Austin Film Festival (Oct. 29-Nov. 5) continues its dual reputations as the last festival stop on the way to award season and the place for writers to meet and be celebrated with its latest announcement, starting with the latest project from the creator of The Incredibles.
Oscar winner Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Iron Giant, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) will not only be present for the Texas premiere of his eagerly awaited animated sci-fi noir Ray Gunn to the festival, but he will also be the recipient of the festival’s 2026 Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award.
He won’t be the only award-winner bringing his latest project to the festival. Andrew Haigh, recipient of this year’s Writer’s Writer Award, will present the Texas premiere of his new family drama, A Long Winter, starring Fred Hechinger (the Fear Street trilogy) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear, Fantastic Four: First Steps) and based on the Colm Tóibín short story of the same name.
As always, writers remain central to the festival through its Writers Conference, running over opening weekend. Playwright turned filmmaker Aleshea Harris will not only join Bird and Haigh at the award lunch where she will receive the 2026 New Voice Award, but she will also be discussing her debut feature, Is God Is, and its transformation from an Off-Broadway sensation to one of the year’s most intriguing first films.
Praising the honorees, AFF Co-founder and Executive Director Barbara Morgan said, “Brad Bird, Andrew Haigh, and Aleshea Harris have each built careers by cultivating a distinctive point of view, and we see that same instinct across the films and writers we’re bringing to Austin this year. At this year’s Writers Conference, we will bring together these programmed filmmakers, veteran producers, groundbreaking showrunners, and visionary screenwriters to inspire and be inspired by the next generation.”
With dozens more panels to be announced, the conference side of programming doesn’t just center around award winners. This year’s full lineup will be released in the next few months, but AFF has already announced that John Hamburg will be on hand to discuss writing Meet the Parents and its upcoming sequel, Focker-in-Law. Meanwhile, the many fans of breakout cozy murder mystery The Sheep Detectives will want to flock together when writer Craig Mazin and producer Lindsay Doran talk about one of this year’s most beloved films.
But while AFF celebrates film writers, it also showcases their movies, including some of the biggest upcoming titles. Aside from Ray Gunn, which features the voice talents of Oscar winner Sam Rockwell and two-time Oscar nominee Scarlett Johansson, Austin audiences will get their first look at I Play Rocky, Peter Farrelly’s recounting of how the legendary boxing movie’s hard luck story mirrored the very real experiences of Sylvester Stallone (Anthony Ippolito) in getting his movie made on his terms.
The fest will also feature the Texas premiere of Behemoth!, a very different project for two Star Wars alums, with Tony Gilroy (Andor) directing Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) in the story of a musician returning to Los Angeles after 20 years to examine his past.
Music also plays a major part in Bleeding Hearts, a Texas movie that gets its Lone Star state homecoming as real-life couple Zella Day and Jesse Woods of Austin’s own Chaparelle open their lives to documentarian Andrew Morgan (Texas, USA).
Today’s lineup drop also includes world premieres for a slate of new movies, including Jewish supernatural comedy Omi, feminist thriller Sheepwell, and a new twist on the Western with The Stalemate, starring Ben Foster, Shea Whigham, and Tony Hale.
Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference runs Oct. 28-Nov. 5. Passes and info at austinfilmfestival.com.
Now here’s the full list of films added to the lineup today:
BEHEMOTH!
Written/directed by Tony Gilroy
Texas Premiere
A gifted cellist, Alex Serian (Pedro Pascal), returns home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road. Music, which has been the constant, all-consuming river of his life, begins to carry Alex on an adventure that will change him forever. Starring Pedro Pascal, Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Alexa Swinton, Kaya Ralls, Erik Griffin, JoBeth Williams, Margarita Levieva, Hank Azaria, Will Arnett.
BLEEDING HEARTS
Directed by Andrew Morgan
Texas Premiere
A music-driven love story about the real-life couple Zella Day and Jesse Woods, the musicians behind the emerging band Chaparelle. Following their first year together, the film captures the joy and uncertainty of chasing a shared dream while navigating pressures that could spark their breakup — or their breakthrough.
