AFS is not currently accepting new inquiries nor applications for fiscal sponsorship. However, donations to fiscally-sponsored projects are welcomed throughout the year. For questions, please email filmmakersupport@austinfilm.org.
What is a Fiscal Sponsorship?
AFS MAKE Members (and above) can submit their projects for fiscal sponsorship. If approved, the filmmaker can apply through AFS 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. However, fiscal sponsorship is not appropriate for all projects, and in order to qualify, projects must be noncommercial in nature, and the filmmaker may not also raise funds by soliciting investors.
How do I donate to AFS Sponsored Projects?
Interested in donating to an AFS sponsored project? If you know which film you’d like to contribute to, you’re welcome to scroll through the films below – the list is in alphabetical order and easy to navigate. If you don’t have a specific project in mind but are still interested in supporting a local filmmaker, we encourage you to browse through the list. Click on each page for more information on the project and the filmmakers behind the vision.
For more information about the program and how to apply or donate, please contact our Filmmaker Support Team by emailing filmmakersupport@austinfilm.org.
23RD STREET MURAL EXPERIENCE
The 23rd Street Mural was painted 50 years ago on the side of the UT Co-op. It was Austin’s very first mural and public display of art. The people and places in the Austintatious Mural were a reflection of the cultural scene of Austin in 1973. And oh, do they have a story to tell.
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ALEPH
Part experimental arthouse, part philosophical history, ALEPH is a feature film based on the life of an 1800s German mathematician
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ASHES OF THE MOUNTAIN
At the brink of death, a young man confronts his mortality and discovers the meaning of life during a treacherous journey to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
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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.
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BRAIN IN PROGRESS
BRAIN IN PROGRESS is a docuseries directed and presented by Seema Mathur, an award-winning medical journalist and filmmaker. Never has
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BREAKING THE NEWS
BREAKING THE NEWS documents the first years of a revolutionary news startup that is challenging the status quo of the
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CALL HER GANDA
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.
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CHILD OF WOE
On the brink of graduation, an arrogant student’s career plans are upended and he is
forced to spend a stifling summer navigating relationships, pressures and desires he
didn’t know existed.
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CRYING LAUGHING: THE STORY OF THE ONION
From the filmmakers behind Winnebago Man and Chop & Steele comes a feature length comedy documentary about the trials and tribulations of America’s finest news source, THE ONION.
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DON’T YOU GO NOWHERE
A jazz dynamo belts his way through his weekly set until he makes an unexpected connection with an audience member
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EXIT STRATEGY: FROM SCARED TO SACRED
Exit Strategy: From Scared to Sacred is a feature documentary exploring the death positive movement, a philosophy that encourages open dialogue about feelings surrounding death.
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FATAL WATERS
With no federal oversight and few regulations, low-head dams drown dozens of people annually in the United States. This feature documentary highlights life of former Marine, Rodney
Buentello, who drowned in 2016 saving two teens at a low head dam in Texas, and showcases volunteers working for greater dam safety.
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FOR THE RECORD
In a small Texas Panhandle town, which over the decades has lived through oil booms and busts, devastating wildfires, and
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GOOD NIGHT BLUES: THE DONN’S DEPOT STORY
A civil engineer and an Elvis-loving, piano-playing tire salesman transform an abandoned train depot & some derelict rail cars into an oasis of community, friendship & music.
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SPARED
30 years after the Genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, Clementine, a survivor turned professor and agent of change, embarks on a transformative journey back to her homeland to confront her past, in search of healing and forgiveness. “Spared” is the story of resilience, faith, hope, and the endless capacity for humanity’s love to overcome humanity’s evils.
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GRIT & GRACE: HOW JEWISH WOMEN BUILT A BETTER TEXAS
GRIT & GRACE transcends the traditional Texas historical narrative, exploring the impact of forward thinking and influential Jewish women on the Lone Star State. It is a meditation on the delicate and often complicated relationship of female, Jewish and Texan identities.
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HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS
An anxious, aging millennial Arab-American Austin transplant goes on a mission to find the platonic love of her life after realizing she’s never had one lasting female friend, but will have to figure out how to befriend herself first.
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HUNTSVILLE
A father and son renegotiate their roles on the day of the father’s prison release.
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LEADS
In this semi-improvised sibling-rivalry comedy-drama, an acting professor who very nearly but never quite “made it” in her own career
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LIMINAL SPACE
Liminal Space exposes the healing potential of pregnancy, and explores the intersection of maternal health and Traumatic Brain Injury research, where emerging neuroscience and the phenomenal power of pregnancy converge.
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LIVING SPRINGS
LIVING SPRINGS is an interactive documentary about Barton Springs, Austin’s most beloved natural resource.
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MR. JERRY
A vulnerable octogenarian is trapped inside his nursing home in Austin, Texas during an endless 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. Determined to
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NEWBIES
Two broken strangers wrestling with identity meet on the subway just after midnight. A poignant journey through the past few hours of their night reveals how they got here, and what broke them.
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ON DYING OF DEMENTIA IN A CAPITALIST SYSTEM
Personal and political merge in a short animation documentary that takes an intimate look at both the business and the humanity of dying.
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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.
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SHARK COWBOYS
SHARK COWBOYS explores the humongous effort of everyday Texans working to save the sharks of the Gulf of Mexico through a thrilling conservation tournament known as Sharkathon.
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TAKE IT AND COME
In 2016, a group of young women at UT Austin expose the absurdity of Texas’s Campus Carry bill with an absurd display of their own: a dildo protest. With brazen spirits and occasional naïveté, these young women take a stand for what they believe in and navigate what it takes to be an activist in the internet age.
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TONKAWA: THEY ALL STAY TOGETHER
With its fiercely unique culture, the Tonkawa tribe who dominated much of Texas before being pushed to the brink of extinction, have overcome much to grow their numbers. Those who remain today strive to rediscover who they are as a tribe, while preserving their language, culture, and way of life.
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TUFF ENUFF: THE STORY OF THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS
This ain’t your regular documentary…it’s a quirky and strange as the town these Fabulous Thunderbirds corralled into the huge megalopolis music center we know today.
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TUSHURAI: THOSE WHO STAY
Every fall, the only road to Tusheti in the Caucasus Mountains closes for 7 months. Irakli, an 82-year-old mountain doctor, makes house calls on horseback to his dwindling ancestral population that chooses to stay.
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VINYL GENERATION
In 1980s Czechoslovakia an emerging generation took inspiration from alternative culture to create their own worldview, politics and eventually, a revolution.
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WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND
WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND follows Julian Moreno, the 89-year-old grandfather of filmmaker Iliana Sosa, on his monthly journey from Mexico
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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.
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WHERE THE TREES BEAR MEAT
WHERE THE TREES BEAR MEAT tells a parallel story of two families of gauchos and talks about the vulnerability of human life in the immensity of nature.
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