Some of the most recognizable and distinguished names from Austin’s indie filmmaking community are among the talents announced as recipients of this year’s AFS Grant for Feature Films, with $122,000 being awarded to 18 upcoming projects from around Texas.
Since it was founded in 1996 as the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund, the program has handed out over $2.7 million to a total of 533 filmmakers and had an immeasurable impact on the industry as a whole. Prior recipients have included such notable names as David Lowery (The Green Knight, Pete’s Dragon), Kat Candler (13 Reasons Why, Hellion), Channing Godfrey Peoples (Miss Juneteenth), Annie Silverstein (Bull), and Keith Maitland (Tower). It’s aimed at both established filmmakers and those on their first projects, such as Iliana Sosa (What We Leave Behind) and Katherine Propper (Lost Soulz).
This year’s lineup definitely includes some recognizable local names, such as Bryan Poyser (Lovers of Hate, Love & Air Sex), who has just wrapped a series of work-in-progress screenings for his first feature in 11 years, academic comedy Leads. Not only did it receive a grant, but the film was also honored with a Stuck On On DCP award, which will cover the cost of DCP conversion for the finalized film.
However, the program isn’t just for films currently in production. It also goes to help projects under development, and that aspect of the funding is helping two projects from Austin filmmakers. Yen Tan follows up his 2018 feature 1985 with his upcoming Asian Night, while veteran director and editor Karen Skloss (The Honor Farm) teams with Cassie Hay Queens of Pain, The Liberators on an as-yet-unnamed project about musical interpreters.
Yet it’s not just familiar names in the mix. Newcomers include Justin Jay Jones, who also picks up a North Texas Pioneer Film Award for his documentary on Parkinson’s disease, On Firm Ground. William F. Reed also makes the list with another documentary, this time about two young filmmakers, currently in post-production under the title Teenage Supernovas.
However, just because the program is administered by the Austin Film Society, that doesn’t mean it’s solely for Austin filmmakers and Austin films. While 11 of the 18 recipients are based in Austin (a reflection of the strength of the local scene), this year’s recipients stretch from Dallas to San Antonio, El Paso to Conroe. They tell stories that are equally diverse, from the cotton farms of the panhandle in Garrett Forbes’ Sandfighter to Pflugerville’s historical researchers, as celebrated in Funmi Ogunro’s documentary Austin Black Freedom Communities. And just because the filmmakers must be resident to Texas, that doesn’t mean their stories are restricted to the Lone Star State. They can even reach as far as Vietnam, the ultimate destination for the subjects of Where the Sun Sets from Aí Vuong and Samuel Díaz Fernández.
AFS CEO Rebecca Campbell said, “The AFS Grant is one of the few funding opportunities in existence for Texas artists working in any style or genre of film. … By supporting emerging talent at a crucial stage in their creative journey, we aim to amplify important voices in our flourishing regional film community. The AFS Grant is at the center of everything we do at AFS. It reminds us annually that artists are at the leading edge of culture and that it takes a community of support to ensure they can share their vision with the world.”
Find the full list of recipients below.
Projects in Production
Austin Black Freedom Communities
D: Funmi Ogunro (Pflugerville, TX)
Documentary Feature in Post-Production
In the aftermath of the Civil War, formerly enslaved African Americans forged resilient Freedom Communities across Texas, including more than 13 vibrant enclaves in Austin, Texas. Austin Black Freedom Communities delves into this forgotten history through the stories of descendants from these communities.
Biological Exuberance
D: Kelly Daniela Norris (Austin, TX)
Documentary Feature in Production
Biological Exuberance celebrates the diversity of gender and sexuality in nature and exposes its history of suppression by the scientific community.
Cohetes
D: Drew Saplin (Austin, TX)
Narrative Feature in Post-Production
A rookie pyrotechnician assembles a group of townies to transport a truckload of volatile, illegal fireworks down the Texas Coast on the Fourth of July without getting caught or killed.
Confessions of a Menopausal Man
D: Sachin Dheeraj Mudigonda (Conroe, TX)
Narrative Feature in Pre-Production
An optimistic farmer with early-onset dementia leaves his ancestral land for a city job to support his pregnant wife, recording heartfelt voice messages to his unborn child as India’s shift to renewable energy clouds his future.