CHOPIN
Written/directed by Vincent Lin
World Premiere
A second-generation Taiwanese American returns to his small American hometown to reconnect with the workaholic father he barely knows, Starring Eddie Liu, Violett Beane, Leon Dai, Min Wu, Michael Bow, Jake Manley, Janet Hsieh.
A LONG WINTER
Written/directed by Andrew Haigh
Texas Premiere
In 1951, high in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, Mike’s world is thrown into uncertainty when his mother vanishes into the wilderness. Alongside his complicated father, and with their small mountain community rallying together against the unforgiving winter, Mike embarks on a search that leads him toward an unexpected journey of self-discovery, belonging and the quiet strength required to carry on. Starring Fred Hechinger, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Caitríona Balfe, Kit Connor, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.
OMI
Written by Adam Lebowitz-Lockard
Directed by Emily Lerer
World Premiere
When a millennial mensch pops the question to his shiksa girlfriend, he becomes possessed by the spirit of his dead Yiddish grandma, who has plans of her own… Starring Adam Lebowitz-Lockard, Dree Hemingway, Bunny Levine, Connie Shi, Jonathan Fishman, Dalia Rooni, Shane Paul McGhie, Ken Lerner, Brooks Wheelan.
I PLAY ROCKY
Written by Peter Gamble
Directed by Peter Farrelly
Texas Premiere
The film is an electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write Rocky – he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told “no” at every turn, Sylvester Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds. The result is the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie. Starring Anthony Ippolito, Matt Dillon, AnnaSophia Robb, P.J. Byrne, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass, Stephan James, Kiki Seto.
RATED
Co-written by John Fortson & Christie Lynn Smith
Directed by John Fortson
World Premiere
Maggie, an overwhelmed, menopausal mother of two, must find the courage to own up to her bad behavior when she wakes to discover all adults have been RATED with Yelp-like stars floating over their heads. While most everyone has a shining 4 or 5 stars, Maggie’s got just 2.5! As Maggie’s life spirals and with the real threat of losing her family, she embarks on a hilarious and poignant journey from selfishness to selflessness. Starring Christie Lynn Smith, Abby Ryder Fortson, John Fortson, Joshua Fortson, Spencer Garrett, Dale Dickey.
RAY GUNN
Co-written by Brad Bird and Matthew Robbins
Directed by Brad Bird
Texas Premiere
In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova. Starring Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits.
SHEEPWELL
Co-written by Kim Caicedo & Danielle DeMatteo
Directed by Kim Caicedo
World Premiere
In the middle of the night in rural Alabama, a naked man stumbles upon the home of a whiskey-drinking, shotgun-wielding novelist and her daughter. As they offer him cautious shelter – convinced he is hiding something while guarding a secret of their own – their fragile act of mercy tightens into a high-stakes battle over trust and authority, where only one side will prevail. Inspired by the Lope de Vega play, Fuenteovejuna, this shocking feminist thriller reveals what happens when an overconfident traveler messes with the wrong women. Starring Michole Briana White, Connor Paolo, Alix Lapri, Denise Grayson, Lauren Elizabeth Harris, John Carey, Mark Ryan Anderson.
THE STALEMATE
Written/directed by Nicholas Arioli
World Premiere
Out of bullets and far from town, a robber and a sheriff must negotiate their way out of an absurd, unending chase in the Old West. A comedy. Sort of. Starring Ben Foster, Manny Jacinto, Fiona Shaw, Jeremy Bobb, Anthony Carrigan, Paul Sparks, Shea Whigham, Giorgia Whigham, Tony Hale.
TIGERMOM ACADEMY
Co-written by Neil Garguilo, Michelle Krusiec, and Shawn Shao-Wen Chou
Directed by Shawn Shao-Wen Chou
World Premiere
A family comedy about a desperate housewife who joins a cult of Tiger Moms to discipline her rebellious children. Starring Zhang Jingchu, Michelle Krusiec, Ken Jeong, Nathalie Boltt, Lochlyn Munro.
