This week in independent film: November 6, 2026.
Austin Film Festival handed out its 2026 Bronze Typewriters on October 31, and a run of Austin-made films premiered around it, from a webcam horror film shot at Troublemaker Studios to a documentary about Bill Wittliff. This weekend the action moves to Fort Worth, where the Lone Star Film Festival is running its 20th edition.
Texas.
Austin Film Festival winners (AFF). The festival named its 2026 Script and Film Competition winners at its Awards Luncheon on October 31: Sweet Milk Lake (Harvey Zielinski) took Narrative Feature and Strange Ashes: The Untold Story of Elisabeth Elliot (Laura Waters Hinson) took Documentary Feature, per the festival’s announcement.
Remote (AFF). Steven DeGennaro’s webcam horror film, starring Austin native Adrianne Palicki, was shot on a soundstage at Troublemaker Studios with Austin genre company Paper Street Pictures and had its world premiere at AFF on October 29, the Austin Chronicle reported.
A Man of Vision: The Bill Wittliff Story (AFF). Austin native Elizabeth Mims shot her documentary about Bill Wittliff in Austin, and it premiered November 1 at the State Theatre, KUT reported.
Cradled by Grace (AFF). Austin filmmaker Vanessa Reiser’s documentary about Austin jazz musician Ephraim Owens had its world premiere November 1 at the Bullock Museum’s Texas Spirit Theatre, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Bleeding Hearts (AFF). Andrew Morgan’s black-and-white documentary about the Austin duo Chaparelle screened for its Texas premiere at AFF on November 5, the Austin Chronicle reported, and it is also on the Lone Star lineup.
My Beautiful Grave (AFF). Austin-based writer-director Sam Fayed’s short about Udo Kier had its world premiere November 2 in AFF’s fifth shorts program, per the Austin Chronicle.
Lone Star Film Festival turns 20. The Fort Worth Film Commission presents the anniversary edition in the city’s Cultural District, with titles including Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut and the Cannes 2026 L’Œil d’or winner Rehearsals for a Revolution, the Fort Worth Business Press reported. The festival’s gala is Friday, November 13, at Bowie House.
A new AFS grant for documentary. On November 3 the Austin Film Society and the Nobelity Project announced the Nobelity Award, “an AFS Grant for an emerging filmmaker in production on a socially-engaged documentary,” to be presented November 22 at AFS Cinema, per AFS. It joins the grant program GPS wrote about in August.
Three Texans in the AFS Artist Intensive. Dallas writer-director Sara Nimeh, Tania Cattebeke Laconich and Drew Saplin spent October 13 to 17 working with industry mentors in the program, which “pairs outstanding Texas filmmakers with mentors from the industry,” AFS announced October 22.
Hell House comes home. Austin’s American Genre Film Archive has released a new restoration of George Ratliff’s 2002 documentary, filmed at a church in Cedar Hill, on Blu-ray, the Austin Chronicle reported.
How We Grieve. Austin filmmakers Meghan and Justin Ross made the three-episode docuseries, released through PBS, Texas Standard reported.
Independent film, everywhere else.
You Can See Everything is No. 1. Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s A24 documentary topped the weekend of October 30 to November 1, its third weekend, with $11,445,628 from 3,243 theaters and $64,727,541 to date, per The Numbers. TheWrap has the A24 release story.
La Bola Negra leads the room averages. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s film grew 65% to $418,000 on 38 screens the same weekend, an $11,000 average and the best on The Numbers’ chart. It also won the Krzysztof Kieslowski Award for Best Feature at the Denver Film Festival, IndieWire reported.
Denver’s other winners. Whispers in May won the Maysles Brothers documentary award, Good Help (Rebekah Henderson and Lilah Park) won the documentary audience award, and The River (Mara Tasker) won the True Grit local prize at the festival, which ran October 22 to November 1, per IndieWire.
Philadelphia Film Festival. The 35th edition gave Best Narrative Feature to Queen at Sea (Lance Hammer), Best Documentary to Seized (Sharon Liese) and its narrative audience award to Club Kid (Jordan Firstman), and it “drew the highest attendance in PFF history,” Variety reported.
SCAD Savannah Film Festival. Across 162 films, the audience award went to You Can See Everything and Best Documentary Feature to The Secret Reading Club of Kabul (Shakiba Adil and Elina Hirvonen), the Savannah Tribune reported.
Gotham nominations. The Invite, All of a Sudden, Clarissa, Possible Love and La Gradiva led the 36th Gotham Awards with four nominations each, announced October 27, TheWrap reported. The Sundance Institute counted seven Sundance-supported films among the nominees. The ceremony is November 30 in New York.
