plagued by envy, she enlists dark magic to abduct the body of her replacement — her best friend Starr, who is secretly in love with her.
Untitled Gun Buyback Documentary
Documentary Short in Post-Production
Lauren Santucci (Austin, TX)
A short documentary exploring the tensions of implementing gun violence prevention in the US through the lens of a 2024 voluntary weapons exchange in San Antonio, Texas, and a 1996 gun buyback initiative in Australia.
I Mean, I am Somebody.
Documentary Short in Production
Channing Smith (Austin, TX)
Through rhythm, ritual, and realness, I Mean, I am Somebody. holds a mirror to the world of Ballroom — reflecting identity and refracting the quiet strength behind the spectacle, revealing the power of being seen on one’s own terms.
About Austin Film Society
Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community together around great film. AFS supports filmmakers from all backgrounds towards career leaps, encouraging exceptional artistic projects with grants and support services. AFS operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre production facility, to attract and grow the creative media ecosystem. Austin Public, a space for our city’s diverse mediamakers to train and collaborate, provides many points of access to filmmaking and film careers. The AFS Cinema is an ambitiously programmed repertory and first run arthouse with broad community engagement. By hosting premieres, local and international industry events, and the Texas Film Awards, AFS shines the national spotlight on Texas filmmakers while connecting Austin and Texas to the wider film community. AFS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
The data we’re sharing has been provided to the Austin Film Society by the artists directly. Note that some artists choose not to self-identify.
Demographic Data
Grant Recipients: In this grant cycle, 15 directors were selected for funding across 14 projects. Of the directors receiving grant funds, 10 identified as female (66%), 2 identified as non-binary (13%), 5 grant recipients identified with the LGBTQIA+ community (33%) and 12 recipients identified with a community of color (80%).
Total Applicants: Out of the 247 eligible filmmakers (across 225 eligible applications) that applied for funding through the 2025 AFS Grant for Short Films, 106 identified as female (42%) and 12 as non-binary (4%), 62 as members of the LGBTQIA+ community (25%) and 156 identified with a community of color (63%).
Will Stefanski
Will@austinfilm.org |
