Austin Film Society Announces 2022 Filmmaker Grant Recipients
By Richard Whittaker, September 9, 2022, 9:00pm, Picture in Picture
For over two and a half decades, the AFS Filmmaker Grants having been changing careers and lives by giving essential funding to projects around Texas. Now the latest list of recipients has been announced by the Austin Film Society.
Founded in 1996 as the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund, the grants have become a pivotal stepping stone in the careers of many filmmakers, including David Lowery (The Green Knight, Pete’s Dragon) and Kat Candler (13 Reasons Why, Hellion), and played a pivotal role in the development and production of films including Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth, Annie Silverstein’s Bull, Keith Maitland’s Tower, and Iliana Sosa's SXSW-award winning What We Leave Behind, which begins its theatrical run at the AFS Cinema this weekend.
This year's list includes 11 projects by 14 directors, with eight of this films being feature debuts. However, the program is dedicated to not just funding films and filmmakers, but providing more opportunities for historically underrepresented groups. This year, 50% of the recipients are female-identifying, and 79% identify with a community of color (for example, the fifth annual the New Texas Voices Award a cash grant of $10,000 and industry mentorship, for a first-time filmmaker of color making a feature-length film, goes to Estefanía Contreras and Silvia Castaños with their documentary feature, Hummingbirds).The AFS Grants also go to filmmakers around the state: while there are projects from Austin (still the heart of the Lone Star film industry), there are recipients from as far afield as Laredo and Georgetown, Houston and Celina. That includes the three films receiving support from the North Texas Pioneer Film Fund (presented in partnership with Ley Line Entertainment, David Lowery, and the Oak Cliff Film Festival) dedicated to filmmakers in the Metroplex and beyond.
Of course, Austin makes a strong showing, with some familiar names: Katherine Propper, who follows up her critically-lauded shorts "Birds" and Street Flame" with rap drama Lost Soulz; the directing duo of Huay-Bing Law and Sam Mohney who jump from shorts and music videos for a rap comedy, The Motion; PJ Raval, whose latest untitled documentary takes him back to the Philipines, where he filmed his last feature, Call Her Ganda; and Don Swaynos, back for his first feature since 2013's Pictures of Superheroes, documentary Professional Texan
Celebrating the recipients, AFS CEO Rebecca Campbell said, "The AFS Grant is the only film fund of its kind – it supports Texas-based filmmakers to make their own films. For 26 years, this grant has been laying the groundwork for a thriving, inclusive film culture in Texas. The funding provides a baseline of support that filmmakers can depend on, and defines our vision for a Texas film community that is a welcoming, supportive place for independent filmmakers of all backgrounds to bring ambitious creative projects to life.”
Here's the full list of recipients: congratulations to all.
FEATURE FILM PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
THE CHRISTMAS CARD
D: Lucy Kerr (Austin)
Experimental Narrative in Post
The Christmas Card Follows a sprawling Texas family on a morning when they've planned to take a family photo for their annual Christmas Card. As the scheduled photo op approaches, the family begins to lose themselves.
LOST SOULZ*
D: Katherine Propper (Austin)
Narrative Feature in post production
A young rapper leaves everything behind and embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery, music, and friendship in the heart of Texas.
THE MOTION
D: Huay-Bing Law (Austin) and Sam Mohney (Austin)
Narrative in Development
A mid-30s aspiring parody rapper is performing a set at a music festival with other rising artists and has the chance to achieve his dream of being finally signed to a record label. But in the two hours between sound check and performance, he must put out the fires in his personal and professional relationships, all while writing a new last-second track that will redefine him as a true artist.
PROFESSIONAL TEXAN
D: Don Swaynos (Austin)
Documentary in Development
A possibly fictional true crime documentary about an unemployed billionaire and his 45 ex-wives.
TONKAWA: THEY ALL STAY TOGETHER
D: Andrew Richey (Georgetown)
Documentary Feature in Production
With its fiercely unique culture, the Tonkawa tribe that once dominated much of Texas finds its existence hanging by a thread. Those who remain strive to rediscover who they are as a tribe, while preserving their language, culture, and way of life.
UNTITLED PHILIPPINES PROJECT
D: PJ Raval (Austin)
Documentary Feature in Production
A new feature documentary by PJ Raval (Call Her Ganda).
WHERE THE TREES BEAR MEAT
D: Alexis Franco (Houston)
Documentary in Production
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.
New Texas Voices Award
HUMMINGBIRDS*
D: Estefanía Contreras (Laredo) and Silvia Castaños (Laredo)
Documentary Feature in Post Production
In this late-night summer self portrait, Silvia Castaños and Estefanía Contreras make magic of everyday moments coming of age on the Texas-Mexico border.
North Texas Pioneer Award
PRECIOUS CARGO
D: Hammad Rizvi (Richardson)
Narrative Feature in Development
After his pregnant wife suddenly disappears, an immigrant student sets out to find the truth but instead unravels deeper secrets.
STATE CHAMPS EAT FREE
D: Adriane McCray (Dallas)
Narrative Feature in Production
State Champs Eat Free is a cultural coming-of-age story set in the competitive club soccer & varsity soccer worlds of Texas. We follow five girls with a shared dream of bringing home a title. Together, they grow into women and work to fight for their wins – both on and off the field. Tensions arise when they discover they may not want the same things in life. Also recipient of the MPS Camera and Lighting Austin Grant.
STEM ROOTS
D: LaTasha Taylor Starr (Dallas) and Ariel Leslie (Celina)
Documentary Feature in Production
From the first slave passage to present day, most of African American history has been lost and/or destroyed and reduced to minimum contributions towards building this country. Due to the purging of an entire ethnic group's identity, many African Americans identify and assimilate with Native American History or simply to being black in America and nothing more. Fortunately, history stored in DNA isn't as easily destroyable.
*Also recipients of Stuck On On DCP Grants
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