Austin Film Society Celebrates 30-Year Landmark of Film Funding and Announces Launch of Major New Financing Initiative Texas Lights
September 22, 2026, AUSTIN, TX The Austin Film Society is a national leader in regional grant funding for independent films, having awarded more than $3.3 million since it began filmmaker grants in 1996. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the AFS Grant, a fund that supports emerging filmmakers and creates life-changing opportunities for Texas artists. Building on this exceptional track record of identifying and supporting leading film talent, AFS announces over $300,000 in new filmmaker grant awards and launches a visionary initiative to expand Texas film funding: Texas Lights. Texas Lights is a unique regional film financing program that sustains a pipeline of high-quality, groundbreaking independent films. This innovative strategy combines funding for early-career filmmakers while significantly expanding support for Texas’ exceptional mid-career artists.
AFS Founder and Artistic Director Richard Linklater commented: “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. 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.”
The inaugural Texas Lights Grant recipients are selected from a pipeline of Texas artists who had previously received support through the AFS Grants program:
Director Margaret Brown (THE YOGURT SHOP MURDERS) for a new documentary feature project in production, produced by Oscar-winning producer Diane Becker (NAVALNY).
Writer/Director Annie Silverstein (BULL) for a new fiction feature project, produced by Independent Spirit Award-winning producer Monique Walton (BULL, SING SING).
Writer/Director Diffan Sina Norman for SITORA, a “daylight horror” film investigating a collision of belief systems in contemporary Malaysia. SITORA is the first narrative feature to be produced by Armen Aghaeian, Tara Ansley, and Abhi Goel for the just-launched Fangoria Studios.
The new Texas Lights program provides $50,000+ catalytic grants to Texas filmmakers advancing bold, artistically significant work. The program supports filmmakers and projects at meaningful inflection points—where substantial, flexible support can change a film’s trajectory, strengthen an artist’s career, and contribute to a thriving independent film ecosystem in Texas.
The program is led by AFS CEO Rebecca Campbell, Head of Film Holly Herrick, and Sr Director of Texas Lights, Liz Lodge Stepp.
Support for Texas Lights is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Moody Foundation, and Texas Lights members, a group of Texas-based funders backing the future of Texas storytelling. Texas Lights founding members include Beverly Dale, Kiki Lambden-Stout, Howie Lipson and Melissa Kath, Maddi Lucas and Connor Oman, Suzanne Quinn, Shanna and Rob Schanen, Jane Schweppe and Erin Thornton. Texas Lights encompasses project funding, statewide artist outreach, and artist support. It also facilitates direct engagement between filmmakers and funders through the Austin Film Society, a holistic approach that aims to foster important connections between Texas filmmakers and funders in the region. Texas Lights is an initiative of the Austin Film Society and a statewide network. The Fort Worth-based Lone Star Film Society and Round Top Film Festival are official partners of Texas Lights; additional partnerships will be announced as the program grows.
For more information about Texas Lights, go to www.texaslights.org.
The AFS Grant is the open application fund of Texas Lights. This year, the AFS Grant awarded over $160,000 to 14 feature-length projects, each receiving up to $20,000 for pre-production, production, or post-production. This year’s list includes some of the most exciting emerging artists living and working in Texas, including Leo Aguirre’s VERANO, which previously received the 2025-2026 Academy Nichols Fellowship, and Keith Maitland, whose 2018 feature TOWER was Academy-shortlisted.
The AFS Grant fund is celebrating 30 years of successfully identifying and supporting career launches of some of today’s leading talent, including Athina Rachel Tsangari (HARVEST), Jeff Nichols (MUD, LOVING), Cristina Ibarra (THE INFILTRATORS), David & Nathan Zellner (ALPHA GANG), Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley (TRAIN DREAMS, SING SING), Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault (ZURAWSKI VS TEXAS), Chelsea Hernandez (BREAKING THE NEWS), David Lowery (PETE’S DRAGON) producers Monique Walton (SING SING), Rahdi Taylor (TIME, SOUL PATROL) and hundreds more.
The 2026 AFS Grants for Feature Films recipients include:
Leo Aguirre (San Antonio, TX) for Verano, narrative feature in post-production
Special Award: Stuck On On DCP Award
Miguel Alvarez (Austin, TX) for The Return, narrative feature in pre-production
Fernando Andrés (Austin, TX) for The Movie Lovers, narrative feature in production
Alexis Franco (Houston, TX) for Where It All Begins, documentary feature in production
Katy McCarthy (Austin, TX) for The Heart is a Cul-de-sac, narrative feature in production
Keith Maitland (Austin, TX) for Gods of Fire, documentary feature in production
Camille Morales-Zayas (San Antonio, TX) for Alma, narrative feature in pre-production
Special Award: New Texas Voices Award
Sachin Dheeraj Mudigonda (Liberty Hill, TX) for A Silent Wave, narrative feature in post-production.
Special Award: Stuck On On DCP Award
Matthew Q. Nelson (Dallas, TX) for State of Care, documentary feature in production
Special Award: North Texas Pioneer Award
Sara Nimeh (Dallas, TX) for Jedo, narrative feature in pre-production
Special Award: North Texas Pioneer Award
Lanre’ Obisesan (El Paso, TX) for The Orange Seller, narrative feature in production
Travis Lee Ratcliff (Austin, TX) for Under My Command, documentary feature in pre-production
Karen Skloss, co-directed by Douglas Ridloff (Austin, TX) for Interpreter, documentary feature in production
Louise Min Van Assche (Austin, TX), co-director Kwinten Gernay (Brussels, Belgium) for Huntsville Dreams, documentary feature in production
Special Award: MPS Camera and Lighting Award
For more details on the AFS Grant, including background on the panel of jurors, grant demographics, full film descriptions and photos, go to the media kit.
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.
About Texas Lights
Texas Lights is a film financing and artist support initiative built to elevate and sustain independent film in Texas. Operated by the Austin Film Society, a 40+ year champion of independent cinema, Texas Lights connects visionary filmmakers with the capital, resources, and long-term support needed to create ambitious new work. Texas Lights nurtures a regional pipeline of artists and projects of artistic excellence that contribute to global independent film culture and Texas film heritage. Support for Texas Lights was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Moody Foundation, and Texas Lights members, a group of Texas-based funders backing the future of Texas storytelling. Texas Lights offers career advancement and networking opportunities for independent, diverse filmmakers, strengthening Texas as a regional hub for independent film production.
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. More at austinfilm.org.
MEDIA CONTACT
Clare Anne Darragh, Frank PR
clareanne@frankpublicity.com
Maury Sullivan
maury@austinfilm.org
