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A $20 advance ticket to the Austin Film Festival does not guarantee you a seat. The festival says so in its own ticket announcement: entry depends on theater capacity and a line policy that puts Badge and Film Pass holders first. According to ATX Things' read of the festival's pages on Oct. 22, the 33rd Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference runs Oct. 29 to Nov. 5, 2026, and the cheapest way to see a lot of it is not the $20 ticket.
This is the planning guide we would want a week out: what each way in costs, which evening screenings are on the advance-ticket list, how to get to the two new campus venues, and what we could not confirm. We have not been to any of the 2026 screenings yet. Everything below is from the festival's own pages, read Oct. 22.
How much does it cost to see films at the Austin Film Festival?
Here are the film-only options the festival lists on its store and in its Oct. 2026 ticket announcement:
| Way in | Price | What the festival says it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Advance GA ticket | $20 | One Marquee Feature (select films only); not a guaranteed seat |
| Film Pass | $85 | All film screenings during the eight-day festival |
| Student Film Pass | $43 | Same as the Film Pass, for students |
| Pair of Film Passes | $155 | Two Film Passes |
Source: Austin Film Festival ticket announcement and store, read Oct. 22, 2026. The festival also sells conference badges for writers ($200 Lone Star Badge up to $775 Producers Badge); those are a different product and we did not compare what each includes.
Our arithmetic, not the festival's: four $20 tickets cost $80, five cost $100, so a Film Pass is cheaper once you plan on five films. Whether that math works for you depends on the line.
The festival's wording is that a GA ticket "does not guarantee admission." Badge and Film Pass holders get priority in line. Its accessibility page also suggests checking in with festival staff or box office at least an hour before showtime to make sure you get a seat.
What is on the advance-ticket list for the first weekend evenings?
The festival put "limited advance GA tickets" on sale for select films. These are the evening start times we found for Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, all from that list. We do not know which showings are already sold out.
| Night | Film | Start | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Oct. 29 | The Debut (Opening Night; Jesse Eisenberg directs, Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti star) | 7:00 PM | Hogg Memorial Auditorium |
| Thu Oct. 29 | Tiger Mom Academy (world premiere) | 7:05 PM | State Theatre |
| Thu Oct. 29 | Our Kind of Chaos (U.S. premiere) | 9:25 PM | Texas Union Theatre |
| Fri Oct. 30 | I Play Rocky (Texas premiere) | 7:00 PM | Hogg Memorial Auditorium |
| Fri Oct. 30 | Omi (world premiere; two of its makers listed in attendance) | 6:10 PM | Texas Union Theatre |
| Fri Oct. 30 | A Long Winter (Andrew Haigh; Texas premiere) | 9:10 PM | Texas Union Theatre |
| Sat Oct. 31 | This Is the One They'll Remember Me By (world premiere) | 7:30 PM | Bullock IMAX (as listed) |
| Sat Oct. 31 | Pickpockets (world premiere) | 9:20 PM | State Theatre |
| Sat Oct. 31 | Frank Stein M.D. (world premiere) | 9:35 PM | Galaxy Theatre, Screen 6 |
| Sun Nov. 1 | Behemoth! (Centerpiece; Tony Gilroy directs, Pedro Pascal stars) | 5:30 PM | Hogg Memorial Auditorium |
| Sun Nov. 1 | Bunker (Texas premiere) | 8:20 PM | Bullock IMAX (as listed) |
| Sun Nov. 1 | The Standard: The Chris Bumstead Story (world premiere; Bumstead listed in attendance) | 8:40 PM | Hogg Memorial Auditorium |
Source: Austin Film Festival advance GA ticket page, read Oct. 22, 2026. Showtimes can change; check the festival's schedule before you go.
One oddity: the ticket page lists "Bullock IMAX" as the venue for several screenings, while the festival's venue guide names the Bullock Texas State History Museum and the Texas Spirit Theatre inside it. We think those are the same building and did not confirm which room each film uses.
Where are the venues, and how do you get to the new campus ones?
