AFS MAKE members can submit their projects for fiscal sponsorship. If approved, the filmmaker can use AFS’s 501 (c)(3) status as an “umbrella” when applying to government granting agencies and foundations that will only grant funds to non-profit organizations. Fiscally sponsored projects can also solicit tax-deductible donations from private individuals and businesses. Fiscal sponsorship is not appropriate for all projects. In order to qualify, the projects must be noncommercial in nature and the filmmaker may not also raise funds by soliciting investors. For more information about the program and about how to apply, please contact the AFS Artist Services department by emailing artistservices@austinfilm.org.
EXTERNAL GRANT SUBMISSION FORM *Please only fill this out if you are already an AFS fiscally sponsored project. If you are planning to submit to a grant, please use this form so we can evaluate your request. Please allow 4-6 weeks in order to process your request. We cannot guarantee approval for last minute requests. Thank you for your understanding.
A STRIKE AND AN UPRISING
An experimental documentary looking at the San Antonio pecan shellers’ strike of 1938 and the Jobs with Justice march led by Nacogdoches cafeteria workers, groundskeepers, and housekeepers in 1987.
Learn More
ALSO STARRING AUSTIN
ALSO STARRING AUSTIN explores a community’s rapidly changing built & natural environment and unique culture through its locally shot films.
Learn More
KAREN SKLOSS’ UNTITLED ICE FILM
Karen Skloss’ UNTITLED ICE FILM will be a 5-7 minute film about the institutionally systemic sexual abuse of immigration detainees under ICE.
Learn More
BAGATELLE
BAGATELLE is a social satire art-house film in the vein of masterworks of Otar Iosseliani, Luis Buñuel, and Pierre Étaix, who are major influences.
Learn More
BORN WITH IT
With a pool of 46 talented grandchildren to choose from, legendary bluesman R.L. Burnside chose 13-year-old Cedric as apprentice.
Learn More
BUILDING THE AMERICAN DREAM
Uncovers the story of the virtually invisible undocumented construction workers upon whose backs and hard labor the boom is built.
Learn More
COME AND TAKE IT: THE JESSICA JIN STORY
COME AND TAKE IT: THE JESSICA JIN STORY captures the transformation of a young woman to leadership of America’s most inspired anti-gun violence movement called Cocks Not Glocks.
Learn More
EVENT OF THE SEASON
Burning a living, breathing human being at the stake is never simply a matter of murder or lynching. It’s an act of terror, monstrosity and madness, and the resultant damage, in terms of moral, cultural and sociological ruin are hardly quantifiable.
Learn More
Experimental Response Cinema
Experimental Response Cinema is an Austin-based collective of artists, devoted to bringing moving-image art to screens throughout our city.
Learn More
GOOD ‘OL GIRL
There is a steady rise of Texas women inheriting family ranches from their fathers.
Learn More
I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU LOVE ME
I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU LOVE ME is a tragi-comedic story told between two weddings; one exceptional and the other legal.
Learn More
IN THE AIR
IN THE AIR plays in three movements built around a continuous musical score, visually expansive or intimate by turns, carrying us through sunset (the past), night (the present), and sunrise (the future) on the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast.
Learn More
THE INCIDENT AT THE BELLWOOD SCHOOLHOUSE
Carl Beesley, my grandfather, accidentally shot and killed a 9-year-old boy during a school play. Eighty-years after my grandfather’s incident, my brother Tim accidentally shot and killed a man. The Incident at Bellwood Schoolhouse discoveries how these tragic events are connected.
Learn More
UNTITLED JENNIFER LAUDE DOCUMENTARY
Grassroots activists in the Philippines are spurred into action when a local transgender woman is found dead in a motel room with a 19-year-old U.S. marine as the leading suspect.
Learn More
LESLIE
LESLIE is a hybrid documentary that reveals the inner and bizarre world of Albert Leslie Cochran, a rebellious, cross-dressing homeless man who became the most unlikely civic symbol of Austin, Texas.
Learn More
LIVING SPRINGS
LIVING SPRINGS is an interactive documentary about Barton Springs, Austin’s most beloved natural resource.
Learn More
MAJOR
In August 1899 Marshall ‘Major’ Taylor became the first African-American World Champion in any sport.
Learn More
FIGHTING FAIR
“FIGHTING FAIR” is a documentary film that will provide a context-driven look at transgender athletes and their evolving role in sports and society.
