There is no more important place for your LGBTQ+ film to screen in the Southwest. aGLIFF is the longest-running queer film festival in the US Southwest and the Fourth oldest in America. We are also the oldest film festival in Austin (older than AFF and SXSW).

PRISM, our 37th annual marquee LGBTQ+ film festival will be held in-person August 21 - 25, 2023. aGLIFF is a nominating partner for the Iris Prize, the annual £30,000 prize allowing the winner to make their next film, the largest prize for an LGBTQ+ film in the world.

MISSION & OBJECTIVE
The All Genders, Lifestyles and Identities Film Festival (aGLIFF) cultivates the Texas LGBTQ+ community by enlightening, educating, and entertaining our clients and patrons through programs that enrich the LGBTQIA+ and ally communities while developing LGBTQ+ awareness. aGLIFF Nonprofit Organization Programs include the Queer Youth Media Project, Community Partnership Program, and the Queer Black Voices Fund, all of which culminate in or around the annual Prism Film Festival Program. In 2021, aGLIFF was awarded Non-profit Organization of the year by the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Population Served

The constituency served by the aGLIFF nonprofit organization is primarily the LGBTQ+ communities of Central Texas as well as national and international LGBTQ+ communities. aGLIFF annually engages an outreach of over 10,000 people, approximately 70% of whom were LGBTQ+ identified. As aGLIFF has grown in scope and vision, the constituency has broadened and diversified. The organization has evolved from a program primarily based on entertainment and the experiences of American gay white men into an internationally-recognized community organization committed to reflecting and speaking to a broad range of issues across cultures, race, immigration status, class, gender identity and expression, age and region.

ABOUT PRISM FILM FESTIVAL

aGLIFF entertains our community through the exhibition and support of the best in recent LGBTQIA+ international, national, and regional films at the annual Prism Film Festival. The festival showcases features and shorts, narratives, documentaries, music videos, and the avant-garde. Festival events connect members of the community, filmmakers to each other and filmmakers to the community. Conversations and panels explore current political and social trends; and increasingly the festival serves as a major showcase for independent films from filmmakers across America and the International world.

In 2019, the Board of Directors selected PRISM as our festival theme to highlight the way our festival can refract a single beam of art into multiple viewpoints, showcasing all the voices in the spectrum of our LGBTQ+ community. With new Artistic Director Bears Rebecca Fonte taking over in 2021, aGLIFF made the Prism 'theme' the new name of the festival. "PRISM encapsulates the spirit of aGLIFF just like a prism captures light, splitting it into many colors," said Fonte, "We take the light of film (or a cinema projector) and reveal the many voices that make up our community. And prisms work both ways, if you put one in front of separate colors it combines them into one fused beam."

In 2020, in the wake of Covid, aGLIFF took its festival virtual and had its most successful event in years, garnering more publicity and eyes on films than the previous several years combined. In 2021, the Prism Film Festival was a hybrid event, with events and films both virtual on Eventive, and in person at various venues in the city. That year, Artistic Director Bears Rebecca Fonte was nominated for Community Leader of the Year by the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the organization was awarded Non-Profit of the Year.

Juried Awards:

Programmed works may be eligible for the following jury awards: Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, Best Narrative Short, and other competitions as selections warrant. Not all awards will be awarded every year.

aGLIFF is a nominating partner for the Iris Prize, the annual £30,000 prize allowing the winner to make their next film, the largest prize for an LGBTQ+ film in the world. The Artistic Director will make this nomination personally.

Audience Awards:

All feature-length films selected are eligible for the "Humdinger" Audience Award, named for aGLIFF's founder Scott Dinger.

Queer Black Voices Fund:

Eligible films will be considered for Queer Black Voices Fund, created in response to the events surrounding the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Javier Ambler, among other incidents between police officers and African Americans. This year aGLIFF will award grants to cover costs associated with travel and accommodations for PRISM 37. In addition, aGLIFF will pay a $500 licensing fee to feature the film as part of its QBV program, shown only at the Prism Film Festival and aGLFF-related events. "This is a call to action to a larger audience,” says Queer Black Voices Fund Chair and aGLIFF Board Member Jeremy Teel. “QBVF is purposeful in being an example of how equitable representation in the arts can lead to reparations and justice in society. I hope people join us to support our awardees and Black Voices that are muted by prejudice." The entire entry fee goes back into supporting the fund.

