Golden Delicious 

Two years ago, I got to see the film When Men Were Men at the Austin Film Festival, and it was such a cathartic and validating experience - one which I then got to revisit when I interviewed the filmmakers last year for Incluvie.

Because of this, I began to see AFF as an event that had the potential to provide a space for queer creators to share their stories and find an audience for their work. A place to cultivate queer kinship and celebrate the power and beauty found in queer storytelling.

And this year was no exception, as there were several instances throughout the festival that showcased the many ways in which the queer experience is a singular one, with so many diverse, awkward, wholesome, heart-wrenching and exciting stories just waiting to be told.

There has been a reckoning in the entertainment industry as of late, a call for more representation and inclusive storytelling that has led to films like Everything Everywhere All At Once and CODA finding greater box office success than they might have had a decade ago. In the midst of cries for justice and visibility, the intentionality of creatives and their work is becoming more crucial than ever before. And this intentionality begins with the storytellers themselves - writers. What better way to examine the state of the industry than by looking at the diversity programming at the Austin Film Festival, which has been deemed...

Every year at the end of October, the Austin Film Festival brings writers together for a week of films and panels, giving new storytellers a chance to learn from seasoned ones. The programmers bring in industry professionals from across the board - TV writers, producers, managers, playwrights, podcast hosts, indie filmmakers and, of course, lots of screenwriters. These experts range from staff writers with just a few years of experience under their belt to Oscar-nominated, even Oscar-winning artists. AFF is one of the few places where you can network laterally, getting acquainted with people who are just coming up at your level, and just happen to find yourself sitting in the same theater as Dustin Hoffman.

This was my eighth year attending the festival and I still have not gotten it down to a science because there is so much to keep up with over the course of the week. Due to the abundance of programing, there are often blocks where I have to decide between three different panels that I’d like to attend. A good problem to have, for sure. Thus, while I cannot give an exhaustive review of the entire event, I would like to highlight a few of the panels and films I attended that spoke to the importance of diverse storytelling.