Interview:
Richard Whittaker,
The Austin Chronicle's
Senior Staff Writer and Critic,
Austin 2025 Year in Film Review
Austin’s film industry and community endured perhaps its quietest year of a disruptive decade that began with the COVID-19 pandemic. But that does not mean what happened in 2025 will not been felt for years to come. Austin creatives will likely benefit from state lawmakers increasing the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (TMIIIP) from $200M for the years 2023-25 to $300M every two-year cycle, beginning late last year and running through 2035. The Austin Convention Center, home of the SXSW Conferences & Festivals, closed for renovation and expansion in April, forcing SXSW to find new film and conference venues until the center's anticipated 2029 reopening. The Paramount Theatre announced it would undergo renovations in 2026 and 2027, followed by the adjoining State Theatre in 2027 and 2028, with its impact upon the Paramount Summer Classic Film as well as the Austin Film Festival, the SXSW Film & TV Festival, and the ATX TV Festival unclear. In addition, funding cuts and uncertainties in the Trump 2.0 era has threatened the future of aGLIFF’s Prism, Austin’s long-running gay and lesbian film festival. That said, 2025 was a year of some notable individual and joint achievements. Matthew McConaughey returned with his first live-action film since 2019. Glen Powell continued to raise his national profile with a new streaming TV series even if his latest bid for box office bankability failed. Richard Linklater unveiled two films. Robert Rodriguez launched his own crowd-funded action film label. The Sing Sing team of Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley premiered another awards contender. Animator Don Hertzfeldt debuted his Animation Mixtape compilation of old and new shorts. Master of horror Aaron B. Koontz and his Paper Street Pictures transitioned from film to TV. Part-time Austinite Margaret Brown returned home to examine the then-unsolved 1991 Yogurt Shop murders. The Austin Chronicle's senior staff writer and critic Richard Whittaker discusses Austin's 2025 year in film and offers a preview of the films and headlines of 2026.
Aired: Jan. 7. 2026. Web site: https://www.austinchronicle.com |
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