Austin Film Society at SXSW 2025

WHO: AFS Grant-supported filmmakers, staff, and board members
WHAT: Film screenings and panels
WHEN: March 7-15, 2025
WHERE: Multiple venues throughout Austin

February 27, AUSTIN, TX—  The Austin Film Society kicks off its 40th year of empowering the community to Make, Watch, and Love film this year and brings people together to build a stronger film community here in Texas and beyond. Rooted in Austin, AFS is proud to be part of the 2025 SXSW Film & TV and SXSW EDU festivals this year, with AFS staff and board members participating in panels and activations, AFS Grant-supported filmmakers showcasing their work, and the AFS Cinema serving as satellite venue screening official SXSW films during the festival from March 8-15. See the full list of events below.

For additional information on the AFS Grant and AFS Grant-supported filmmakers, click here. 

For more information on SXSW Film screenings at the AFS Cinema, click here.

AFS’s Director of Community Education Rakeda L. Ervin will participate in two panels during this year’s SXSW. The first on March 6 will be part of SXSW’s “Crossover Day” — bringing together SXSW EDU attendees with SXSW Film & TV badge holders for creative conversations — and the second on March 8, “Women Empowering Women For a Brighter Film Future,” will discuss the important role diversity, equity and inclusion play in the screen industries. Martin Jones, AFS’s Head of Austin Studios, will also take part in a panel on March 8 hosted by Le French Touch Rendez-Vous to discuss how creative industries benefit from utilizing local talent.

This year’s SXSW Film & TV Festival will include documentary, narrative and experimental works by numerous AFS-affiliated filmmakers. Across film competitions and spotlights, AFS Grant-supported filmmakers Benjamin Flaherty, Kayla Abuda Galang, Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence & Megan “Megz” Trufant Tillman, Margaret Brown and Josh Jordan will be exhibiting new work. Alongside them will be AFS Board Member Elizabeth Avellán, producer of the film American Sons, which also participated in the AFS Works-In-Progress program before the filmmakers finished the project.

SXSW Panels

Connecting Communities: SXSW & SXSW EDU
Panelist Rakeda L. Ervin (AFS Director of Community Education)

• March 6, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., Hilton Austin Downtown (Room 400)

Every SXSW attendee was once a student in the classroom, and that journey is at the heart of what we celebrate with Crossover Day. This year we are bringing together organizers behind SXSW and SXSW EDU as well as enthusiastic members of our communities. Whether you want to chat with SXSW staff about their vision for the event or veteran attendees about their SXSW lifehacks, this meetup is the perfect place to share your passion for any and all of the creative communities represented each March in Austin.

This session is part of 2025 Crossover Day. Attendance is open to all SXSW EDU registrants as well as all SXSW registrants. As always, SXSW strongly believes in the power of mixing creative communities.

Harnessing Local Talent to Propel Creative Industries
Panelist Martin Jones (AFS Head of Austin Studios)

• March 8, 4–5 p.m., The Courtyard ATX

La French Touch Rendez-Vous returns at SXSW! Discover the latest trends, innovations and creativity proudly “Made in France” at SXSW 2025. Thought leadership by day with panels showcasing the latest buzz in XR, AI, Accessibility and the best examples of international collaboration, as well as promising start-up demos!

Party by night: This is a unique opportunity to get a flavor of French culture, gain valuable insights, and network with some of the most innovative minds in the country’s creative industries.

Women Empowering Women for a Brighter Film Future
Panelist Rakeda L. Ervin (AFS Director of Community Education)

• March 8, 4–5 p.m., Austin Convention Center (Room 13AB)

In a world where diversity is the key to innovation and progress, the screen industries stand at a pivotal crossroads. This transformative discussion delves into the crucial role women play in championing and empowering one another and non-binary people to advance a more equitable and inclusive industry. When we foster a culture of collaboration and support among women, we uplift individual talents, enrich the industry with a diverse range of perspectives and narratives, and create safer, more inclusive work environments that attract more women and non-binary people to the industry workforce.

Round Table: Funding/Artist Support
Panelist Holly Herrick (AFS Head of Film and Creative Media)

• March 9, 2:30–3:30 p.m., Austin Convention Center (Room 15)

An extension of our popular Mentor Sessions, our Round Table Sessions not only allow attendees to learn from the industry experts that sit at each of the three tables in this session, but they also allow attendees to learn from the questions and experiences of their peers as well. This Round Table Session will bring together industry experts and SXSW attendees for an enlightening discussion on funding/artist support.

Advance sign-up is required and will be limited to primary access only. In order to RSVP, please log into schedule.sxsw.com with your registration linked.

