Austin Spotlight Film Festival

Austin Spotlight Film Festival Austin Spotlight is an international film festival held in Austin Texas. We accept all short films,

Austin Spotlight is an international film festival held in Austin TX. We accept all short films, music videos, docs, & even kickstarters.

09/05/2026

🎶 FIND MY WAY — 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTION
Dir. Daniel Castillo |

A visual representation of an R&B melody delving deep into feelings of isolation, confusion, and longing - depicting a person trapped in a storm of emotions, struggling to navigate the overwhelming challenges of life.

Catch Find My Way in our Opening Showcase on September 12.

🎶 Block 1 — 1:00 PM
📍 Southwest Lake Creek 7
🎟 Tickets: filmfreeway.com/austinspotlight/tickets

09/04/2026

🎬 THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON💡

The 10th Annual Austin Spotlight Film Festival hits the big screen NEXT SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12!

Join us for a celebration of bold independent storytelling featuring incredible films & screenplays from this year’s official selections, all brought together for one unforgettable day of cinema in Austin.

🎥 Independent Films
✍️ Screenplay Selections
🏆 Awards
🎬 Live Q&As
🍿 Audience Voting

📍 Southwest Theaters Lake Creek 7
📅 Saturday, September 12, 2026

Tickets are on sale now — grab yours and come celebrate 10 years of ASFF with us!

🎟️ https://filmfreeway.com/austinspotlight/tickets (Link also in bio)

Your Story. Our Stage.

09/03/2026

🎥 SICK ENOUGH — 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTION
Dir. Allegra Venturi |

Stella has been struggling with an eating disorder for years before deciding to attend a six-month treatment program in an attempt to change her life. Although Stella signed herself up for rehab, she is resistant to letting her eating disorder go. Halfway through treatment, Stella is shocked to learn that her insurance cut her off. Will Stella survive recovery on her own in the real world? Stella is forced to face her past trauma head-on and uncover why her eating disorder is used as a coping skill.

Catch Sick Enough in Narrative Competition — Part II on September 12.

🎥 Block 6 — 9:10 PM
📍 Southwest Lake Creek 7
🎟 Tickets: filmfreeway.com/austinspotlight/tickets

📺 TV PILOT SCREENPLAY — SHORT FORM · 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTIONSMeet the characters. Build the world. Hook us. And do it FA...
09/03/2026

📺 TV PILOT SCREENPLAY — SHORT FORM · 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Meet the characters. Build the world. Hook us. And do it FAST.

Meet the Short Form TV Pilot Screenplay Official Selections of Austin Spotlight 2026:
📄 Uncle Dave’s — JC Best |
📄 Lucky? — Tom E. Nicholson |
📄 eMpTy — Kato Buss | .the.film
📄 Throuple Trouble — Avory Alexander Bays
📄 BiggsFaithexe 30 min Pilot — Bongo Jack Hooper
📄 Unchosen Ones — John Bakker
📄 Relatable — Arjuna Mahenthiran
📄 DEAD EAST "Nippon Flight 319 — Paul Alan Gober |
📄 Swan Valley (Working Title) — John Rider |
📄 Birdies — Tara Kaye Burgh |
📄 Accidental Assassins Pilot — Evan Elise Owens
📄 Chubbies — Jeremy Ray Burchard |

Congratulations to our ASFF 2026 TV Pilot writers!
Learn more about our 2026 screenplay selections:
austinspotlightfilmfestival.com/2026-selections

📅 September 12, 2026
📍 Southwest Lake Creek 7

📽 TRAILER / PROOF OF CONCEPT — 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTIONSShapeshifters in 1959 West Texas. Memories as currency. Life-chan...
09/02/2026

📽 TRAILER / PROOF OF CONCEPT — 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Shapeshifters in 1959 West Texas. Memories as currency. Life-changing choices. And a peek into a life built around creativity & community.

Meet our Trailer / Proof of Concept official selections:
🎬 Stars Without Light — Dir. Miriam Pinedo
🎬 High Moon — Dir. Sean Bridges
🎬 Choices — Dir. Brandon M. Glover |
🎬 The Timika Show — Dir. Timika Shay Mitchell & Fumni Ogunro |

They’ll start the day with us in the Opening Showcase — Block 1.

