Film Competition 2002

Celebrate the Visions
From Script to Screen

"After one packed-house screening at the AFF my phone was ringing off the hook from people and companies I would have dreamed of talking to a week before. Regardless of what happens over the next week, people should know a good screening at the AFF can give you the break you dreamed of…That is, as a small time filmmaker you have to find the festival that will take a chance on your film and promote it. For me that was the AFF" -- Alex Holdridge, writer/director, Wrong Number, Best Showcase Feature Film, Sundance Channel/Time Warner Audience Award Winner.

"I'll never forget my experience at the AFF. It truly is one of the best festivals I've ever been to and I was so glad to be part of it. Austin is a beautiful city. I can't wait to go back with a film or just to go watch films at the festival and meet the filmmakers. The conference makes all the difference (along with the bar in the lobby of that fantastic hotel - I can't remember the name). It's a priceless part of the festival. I really learned a lot." Babak Shokrian, writer/director of America So Beautiful, 2001 Feature Film Competition

The winter, 2001 issue of MovieMaker Magazine ranks Austin #5 among the top ten cities in North America for independent filmmakers. 

The Austin Film Festival is an 8-day celebration of narrative film and filmmakers who, through creativity, dedication and tenacity, have realized their visions from script to screen. At the Festival, you will meet distributors and producers' reps in the casual, friendly atmosphere that the Festival provides. Additionally, Austin film audiences are some of the most savvy and supportive found anywhere. In the last four years, all of the Festival's Feature Film Audience Award winners have received distribution as a result of their Festival screenings. 

Each year over 80 feature-length and short films screen at the Festival.  In the past, regional and world premieres of critically acclaimed films include: Big Bad Love, Brotherhood of the Wolf, The Business of Strangers, Donnie Darko, Grateful Dawg, Lakeboat, Novocaine and Waking Life rounding out the selections. Past festival screenings include Before Night Falls, Billy Elliot, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Dr. T and the Women, Shadow of the Vampire and State and Main.

Past attendees include Robert Altman, Wes Anderson, James L. Brooks, Sandra Bullock, David Chase, Joel & Ethan Coen, Wes Craven, Russell Crowe, Gary David Goldberg, Buck Henry, Tobe Hooper, Dennis Hopper, Mike Judge, Lawrence Kasdan, John Landis, Lyle Lovett, Paul Mazursky, Matthew McConaughey, Chris McQuarrie, Alexander Payne, Frank Pierson, Polly Platt, Robert Rodriguez, Gary Ross, Eric Roth, David O. Russell, Paul Schrader, Bryan Singer, Whit Stillman, Oliver Stone, Ted Tally, Jim Taylor, Robert Towne, Robert Townsend, Andrew Kevin Walker, Fred Williamson, Owen Wilson, and Steven Zaillian. 

Past Film Judges include 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Debra Hill Productions, FilmThreat, HBO, ICM, IFilm, MTV Films, New Market, Sony Pictures Classics, The Sundance Channel, Tri-Mark Pictures, and William Morris. 

PRIZES (1 winner per category):

All Competition Filmmakers receive: 
• two screenings of their film October 10-17; 
• ten complimentary tickets to each of the film's screenings; 
• the film featured in the 2002 AFF Program Book;
• two complimentary All-Access Producers Passes to the 2002

Austin Film Festival, which provide admission to all panels, October 10-13, all films October 10-17, invitations to the Opening Night Premiere and Reception at the historic Paramount Theatre, invitations to the Filmmakers Happy Hour, and invitations to the Governor's Mansion BBQ. 

Short films screened in competition at the Austin Film Festival are eligible to be nominated for an Academy Award.

1st Place Winners receive: a cash prize of $1,000 (Feature Category) or $500 (Short and Student Short Categories); reimbursement (up to $500) of one round-trip airfare to Austin to attend the 2002 AFF; hotel accommodations at an AFF hotel (up to $500); a special Winners Night Screening at the Festival; the AFF Bronze Typewriter Award; and a special Los Angeles screening of their film for industry professionals.