The Austin Film Festival is dedicated to championing the work of aspiring and established filmmakers, defined as screenwriters, directors, editors, producers, actors and all those artists who use the language of film to tell a story. The AFF furthers the art, craft and business of filmmaking by providing unique cultural events and services, enhancing public awareness and participation, and encouraging dynamic and long-lasting community partnerships.

The Austin Film Festival is a not for profit 501c3 corporation.

Sydney Pollack


SYDNEY POLLACK is celebrated for his talents as director, producer and actor. Nineteen of his films have received Academy Award nominations, including two for Best Picture. His film Out of Africa (1985) won seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director for Pollack.

Born in South Bend, Indiana, Pollack began as an actor, moved to television directing, and made his debut as a feature film director with Slender Thread (1965).

He won the New York Film Critics' Award for his 1982 film Tootsie, and the David di Donatello Award for Three Days of the Condor.

He's received the Golden Globe for Best Director twice, the National Society of Film Critics' Award, the NATO Director of the Year Award, and prizes from the Brussels, Belgrade, San Sebastian, Moscow, and Taormina Film Festivals.

Pollack served twice as a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival and once as the jury’s President.

The American Film Institute voted Tootsie the #2 Comedy of all time, and The Way We Were and Out of Africa are in the AFI’s top 100 Romantic Films of all time.

In 2000 he was awarded the Directors Guild of America John Huston Award by the Artists Rights Foundation.

As an actor, he has appeared in Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives, Robert Altman’s The Player, Robert Zemeckis’s Death Becomes Her, Steve Zaillian’s Civil Action, Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, and Roger Mitchell’s Changing Lanes. On television he has appeared on Mad About You and Will & Grace.

In 1985 he formed Mirage Productions. Under that banner he has produced the films; Presumed Innocent, The Fabulous Baker Boys, White Palace, Major League, Dead Again, Searching for Bobby Fisher, Sense and Sensibility, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Quiet American and Cold Mountain. In 2000, writer/director Anthony Minghella became a partner in Mirage Productions.

Pollack is a founding member of The Sundance Institute, The Chairman Emeritus of The American Cinematheque, a founding member of The Film Foundation, and on the Board of Directors for The Motion Picture and Television Fund.