🎬 Opening Showcase: 1:00 PM
📅 September 12, 2026
📍 Southwest Lake Creek 7
🎟 Tickets: filmfreeway.com/austinspotlight/tickets

09/01/2026

🎥 J.J. — 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTION
Dir. Adam Dietrich & Elliott Gilbert

We follow the foster parents Jahan and Kiersten Bakshi as they are attending their foster son’s hearing. The court setting is the central focus, as witnesses and the social service department are fighting for the removal of parental rights to keep J.J. safe from his mentally ill mother.
Everything goes as planned, until the hearing takes a turn no one suspected.

Catch J.J. in Narrative Competition — Part I at the 10th annual Austin Spotlight Film Festival.

🎥 Block 5 — 8:00 PM
📍 Southwest Lake Creek 7
🎟 Tickets: filmfreeway.com/austinspotlight/tickets

📺 TV PILOT SCREENPLAY — LONG FORM · 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTIONSMake us fall in love with a world and then make us desperate...
09/01/2026

📺 TV PILOT SCREENPLAY — LONG FORM · 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

Make us fall in love with a world and then make us desperately want another episode.

Meet the Long Form TV Pilot Screenplay Official Selections of the 10th annual Austin Spotlight Film Festival:
📄 Family Business — Karie Evans |
📄 Sass — Andrea Marion |
📄 Belgium — Andrea Marion |
📄 Black Asphalt — Kelly Wiseman
📄 F.O.M.O Squad — Michael Dennis Estrella
📄 Free Florida — Steven Nemerovski
📄 Sharon — Kirill Naumov
📄 Trillionairess — Giulie Speziani
📄 OXY — Tony Blankenship
📄 Love's History — Dale Brandenburg
📄 No Shortcut to Freedom — Rita Cornelia Reinecker
📄 Normal and Other Sins — Molly J Waterman
📄 MindState — Pamela D Williams & Njema Williams
📄 SHADOW SERVICE — David Bryant Perkins
📄 Project Bloodborne — Jason D Cundiff
📄 When We Were Young — Nicholas J. Penkala |
📄 Trinity West — MG Hardie |
📄 Vintrospection — Lisa Nagy Isaacson |
📄 New Religion — Galen Ryan Kane
📄 Taming Wildcats — John Christopher Klauder & Christine Berardo Klauder
📄 The Last Town Hall — Monte Albers de Leon
📄 FURY ISLAND — Scott Daniel Wheeler

Congratulations to the writers who created worlds we're ready to spend a whole season in. 💡
Learn more about our 2026 screenplay selections:
austinspotlightfilmfestival.com/2026-selections

📅 September 12, 2026
📍 Southwest Lake Creek 7

08/31/2026

🌀 JUST ONE PEEK — 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTION
Dir. Mulan Fu

A girl is pulled into her phone’s whirlwind of doomscrolling, vanity, and viral chaos, struggling to escape its addictive grip.

Catch Just One Peek in our Opening Showcase on September 12. 💡

🌀 Block 1 — 1:00 PM
📍 Southwest Lake Creek 7
🎟 Tickets: filmfreeway.com/austinspotlight/tickets

🎞️ INERTIA — 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTIONDir. Jackson Kibby'Inertia' is a disorienting psychological drama exploring the mind...
08/31/2026

🎞️ INERTIA — 2026 OFFICIAL SELECTION

Dir. Jackson Kibby

'Inertia' is a disorienting psychological drama exploring the mind of Oliver, a haunted man trying to outrun visions of his past. After finding out who his father is, Oliver not only has to cope with the harsh reality of where he's come from, but also the challenging reality of where he could be heading. "Inertia" grapples heavily with the lifelong devastation of childhood abandonment, as Oliver comes to realize that he is capable of being the master of his own destiny, instead of carrying the generational curse into the future.

Catch Inertia at the Austin Spotlight Film Festival on September 12. 🎬

🎞️ Feature Film block

📍 Southwest Lake Creek 7

🎟 Tickets: filmfreeway.com/austinspotlight/tickets

Address

13729 Research Boulevard
Austin, TX
78750

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(309) 251-0749

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