El Tonto Por Cristo
D: Josh David Jordan (Dallas, TX)
Narrative Feature in Post-Production — North Texas Pioneer Award
A monk in a monastery on the coast of Texas embraces the life of a holy fool.
Immortal
D: Michael Rowley (Dallas)
Documentary Feature in Production — North Texas Pioneer Award
Following the groundbreaking creation of an immortal heart cell in his lab, a world-renowned stem cell researcher is accused of a murder-suicide. When his only daughter strives to clear his name by enlisting the help of a documentary filmmaker, the twisted path to the truth becomes personal.
Jill Takes A Break
D: Liz Cardenas (Dallas, TX)
Narrative Feature in Pre-Production — North Texas Pioneer Award
Carefree and wild Jill finally takes control of her future by buying the dive bar she’s worked at for years. When she’s unexpectedly hit with a health crisis, she’s forced to examine what she truly wants that future to be.
Leads
D: Bryan Poyser (Austin, TX)
Narrative Feature in Post-Production — Stuck On On DCP Award
An acting professor has her life upended when her charming but volatile baby brother joins her acting class.
Lepes
D: Rayell Abad Guangorena (El Paso, TX)
Narrative Feature in Post-Production
In the absence of his workaholic mother, Pedro takes refuge in the friendly company of the employees of a funeral home. It will be Samo, the embalmer, who will help him navigate between the hustle and bustle of school and the awakening of love.
Not Fade Away
D: Jim Mendiola (San Antonio, TX)
Documentary Feature in Production
Part archive project, part essay film, Not Fade Away tells the history of San Antonio’s storied Mexican-American West Side through VHS home movies shot by its residents, archival photos, and interviews. Narrated by the filmmaker’s story of moving into the neighborhood after 20 years in California, the film explores a gentrifying 150-year-old community on the brink of disappearance.
On Firm Ground
D: Justin Jay Jones (Austin, TX)
Documentary Feature in Production — North Texas Pioneer Award
In a race against time, two people battling Parkinson’s disease embark on a journey of hope as they undergo brain surgery to reclaim their lives. Meanwhile, fueled by personal loss, their devoted friend leads a determined charge to raise awareness for the disease in an inspiring fight for a cure.
Sandfighter
D: Garrett Forbes (Austin, TX)
Documentary Feature in Post-Production — MPS Camera And Lighting Austin Award
A fourth-generation cotton farmer in the Texas Panhandle is torn between economic and environmental sustainability as he fights to secure his family’s future against looming environmental collapse.
Teenage Supernovas (Working Title)
D: William F. Reed (Austin, TX)
Documentary Feature in Post-Production
Armed with nothing but a camera and a dream, two 13-year-old girls navigate the labyrinth of film production, from backyard sets to professional studios, in their quest to make their sci-fi feature film, Nova. What begins as a childhood dream turns into a poignant exploration of friendship, ambition, and loss.
Walker
D: Amy Bench (Austin, TX)
Documentary Feature in Post-Production
Walker is a verité portrait of a deaf advocate and father from Baton Rouge driven by his family’s experiences to help those affected by incarceration.
Where The Sun Sets
D: Aí Vuong and Samuel Díaz Fernández (Austin, TX)
Documentary Feature in Pre-Production
A young ethnic-Khmer dancer returns to her hometown in Vietnam to perform Apsara at the annual water festival. As she travels across the Mekong, her memories and dreams are interwoven with parallel lives in borderland communities across Thailand and Cambodia.
Yren
D: Tania Cattebeke Laconich (Austin, TX)
Documentary Feature in Post-Production — New Texas Voices Award and Stuck On On DCP Award
Yren follows trans-activist Yren Rotela in conservative Paraguay, where the life expectancy for a trans person is around 35 years. Yren and her peers take action to self-sustain Casa Diversa, the only TLGBQ+ home shelter in the country, while they fight for their rights and to build a better future.
Projects in Development
Asian Night
D: Yen Tan (Austin, TX)
Narrative Feature in Development
Untitled Music Interpreter Project
Directors: Cassie Hay and Karen Skloss (Austin, TX)
Documentary Feature in Development
This article appears in September 13 • 2024.
