Austin After Dark Film Festival In Texas

Are you ready for the Spring 2021 Austin After Dark Film Festival Film Screenings and Live Screenplay Reading event from May 14-16, 2021? The Award Winners, Award Finalists and Official Selections have been published on the Spring 2021 Event Page. (LINK)

Looking for a hotel?

• Near Doc's Drive-In Theatre: Fairfield Inn Buda, TX (LINK)
• Near Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Lakeline: Home2Suites Austin/Cedar Park (LINK)

Friday May 14, 2021 - Get Tickets! @Doc's Drive-In Theatre

• 6:00pm: Eating, Drinking, Photos, Networking, Filmmaker Check-In
• 8:00pm: Film Screenings (6 hours) 

Screening Order Of Confirmed Attending Films

1. 4, Directed by Dylan Garcia (Arizona)
2. CLASS, Directed by Enzo Cellucci, Ash McNair (New York)
3. Exterminator, Directed by Duncan Birmingham (California)
4. Granny's Treasures, Directed by Kevin R. Phipps (Arizona)
5. Hundred Flowers Project, Directed by Joel Mendez-Zarate (United States)
6. Sclera Absentia, Directed by James Furlong (Texas)
7. Silly Simon, Directed by Johnny Skinner (Arizona)
8. The Gift, Directed by Jacintha Charles (California)
9. The Mugging of Christian Brown, Directed by Spencer Halverson (California)
10. The Occult Son, Directed by Patrick Murphy (California)
11. Things We Dig, Directed by Pia Thrasher (California)
12. Wasteland, Directed by Michael Muchnij (Arizona)
13. Yellow Ribbons, Directed by Caleb Gritsko (Virginia)

Saturday May 15, 2021 - Get Tickets! @ Doc's Drive-In Theatre

• 6:00pm: Eating, Drinking, Photos, Networking, Filmmaker Check-In
• 8:00pm: Film Screenings (6 hours) 

Screening Order Of Confirmed Attending Films

1. Abbygail Was Here, Directed by Keaton Smith (Texas)
2. American Diversity, Directed by (Texas)
3. Camping Fun, Directed by Thomas Burke (Texas)
4. Dad Pals, Directed by Kyle Kenyon (California)
5. Door to Door, Directed by Tom von Dohlen (Georgia)
6. Garden of the Gods, Directed by Kyle Mackenzie Sullivan (Alabama)
7. Glitch, Directed by Sara Caldwell, Walter Gorey (United States)
8. Killing Time, Directed by Cody Lovorn (Texas)
9. Koreatown Ghost Story, Directed by Minsun Park & Teddy Tenenbaum (California)
10. Mashed Potato Face, Directed by Joseph Graham (Texas)
11. Midnight, Directed by Tony Lugo (California)
12. My Brother Sam, Directed by Anthony Marzano (Washington)
13. My Dinner With Werner, Directed by Maverick Moore (Texas)
14. Night of Morbus, Directed by Shane Ramirez (United States)
15. OverKill, Directed by Alex Montilla (California)
16. RED MRKT, Directed by Beau Knapp (California)
17. She Had It Coming, Directed by Gedde Watanabe (California)
18. The Ex, Directed by Neil D'Monte (California)
19. The Feeding, Directed by Isaac Ruth (United States)
20. The Maroon Bomber, Directed by Joshua M. Thomas (California)
21. The Game Behind The Dark, Directed by Antonio Gäehd (México)
22. Too Young, Directed by Colin Babcock and Amanda Smith (Florida)
23. Two-Headed Beast, Directed by Nate Southard (Texas)
24. Virtually Happy, Directed by Emma Selinski (California)
25. Your Heart Is Mine, Directed by Jake Whiston (Washington/Oregon)

Sunday May 16, 2021 - Get Tickets! @Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline

• 6:00pm - 9:00pm: Live Screenplay Readings

Reading Order For Confirmed Attending Screenwriters

1. CATS, Written by D.E. Garrett (Texas)
2. The Pastor's Only Son, Written by Benjamin Bonnema (New York)

What Is The Austin After Dark Film Festival?

The Austin After Dark Film Festival is an annual event on the Film Festival Circuit that screens international independent films for a mature audience in Texas. This event was founded by author and retired filmmaker Mikel Fair who worked on location in the Film and Television industry from 1999-2015. Multiple short films are screened in a "back to back" format. In 2021, the films and video screenings for this event are held at  Doc's Drive In Theatre in Buda, TX which is approximately 20 miles from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The screenplay readings will take place at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Lakeline. The Austin After Dark Film Festival judges are searching for films with "dark" subject matter in multiple genres. Horror Films, Dark Comedy, Dark Animation Films, Dark Drama and even Dark Science Fiction. This is the wrong festival to send your fun family G Rated films and screenplays too. The audience for this event wants a good variety of mature content that is not intended for viewers younger than 18.

Connect With The Austin After Dark Film Festival On Social Media

• Facebook @AustinAfterDarkFilmFestival
• Instagram @AustinAfterDarkFilmFest
• Twitter #AustinAfterDarkFilmFestival

Austin After Dark Film Festival Submissions Are Now Open!