Once Upon a Time in Harlem keeps building. William Greaves’s film, finished by his son David, rose 78% to a $6,037 average on 15 screens, per The Numbers, and it is a Gotham nominee for Best Documentary Feature, per Sundance.
Kino Lorber lands Clio Barnard’s new film. Kino Lorber acquired North American rights to I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning, which won the audience award at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, and plans a 2027 U.S. theatrical release, Variety reported.
Vertical takes Father Joe. Vertical acquired North American rights to Barthélémy Grossmann’s action thriller starring Kiefer Sutherland and Al Pacino and plans a theatrical launch in 2027, Deadline reported.
Disrupt picks up Atoman. Pennsylvania-based Disrupt Entertainment acquired all North American rights to Anouar Moatassim’s Moroccan-Belgian superhero film and plans an early 2027 release on at least 100 screens, Deadline reported.
Lessons learned.
Michał Marczak, Closure. In a Q&A on the Sundance Institute’s site, the director put the script in its place: “The page will take anything. A great script or a great concept is important, but it isn’t everything.” His camera assistant was his six-year-old son, Maks.
Noah Segan, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York. Segan shot across the five boroughs and told The Film Stage how the film got made: “It was one of those things where if we’re gonna make this movie, we’ve got to take a big swing.”
David Greaves, Once Upon a Time in Harlem. Finishing his father’s film meant shaping decades of footage, and he leaned on William Greaves’s own advice, he told The Film Stage: “Start at the introduction, start at the first page, and just go from there.”
The weekend ahead.
Lone Star Film Festival, Fort Worth. Running through the weekend in the Cultural District; the gala closes it November 13.
Billy the Kid Film Festival, Hico. November 6 to 8, per the festival.
Viva Texas Film Festival, Victoria. November 6 to 8, with a local films block Sunday at the Victoria Fine Arts Center, per the festival.
Wimberley Film Festival. Saturday, November 7, 4 to 8 p.m., at Blue Hole Regional Park, per Wimberley Parks and Recreation.
Addison Full Circle Film Festival. November 7 and 8 at the Addison Performing Arts Centre, per its FilmFreeway listing.
St. Louis International Film Festival. November 5 to 15, per St. Louis Magazine.
Openings, Texas first.
Littermates. Limited release November 6 from Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse, per The Numbers.
La Bola Negra and The History of Concrete. Both are playing AFS Cinema in Austin through November 12; John Wilson’s film has showtimes Friday and Sunday.
Club Kid. Jordan Firstman’s Philadelphia audience winner opens November 6 from A24.
Mouse. Alex Thompson and Kelly O’Sullivan’s film opens in limited release November 6 from IFC, per The Numbers.
Zi. Kogonada’s film opens November 6 at Metrograph in New York and reaches the Texas Theatre in Dallas November 18 and AFS Cinema November 25, per Grasshopper Film.
Deadlines in the next ten days. For the full month, see every festival deadline in November.
WorldFest-Houston. Main deadline November 15 for the 60th edition, per WorldFest.
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Final deadline Sunday, November 15, at 11 p.m. Eastern, per Full Frame.
CAAMFest. Early-bird deadline November 16, per its FilmFreeway listing.
Film Friendly Texas workshop. The Texas Film Commission’s next workshop is November 12, per the commission’s page.
Next week. AFS’s New French Cinema Week runs November 12 to 15, per AFS, and DOC NYC runs November 11 to 29.
What’s shooting in Texas: November.
October was a quiet month on the public record. This is everything a film office, a trade or a Texas outlet put on the page between October 6 and this week, by region.
North Texas. Landman filmed its third season at TCU in Fort Worth the week of October 6, FOX 4 reported.
Central Texas. Remote, shot on a Troublemaker Studios soundstage with Austin’s Paper Street Pictures, premiered at AFF October 29 (above), per the Austin Chronicle.
Houston and the Gulf Coast. Houston First launched a five-year film plan in October, and its local incentive put nearly $400,000 into seven projects in its first year, Community Impact reported. GPS profiled the Houston Film Commission this week.
San Antonio, South Texas, West Texas, the Panhandle and East Texas. Nothing we could confirm from a film office, a trade or a Texas outlet this month. If you are shooting there, tell us.
Corrections to the last monthly edition, What’s shooting in Texas: September 2026: none logged.
Compiled from each source’s own pages, checked November 5, 2026. If we got something wrong or missed a Texas production, write info@goldsmithpictures.com and the fix runs next week.
If you’re crewing a Texas shoot, here’s how GPS works with filmmakers.
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