Learn More
PORVENIR, TEXAS
THE MASSACRE AT PORVENIR is an expository documentary detailing the historical events surrounding the killing of fifteen innocent people in Porvenir, Texas in 1918.
Learn More
FOXY TROT
FOXY TROT is a lighthearted, romantic comedy about a lesbian couple who take beginning ballroom dance lessons in Austin, TX.
Learn More
INQUIRER: GENE ROBERTS AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF NEWSPAPERS
INQUIRER tells the story of the legendary newspaper editor Gene Roberts, often called the best editor in the country at a time when newspapers had unprecedented resources and impact.
Learn More
RETURN TO SENDER
RETURN TO SENDER is a documentary film that explores the public policy and practical challenges of providing real world services to prisoners as they prepare for re-entry and reintegration into society.
Learn More
ROSA
Rosa is about a young Mexican-American aspiring actress, who finds out just as she is about to enter college, that she is undocumented and ineligible for student aid.
Learn More
SEADRIFT
In 1979, the fatal shooting of a white crabber in a small Texas fishing village ignites a maelstrom of hostilities against Vietnamese fishing communities along the Gulf Coast.
Learn More
SEEKERS
In April of 2012, three families stepped out of their urban homes, locked their doors, and began a journey that would take them into the remote forests of Northern Wisconsin for an entire year.
Learn More
THE SEER: A PORTRAIT OF WENDELL BERRY
Wendell Berry, poet and prophet of rural America, looks through a forty-paned window. A long-time advocate for land stewardship, sustainable farming, local economies and rootedness to place, Berry challenges us to imagine a better, healthier, saner world.
Learn More
THE SENSITIVES
THE SENSITIVES is an intimate, verité film focused on families put to the test by an unknown illness.
Learn More
SPEAK FOR ME
SPEAK FOR ME is the story of Texas women speaking out for reproductive justice.
Learn More
STUMPED
When filmmaker Will Lautzenheiser suddenly becomes a quadrilateral amputee, he turns to stand-up comedy as therapy.
Learn More
THROUGH THE REPELLENT FENCE: A LAND ART FILM
THROUGH THE REPELLENT FENCE: A LAND ART FILM follows art collective Postcommodity as they strive to construct Repellent Fence, a two-mile long outdoor artwork that straddled the U.S.-Mexico border.
Learn More
THE TROUBLE WITH RAY
Highlights the life and 40-year career of gay and civil rights activist Ray Hill and his trajectory from out Texas quarterback in 1958 to 74 year-old advocate, working to stay relevant in a world he’s helped change.
Learn More
UNTITLED ISRAELI FOOTBALL PROJECT
With ten teams throughout the country, the Kraft Family Israel Football League is a thriving collective of disparate nationalities, religions, ages and skill levels all united with the goal of playing American Football in the Holy Land.
Learn More
VINYL GENERATION
In 1980s Czechoslovakia an emerging generation took inspiration from alternative culture to create their own worldview, politics and eventually, a revolution.
Learn More
WHEN WE WERE LIVE
WHEN WE WERE LIVE is a feature length documentary about the pioneers of Austin’s public access television in the 80’s and 90’s.
Learn More
FAILING FORWARD: ON THE ROAD TO SOCIAL IMPACT
This short documentary profiles a nonprofit organization using rigorous data collection and analysis to achieve meaningful changes in the lives of the people it serves.
Learn More
THE ACT OF READING
A retired high school English teacher is confronted by a former student who failed her class 15 years prior. He then involves her in a feature-length documentary about Moby-Dick and the science of reading.
Learn More
NOTHING STAYS THE SAME: THE STORY OF THE SAXON PUB
A feature-length documentary that explores the challenges – and triumphs – faced by musicians and
music venues in a rapidly growing city as seen through the lens of Austin’s Saxon Pub.
Learn More
NOTHIN’ NO BETTER
Nothin’ No Better is a series of cinematic portraits, each one a glimpse into the life and perspective of a different member of the community of Rosedale, in the Mississippi Delta region.
Learn More
BETO VS. CRUZ: THE FIGHT FOR 2018
Incumbent Ted Cruz (R) faces long shot challenger Beto O’Rourke (D) in a fight to represent a polarized Texas electorate and tip the balance of power in the US Senate.
Learn More
