Austin Film Festival 2026 (Oct. 29–Nov. 5): How to Get Tickets, From an $85 Film Pass to Little Miss Sunshine at 20

Near the end of Little Miss Sunshine, a seven-year-old launches into the dance routine her grandfather taught her, the pageant audience gasps, and her whole worn-out family climbs onstage to dance badly beside her. On Sunday, November 1, a theater on Congress Avenue in Austin gets to watch that moment with the man who wrote it, Michael Arndt, for the film's 20th anniversary. That's the Austin Film Festival in one screening: it puts the writer in the room.

The practical version: the 33rd Austin Film Festival runs October 29 to November 5, 2026, in downtown Austin and on the University of Texas campus, and anyone can go. An $85 Film Pass covers every screening for eight days (students pay $43), $20 advance tickets are on sale for select marquee films, and badges with panels start at $200. Everything is sold on the festival's own site; if seats remain, single tickets go on sale at the theater 20 minutes before each show.

What It Is

AFF points its spotlight at the people who type the first draft, and its screenings come with Q&As featuring writers, cast and filmmakers. This year brings 197 films from 24 countries, with a four-day Writers Conference running October 29 to November 1. Opening night belongs to Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut, with Julianne Moore as a shy homemaker who lands a bit part in community theater and turns into a method-acting monster.

When and Where

• Downtown: the State Theatre (719 Congress Ave.), plus the Bullock IMAX and Texas Spirit Theatre inside the Bullock Texas State History Museum (1800 Congress Ave.), less than a mile up the same street.
• UT campus: Hogg Memorial Auditorium (2300 Whitis Ave.), home to the gala nights, and the Texas Union Theatre next door.
• North Austin: the Galaxy Theatre, for shorts programs and smaller premieres.

Hopping to campus takes planning; check AFF's venue guide for getting around.

What It Costs

Full prices from the festival's badges and passes page, checked October 21, 2026:

• Advance GA ticket, $20: one marquee screening, select films only.
• Film Pass, $85: every screening, with a line that enters ahead of single-ticket buyers. Two passes cost $155; the Student Film Pass is $43.
• Lone Star Badge, $200: every film from the faster badge line, plus Saturday's panels and script readings and the Pitch Finale Party (21+).
• Weekend, Conference and Producers Badges ($390, $525, $775): more panel days and more parties, up to everything.

AFF's own advice: if you'll see more than four films, buy the pass. Five $20 tickets cost more, and the pass gets you in first.

How to Get In, Step by Step

1. Pick your level. Movies only? Film Pass. Want writers talking shop on Saturday too? The Lone Star Badge is the cheapest way into the panels.
2. Buy on AFF's site (the button on this post links there), or by phone at 1-800-310-3378.
3. Or buy single tickets for the big nights from the advance GA ticket page, which links each marquee film.
4. Pick up your pass in person at Registration in the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown's Bridge Ballroom (700 San Jacinto). It opens Wednesday, October 28 at noon and runs daily through Sunday, November 1; from November 2 to 5, pickup moves to the Tech Center at 221 E. 9th St., noon to 6 p.m.
5. Build your schedule on AFF's online schedule, with a backup in case a screening fills.

Screenings Worth Planning Around

The first weekend is when the big titles land:

• The Debut (Thu., Oct. 29, 7 p.m., Hogg): opening night.
• Bitter Christmas (Thu., Oct. 29, 9:55 p.m., State): Pedro Almodóvar's new film.
• Paper Moon (Fri., Oct. 30, 3:20 p.m., State): Bogdanovich's 1973 con-artist road movie, presented by Frank Marshall.
• I Play Rocky (Fri., Oct. 30, 7 p.m., Hogg): Peter Farrelly on Stallone refusing to sell Rocky without himself in it.
• Ray Gunn (Sat., Oct. 31, 6 p.m., State): Brad Bird's animated detective story.
• Behemoth! (Sun., Nov. 1, 5:30 p.m., Hogg): the Centerpiece, with Tony Gilroy directing Pedro Pascal as a cellist coming home after 20 years on the road.

The back half is quieter but deep: Kore-eda's Look Back on November 2, Danny Boyle's Ink on November 4, and the closing-night film, Elsinore, with Andrew Scott as Chariots of Fire actor Ian Charleson preparing to play Hamlet while living with AIDS.

Why Little Miss Sunshine Needs a Crowd

That pageant dance is a joke that works best when you can hear a room deciding whether it's allowed to laugh. At home it's charming. In a full theater, the laughter starts nervous and grows as Olive keeps going and the rest of the Hoovers file onstage beside her. It's a scene about embarrassment turning into loyalty, and a crowd acts that out in real time.

It almost didn't play this way. Arndt rewrote the ending six weeks before the film's 2006 Sundance premiere, and the new version was shot that December, mid-post-production. Even the song wasn't in the script: Arndt wrote in Prince's "Peach," the cast danced to ZZ Top on set, and Rick James's "Super Freak" arrived after filming on the music supervisor's suggestion. The 12:30 p.m. screening, with Arndt there, is your chance to ask about the ending he threw out.

Tips From the Line

• Twenty minutes is the magic number. Pass and badge holders must be in line 20 minutes before showtime. That's when GA tickets go on sale and your priority vanishes. Nobody gets in more than 15 minutes after the start.
• A pass isn't a reserved seat. Every credential, advance tickets included, means admission up to capacity. Arrive early for the Hogg galas.
• Nothing is refundable, and badges can't be transferred.
• Mind the clocks. Daylight saving time ends Sunday, November 1, mid-festival, so double-check that day's start times.
• Need accommodations? AFF wants requests 10 days ahead; email accessibility@austinfilmfestival.com now for the festival's second half.
• Parties are 21+ and need a badge or separate ticket.

Whenever you catch Little Miss Sunshine, keep your eyes on Greg Kinnear's Richard in that last dance. Arndt built the script as a jab at a Schwarzenegger line about despising losers, and Richard spends the whole road trip preaching about winners. He's also the one who tries to keep Olive off that stage. Watch who ends up keeping her on it.