AFS-Supported Filmmaker Events

Documentary Feature Competition

Shuffle
Directed by AFS-supported filmmaker Benjamin Flaherty

• March 8–12, Alamor Lamar, various times

Shot over the course of three years, Shuffle follows three individuals whose lives depend not on getting into treatment but on getting out alive and, in the process, shines a light on the insurance-fueled cycle of addiction treatment fraud spreading across the country. With the filmmaker serving as narrator, using his own experience as a roadmap, these personal stories provide the framework for a more public investigation with the help of an FBI informant, an insurance analyst, and the former Executive Director of a Philadelphia-based treatment facility. Shuffle unravels a web of public policy and private interest preying on a desperate population for the sake of profit.

Documentary Spotlight

American Sons
AFS Works-in-Progress participant produced by AFS Board Member Elizabeth Avellán

• March 8, 5:45  p.m., AFS Cinema
• March 10, 9:15 p.m., Hyatt Regency Austin

American Sons follows a brotherhood of Marines a decade after their deployment to Afghanistan as they struggle to overcome the trauma of combat and the loss of their best friend, Corporal JV Villarreal. Leaving more than his memory behind, JV’s narrated, first-person video diary of his life in Afghanistan serves as both a haunting window into these Marines’ past and a testament to the unbreakable bonds of those who sacrifice in war together.

• March 13, 12:30 p.m., Paramount Theatre

Texas Short Competition

An Ongoing List of Things Found in the Library Book Drop, Usually Being Used as Bookmarks
Directed by AFS-supported filmmaker Kayla Abuda Galang

• March 7, 6:30 p.m., The Hyatt Regency
• March 10, 11 a.m., Rollins Theatre at the Long Center

In the quiet lull of a suburban library, library worker Daniel catalogs a strange assortment of forgotten objects left in returned books — and daydreams of the stories they tell.

Newbies
Directed by AFS-supported filmmakers Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence & Megan “Megz” Trufant Tillman

• March 7, 6:30 p.m., The Hyatt Regency
• March 10, 11 a.m., Rollins Theatre at the Long Center

One night in Brooklyn … Kai goes to meet up with someone from her past – but she can’t bring herself to do it. Moses goes to meet up with a secret lover – but realizes he doesn’t want to hide anymore. In the wake of these Earth-shaking epiphanies about their queerness, they find each other on the J train.

TV Premiere

Yogurt Shop Murders
Directed by AFS-supported filmmaker Margaret Brown

• March 10, 12 p.m., ZACH Theatre

The Yogurt Shop Murders explores the tragic murder of four teenage girls at an “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt” Shop on December 6, 1991, in Austin, TX. This docuseries dives into the immense trauma left by the crime and details the maze of the investigation. Interviews with family members, investigators, and suspects, along with a trove of archival footage, reveal a crime scene ravaged by fire and water, an overwhelmed police department, and a terrified city. Countless twists and turns uncover false confessions, overturned convictions, and endless speculation. The central question of the series revolves around the experience of loss and the ways in which we bear its scars.

XR Experience Spotlight

Resolution: A Cinephonic Rhapsody for the Soul
Cinematography by AFS-supported filmmaker Josh Jordan

• March 9–11, Fairmont (Congressional Ballroom)

In a world overwhelmed by noise and distractions, this immersive film reconnects us to the powerful art of the album. Built around Salvage Enterprise, an emotionally rich record by The Polyphonic Spree, the film takes you on a cinephonic journey of hope — vulnerable, courageous, and deeply human — transforming the album’s themes of resilience and renewal into an uplifting cinematic experience. With inventive visual storytelling that maximizes the artistic and emotional impact of the album’s songs, this film envelopes audiences in a healing world where music and art come together to remind us that hope endures, and through it, we can discover the fullness and beauty of the human experience.

About Austin Film Society

Founded in 1985 by filmmaker Richard Linklater, AFS creates life-changing opportunities for filmmakers, catalyzes Austin and Texas as a creative hub, and brings the community together around great film. AFS is committed to racial equity and inclusion, with an objective to deliver programs that actively dismantle the structural racism, sexism and other bias in the screen industries. AFS supports filmmakers from all backgrounds towards career leaps, encouraging exceptional artistic projects with grants and support services. AFS operates Austin Studios, a 20-acre production facility, to attract and grow the creative media ecosystem. Austin Public, a space for our city’s diverse mediamakers to train and collaborate, provides many points of access to filmmaking and film careers. The AFS Cinema is an ambitiously programmed repertory and first run arthouse with broad community engagement. By hosting premieres, local and international industry events, and the Texas Film Awards, AFS shines the national spotlight on Texas filmmakers while connecting Austin and Texas to the wider film community. AFS is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. More at austinfilm.org.