Do you have a film or screenplay that you are submitting to festivals, that contains content that may be more appropriate for a mature audience? Have you written a screenplay with a darker sense of humor, dramatic sequences, scary situations, evil villains, creepy concepts or dark futuristic science fiction? Our judges can't wait to watch your films and read your stories. Please read our Film Festival Judging Guides (LINK) if you'd like to understand our judging principles, as well as, how we rate and select films. We make the process as fair and objective as possible. No politics here, we're just looking for well produced, dark content to entertain our audience. You can submit to the Austin After Dark Film Festival via FilmFreeway. Have more questions about the rules and regulations for Austin After Dark Film Festival submissions? Please visit the Film Festival Circuit FAQ Frequently Asked Questions LINK

Austin After Dark Film Festival List Of Submission Categories

1. Action Film
2. Animated Film
3. Comedy Film
4. Dark Comedy Film
5. Drama Film
6. Dark Drama Film
7. Dark Science Fiction Film
8. Documentary Film
9. Experimental Film
10. Experimental Music Video
11. Fantasy Film
12. Horror Film
13. Horror Comedy Film
14. Mockumentary Film
15. Music Video
16. Comedy Screenplay
17. Dark Comedy Screenplay
18. Drama Screenplay
19. Dark Drama Screenplay
20. Dark Science Fiction Screenplay
21. Horror Screenplay
22. Horror Comedy Screenplay

Austin After Dark Film Festival List Of Award Categories

The official selections represent the top 25% of submissions rated by the judges on a scale of 1-10. From the pool of official selections, up to 5 finalists per Award Category are announced as 'finalists' and are eligible to win an award. In some cases, less than five finalists may be nominated for a specific category, if there weren't enough films or screenplays that finished in the top 25% of official selections in that specific category. For example, we may have 20 experimental music video submissions, but only 4 were rated in the top 25% of the official selections, therefore, only 4 award finalists are announced as finalists for the "Experimental Music Video" Award.

32 Award Categories For Films And Videos

1. Best Action Film
2. Best Action Micro Film
3. Best Actor
4. Best Actress
5. Best Animated Film
6. Best Cinematography
7. Best Comedy Film
8. Best Comedy Micro Film*
9. Best Dark Comedy Film
10. Best Dark Comedy Micro Film*
11. Best Dark Science Fiction Film
12. Best Dark Science Fiction Micro Film*
13. Best Documentary Film
14. Best Drama Film
15. Best Drama Micro Film*
16. Best Director
17. Best Editing
18. Best Ensemble Cast
19. Best Experimental Film
20. Best Horror Film
21. Best Horror Micro Film
22. Best Horror Comedy Film
23. Best Horror Comedy Micro Film
24. Best International Director
25. Best International Micro Film*
26. Best International Film
27. Best Mockumentary Film
28. Best Music Video
29. Best Science Fiction Film
30. Best Science Fiction Micro Film
31. Best TV Episode
32. Best Texas Film
33. Best Texas Micro Film*
34. Most Original Concept

20 Award Categories For Screenplays

1. Best Comedy Feature Length Screenplay
2. Best Comedy Short Screenplay**
3. Best Dark Comedy Feature Length Screenplay
4. Best Dark Comedy Short Screenplay**
5. Best Drama Feature Length Screenplay
6. Best Drama Short Screenplay**
7. Best Dark Drama Feature Length Screenplay
8. Best Dark Drama Short Screenplay**
9. Best Horror Feature Screenplay
10. Best Horror Short Screenplay**
11. Best Horror Comedy Feature Length Screenplay
12. Best Horror Comedy Short Screenplay**
13. Best International Feature Length Screenplay
14. Best International Short Screenplay**
15. Best Science Fiction Feature Length Screenplay
16. Best Science Fiction Short Screenplay**
17. Best Texas Feature Length Screenplay
18. Best Texas Short Screenplay**
19. Best Comedy Series Full Length Episode
20. Best Comedy Series Short Episode**

**40 pages or less

Austin After Dark Film Festival Event List

• Austin After Dark Film Festival Spring 2021
• Austin After Dark Film Festival Fall 2020
• Austin After Dark Film Festival Summer 2020
• Austin After Dark Film Festival 2019

Films That Have Screened At The Austin After Dark Film Festival

Some of the filmmakers from our previous events, have since made their films public on YouTube and Vimeo. Check them out!

My name is Mikel Fair and I have written this 30 page ebook to help filmmakers strengthen their submission when submitting to Film Festivals. This guide is based on my experience, starting in 2008 as a Film Festival Director that has watched, rated and reviewed more than 5000+ submissions of all genres from over 100 countries. There are several mistakes that filmmakers are making on a daily basis that I can help you avoid. I explain in detail, about how the packaging and editing of your submission can have a direct effect on how many festivals that your film is accepted to. Priced under $10 US, I have made this book affordable for everyone and will email you any new versions that we release until January 2021. Please read the first chapter for free!

• Chapter 1: Does Packaging Really Matter? - Free Chapter!
• Chapter 2: Are Your Contact Details Accurate? A Daily Common Mistake
• Chapter 3: Does The Name Of Your Film Stand Out? Or Will It Be Lost In The Shuffle?
• Chapter 4: Tips For Creating The Right Tagline And Synopsis
• Chapter 5: Do You Know That A Director’s Bio And Resume Are Two Different Things?
• Chapter 6: How To Write A Compelling Director’s Statement That Tells A Story.
• Chapter 7: The First Impression Of Your Film Is It’s Official Poster.
• Chapter 8: Without A Trailer, Your Film Might Become An Afterthought.
• Chapter 9: Why Do Film Festivals Love Submissions With A Social Media Presence?
• Chapter 10: Your Film’s Website, Is Its History And Point Of Contact
• Chapter 11: Final Cut Or Festival Cut? Don’t Submit The Wrong One.
• Chapter 12: Stretch Your Submissions Budget. Use Promo Codes. Get Discounts.