New Films Starring Pedro Pascal, Scarlett Johansson and Olivia Wilde Join Austin Film Festival 2026 Lineup

Austin Film Festival (AFF) has revealed the first wave of programming for its 33rd annual festival, with a slate that includes world and Texas premieres, new Writers Conference sessions and career honors for Brad Bird, Andrew Haigh and Aleshea Harris. The festival returns Oct. 29-Nov. 5, with its four-day Writers Conference running Oct. 29-Nov. 1. Additional films, panels and participants will be announced in the coming weeks.

“Austin Film Festival is proud to present this year’s first wave of announcements, celebrating great storytellers at all stages of their careers,” Austin Film Festival co-founder and Executive Director Barbara Morgan said. “From debut features to highly anticipated studio releases, these programming selections reflect the Festival’s deep commitment to the craft of screenwriting as the heart of the creative process.”

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Ben Foster and Manny Jacinto star in “The Stalemate.” (Courtesy of AFF)

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“Ray Gunn” follows private eye Raymond Gunn as he investigates aliens and murder in the futuristic city of Metropia. (Courtesy of Skydance Animation/Netflix)

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Pedro Pascal in “Behemoth!” (Photo by Justin Lubin/Searchlight Pictures)

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Anthony Ippolito stars as Sylvester Stallone in “I Play Rocky.” (Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)

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“A Long Winter,” directed by Andrew Haigh. (Courtesy of MUBI)

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Zella Day and Jesse Woods perform together as Chaparelle. (Photo by Bleeding Hearts)

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“Chopin,” directed by Vincent Lin. (Courtesy of AFF)

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“Omi,” directed by Emily Lerer. (Courtesy of AFF)

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“Rated,” directed by John Fortson. (Courtesy of AFF)

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“Sheepwell,” directed by Kim Caicedo. (Courtesy of AFF)

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“Tigermom Academy,” directed by Shawn Shao-Wen Chou. (Courtesy of AFF)

Austin Film Festival lineup

Among the first films announced for this year’s festival are:

• “The Stalemate” (Dir. Nicholas Arioli) – Ben Foster and Manny Jacinto face off as a sheriff and robber whose Old West pursuit comes to an absurd halt when both run out of bullets. The comedy marks Arioli’s feature directorial debut and also stars Fiona Shaw, Anthony Carrigan, Shea Whigham and Tony Hale.
  
• “Ray Gunn” (Dir. Brad Bird) – Bird returns to animation for the first time since 2018’s “Incredibles 2” with a detective story set in Metropia, an alternate future imagined through a 1939 lens. Sam Rockwell voices private eye Raymond Gunn, whose latest case draws him into a mystery involving aliens, murder and celebrity Venus Nova, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.
  
• “Behemoth!” (Dir. Tony Gilroy) – Pedro Pascal plays Alex Serian, a gifted cellist returning to Los Angeles after two decades on the road, in the latest film written and directed by Gilroy. Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Hank Azaria and Will Arnett are among the ensemble cast. The Searchlight Pictures film is set for a theatrical release later this year.
  
• “I Play Rocky” (Dir. Peter Farrelly) – Anthony Ippolito steps into the role of a young Sylvester Stallone in the story behind the making of 1976’s “Rocky.” The film follows Stallone as an unknown actor refusing to give up the lead role in the screenplay he wrote, despite pressure to sell it without himself attached. The movie arrives as the original “Rocky” marks its 50th anniversary.
  
• “A Long Winter” (Dir. Andrew Haigh) – Adapted from a short story by Colm Tóibín, Haigh’s 1950s-set drama follows a family in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains after a mother disappears during a snowstorm. Fred Hechinger stars alongside Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Caitríona Balfe, Kit Connor and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.
  
• “Bleeding Hearts” (Dir. Andrew Morgan) – Singer-songwriters Zella Day and Jesse Woods open up their first year as both a couple and the musicians behind country duo Chaparelle. The documentary follows them through writing and recording their debut album, “Western Pleasure,” as touring, creative differences and financial pressures test the relationship. Chaparelle will perform an intimate set after the screening.
  