GENERAL RULES

aGLIFF accepts films of any length and genre that are about or of interest to the LGBTQ+ community. We strongly support authenticity in filmmaking and believe LGBTQ+ stories should be told by LGBTQ+ filmmakers - writers, directors, producers - use your Director's Statement or your Cover Letter to introduce yourself and your team. And yes, trans characters should be played by trans actors. It's 2024 people.

All films should be subtitled in English, even if the spoken language is English. We have decided to make our festival completely accessible for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Exhibition copies must have open captions burnt in.

Entrant confirms and warrants required legal authority to submit the entry into the Festival and to use all music, images, and content in the entry. An entry constitutes agreement to our Entry Guidelines and Terms and Conditions.

Films must have been completed on or after January 1, 2023. Films that have been previously submitted to the aGLIFF are not eligible unless they have been changed significantly.

Preview and exhibition copies of works in languages other than English must be subtitled. If possible, please submit as a Vimeo or YouTube link so they can be easily viewed on a smart TV. The FilmFreeway upload is fine for quality but really must be watched on the computer.

We also welcome proposals for multi-media, performance and interactive projects. Drop some sort of video to show us and explain it in the Director's Statement. Feel free to contact the Artistic Director if you're unsure if your film qualifies.

Student film entries must include proof of student status at the time of production (i.e., copy of student ID, transcript, etc.) and should be included with a screening link.

Rough Cuts and Works-in-Progress:

Rough cuts and works-in-progress are eligible for entry only if they will be completed by July 15th, 2024. Please specify what is missing (i.e. temp sound, needs color correction, c.) on a title card at the start of the film.

Premiere Status:

aGLIFF does not program films that have been broadcast on television, or are on DVD or streaming distribution prior to the festival (August 21 - 25, 2024). Films in theatrical release in Austin, Texas prior to, or at the time of the festival (August 21 - 25, 2024) are not eligible for selection -- this includes any Austin-based Film Festival. Films which have played a film festival within 50 miles of Austin prior to festival immediately become ineligible. A short film streaming publicly on YouTube or Vimeo or other such sites will not be considered a theatrical release and will still be eligible. Films that play virtually through another festival that does not have an in person component within 50 miles of Austin remain eligible.

aGLIFF STRONGLY prefers films to be SOUTHWEST PREMIERES. We define the Southwest as Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Although playing a festival within our region will not make you ineligible, all things being equal, priority WILL be given to submissions that have not played in our region.

Although aGLIFF does not generally program submissions that have previously screened in Austin, exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis upon invite by the Artistic Director. It is your responsibility to disclose your premiere status by keeping your 'Screenings' tab up-to-date. You must notify us immediately of any changes after your entry is submitted for review.

Waivers and Fees:

aGLIFF does not grant waivers under any exception. aGLIFF will NOT pay rental or screening fees for submitted works. NO EXCEPTIONS! If you are submitting your film through Film Freeway and paying the entry fee, you are doing so with complete understanding that you are offering your film to screen at Prism 37 without asking for a fee. You may consider this an in-kind donation to the organization for your taxes. A letter can be provided upon request.

Exhibition Formats:

Acceptable formats for exhibition in the festival may include Digital Cinema Package (DCP), BluRay, h.264 file and 35mm film print but exhibition format will be based on theater availability and will be subject to pre-approval by the aGLIFF Artistic Director.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Bears Rebecca Fonte is a fantastic artistic director and puts up really wonderful films. Some great opportunities to mix and meet and terrific audience interaction.

    September 2023
  • Cameron Thrower

    Great Festival! Thanks for having "Worst Date, Best Date" part of gGLIFF!!

    September 2023
  • aGLIFF was such an incredible festival for the world premire of Come Correct. Everyone was so kind, talented, and a joy to be around. Many friends were made. The programming was impeccable. Major thanks to Bears Rebecca Fonte & Todd Hogan-Sanchez for such an amazing experience. Will submit everything I make here forever.

    September 2023
  • Julie Casper Roth

    Couldn't attend this festival but was very happy with the communication with fest staff!

    October 2022
  • Ashton Pina

    This festival is easily one of the Top 5 LGBTQ+ fests in America. As a Black Queer Storyteller, aGLIFF sets the scene for an inclusive and impactful experience. I had a time.

    September 2022