The venue guide lists downtown hotels and churches for the conference, the State Theatre downtown for films, the Bullock Museum on Congress Avenue, and one North Austin theater, the Galaxy. This year adds two University of Texas campus venues, which is where the opening-night film plays.
The festival's guidance for those two:
- Rideshare: have the driver stop at 24th Street and Whitis Avenue. It is a short, flat walk to both doors.
- CapMetro: from downtown, take Rapid 801 or Rapid 803 north on Guadalupe to the UT West Mall Station, then walk about three minutes. The guide says both run every 10 to 15 minutes, seven days a week.
- Driving: the festival points to university garages: San Antonio Garage at 2420 San Antonio St. (a four-minute walk, it says), the 27th Street Garage at 109 W. 27th St., and the Co-Op garage at 2214 San Antonio St. We did not check garage prices or evening availability.
The festival's guide lists fares at $1.25 for a local bus ride and $2.50 for a day pass, with contactless card tap at the farebox. Confirm at capmetro.org, since fares are CapMetro's to set. CapMetro's Night Owl routes run Monday through Saturday nights, midnight to 3 a.m., per the festival's guide. Our transit data page has the route and stop counts.
The two UT venues are next door to each other. On opening night the schedule works out: The Debut ends at 8:50 PM at Hogg, and Our Kind of Chaos starts at 9:25 PM at the Union. Check overlaps before you plan more than that; Friday's 7:00 PM I Play Rocky (Hogg) runs past the 9:10 PM start of A Long Winter (Union).
What else is happening around the festival?
Two things on the festival's own pages are worth knowing before you buy anything:
- Film & Food Fundraising Party, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 7 to 10 PM, at Distribution Hall, 1500 E. 4th St. The store lists a ticket at $150. The festival says proceeds benefit its Young Filmmakers Program, which it says serves over 1,800 students ages 9 to 18 a year. This is the night before the festival opens.
- Registration at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown, Bridge Ballroom (700 San Jacinto St.), opens Wednesday, Oct. 28 at noon and runs until 11 PM, then 8 AM to 11 PM Thursday and Friday.
The festival also announced a live reading of an unproduced Peter Craig screenplay, Wild Four O'Clocks, with Sally Field, Odessa Young and Mac Brandt as part of the Writers Conference. The announcement page we read did not give a date or time, so we are not guessing at one. Elsinore, with Andrew Scott, is set as the Closing Night Film.
What will the weather and the clock do?
We pulled Open-Meteo's Austin forecast on Oct. 22. For Friday, Oct. 30 it showed a high near 71 with about a 32% chance of rain, and for Saturday, Oct. 31 a high near 70 with about 35%. That is a week out, so treat it as a lean, not a promise; line-waiting plans should include a jacket and something for a shower.
Clocks fall back at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1. The festival's ticket page switches its time labels from CDT to CST for Nov. 1 screenings, so a Saturday-night plan that ends late gets an extra hour, and Sunday's 5:30 PM Centerpiece is on the new time.
Quick answers
If you are seeing one film, buy the $20 advance ticket and arrive an hour early. If you are seeing five or more, price the $85 Film Pass against that. Either way, the line rule favors the pass.
Does a $20 ticket get me in? Not guaranteed. The festival says entry depends on theater capacity and that Badge and Film Pass holders get priority.
When does it start and end? Oct. 29 to Nov. 5, 2026. Opening night is Thursday, Oct. 29.
Where can I park near the UT venues? The festival recommends three university garages on San Antonio Street and 27th Street; we did not verify prices.
Is there anything free? We did not find a free screening on the pages we read. The festival's schedule site lists every event, including some that may differ from this guide.
Will this guide change? Probably. The festival says to check austinfilmfestival.com for updated venue information, and we will correct anything it changes.
More ways to fill the week are in our guide to things to do in Austin. We publish twice a day, a morning edition and an afternoon one, on what is open, happening and worth the trip; follow @austintexasthings for the next one.
Sources: Austin Film Festival home, advance GA tickets, venue and transportation guide, registration information, Film & Food, AFF policies, CapMetro. All read Oct. 22, 2026. Images are AI illustrations, not photos of the venues.
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