• “Chopin” (Dir. Vincent Lin) – Eddie Liu and Violett Beane star in Lin’s family drama about a second-generation Taiwanese American returning to his small hometown and attempting to reconnect with his distant, work-focused father.
  
• “Omi” (Dir. Emily Lerer) – A marriage proposal takes a supernatural turn when a young Jewish man becomes possessed by his late Yiddish grandmother. Adam Lebowitz-Lockard, who wrote the film, stars alongside Dree Hemingway, Bunny Levine, Connie Shi and Brooks Wheelan.
  
• “Rated” (Dir. John Fortson) – Social approval becomes impossible to ignore in this satire about a mother who wakes up to discover every adult has a public star rating floating above their head. Christie Lynn Smith stars as Maggie, whose 2.5-star score forces her to reckon with her behavior as her personal life begins to unravel.
  
• “Sheepwell” (Dir. Kim Caicedo) – Set in rural Alabama and inspired by Lope de Vega’s “Fuenteovejuna,” the thriller follows a novelist and her daughter after a mysterious naked stranger arrives at their home in the middle of the night. Michole Briana White, Connor Paolo and Alix Lapri star.
  
• “Tigermom Academy” (Dir. Shawn Shao-Wen Chou) – A mother struggling with her rebellious children turns to an increasingly extreme group of Tiger Moms for help in this family comedy starring Zhang Jingchu, Michelle Krusiec and Ken Jeong.

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Brad Bird, director of “Ray Gunn,” will receive the Austin Film Festival’s 2026 Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award. (Photo by Carell Augustus/Netflix)

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Andrew Haigh, writer and director of “A Long Winter,” will receive the Austin Film Festival’s 2026 Writer’s Writer Award. (Courtesy of AFF)

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Aleshea Harris, writer and director of “Is God Is,” will receive the Austin Film Festival’s 2026 New Voice Award. (Courtesy of AFF)

Brad Bird, Andrew Haigh and Aleshea Harris to be honored

AFF also named Brad Bird, Andrew Haigh and Aleshea Harris as its 2026 award honorees. Bird, the filmmaker behind “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille” and “The Iron Giant,” will receive the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award, while “All of Us Strangers” writer-director Haigh will receive the Writer’s Writer Award. Harris, the playwright and filmmaker behind “Is God Is,” will receive the New Voice Award.

The three will be honored at the Oct. 31 awards luncheon alongside previously announced recipients Nina Jacobson, who will receive the Polly Platt Award for Producing, and “The Boys” creator Eric Kripke, who will receive the Outstanding Television Writer Award.

What’s new at the Writers Conference

AFF’s four-day Writers Conference will feature more than 200 panels on the art, craft and business of storytelling. Newly announced sessions include:

• “On The Boys: A Conversation with Eric Kripke” – Kripke will discuss adapting the comic and developing the series’ superhero satire.
• “On the Writer-Producer Relationship: The Hunger Games” – Screenwriter Billy Ray and producer Nina Jacobson will discuss their work on the franchise.
• “Inside the Making of Toy Story 5” – Pixar Head of Story Jason Katz will offer a look at the latest installment.
• “On Genre Storytelling” – “Weapons,” “Companion” and “Barbarian” producers J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules will discuss contemporary horror.
• “On The Sheep Detectives” – Writer Craig Mazin and producer Lindsay Doran will discuss adapting Leonie Swann’s bestselling novel.
• “Inside the Making of Spider-Noir” – Oren Uziel will discuss bringing Spider-Man into a film noir-inspired world.
• “On Is God Is” – Harris will discuss adapting her play for the screen.
• “On Meet the Parents” – John Hamburg will revisit the comedy franchise and its upcoming “Focker-In-Law.”
• “Script to Screen: Spaceballs” – Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez will explore comedy writing and the upcoming sequel.

A Mock Writers Room will also give AFF Script Competition second-rounders the chance to break an episode of “Schitt’s Creek” as badge holders watch the process.

How to get tickets

Screenings will return to the State Theatre, Bullock Texas State History Museum and Galaxy Theatres, with additional screenings at Hogg Auditorium and the Union Theater on the University of Texas campus.

More films, panels and participants will be announced ahead of the festival. Badges and passes are on sale now, including a new $43 Student Film Pass.

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