The SCREEN ATX Film Festival

This past April, I attended my first film festival in years. That might sound insignificant, but if you’ve been to a film festival before, you’ll understand. An air of creative excitement that flows freely all day at these events. There are opportunities to listen and chat with filmmakers about their projects (some of which you just saw) and endless hours spent in movie seats watching breathtaking films. It’s a film fan’s dream, really, and SCREEN ATX was the perfect way to get me back on the film fest bandwagon after the pandemic hiatus.

SCREEN ATX was started 3 years ago by Nadia Jordan and Elizabeth Lloyd with the intention of giving every filmmaker a chance to have their film screen at a film festival. 

 “As filmmakers ourselves, we were finding that a lot of smaller to mid-sized festivals were not based on actual talent. So we decided to start our own and give everyone a chance,” Lloyd says.

“Having been on the festival circuit with our own films, we witnessed favors being pulled, nepotism, and priority given to bigger budget films with star names,” adds Jordan. “SCREEN ATX judges watch every submission and rate solely on talent and quality of work. We know the dedication and passion that goes into films and we wanted everyone the opportunity to showcase their films, not just because they happen to have an ‘in’ with someone on the board!”

I believe Austin is a perfect fit for festivals because Austin is a wonderful hub for entertainment, creators, and fans, but on the downside, there is already a plethora of festivals that populate our city year-round. This could have been problematic for other festival organizers, but the girls of SCREEN ATX, had a unique way of separating their fest from others in the field.

“We take a very personal approach and spend a lot of time at the festival getting to know the filmmakers and their work and have developed some lasting relationships,” elaborates Jordan. “A lot of festivals are ‘faceless’ and most of the time you have no idea who the festival directors are. Elizabeth and I love chatting and getting to know all the filmmakers, and that’s one of the main reasons we do this.”

A big part of how the ladies separated themselves from the others is also through the films they showcased. 

“As previously mentioned, we also make it about the films and screen those which rate the highest, not just films from local filmmakers. Some festivals are less likely to screen international films as they realize the filmmakers may not attend the festival," Lloyd explains. “We had some amazing international films and this year our Best Student Film was from Germany, and our Best Short was from Sweden.”

After the films have been selected, they are placed together to form the perfect lineup for each Film Block. This year the films at SCREEN ATX ranged in genre from comedy to animation to science-fiction. The crop of films was amazing to watch and I found myself glued to my theater seat absorbing as many as I could. In the end, I was able to watch 32 films!

“Currently, We accept between 35 and 40 films each year but hope to expand the festival to two days next year,” adds Lloyd. “The quality of work gets better and better every year, so it's really hard to program when there are so many great films!”

The films this year seemed to be centered on an important topic, mental health, but that wasn’t necessarily intentional. SCREEN ATX, like other festivals, has general criteria for submission, based on length and classification like narrative and documentary, but there isn’t an overall theme.

It was so beautiful seeing so many films centered around mental health. Even if it wasn’t intentional, I believe this was a powerful outcome. The last few years have been extremely hard for many in different ways, and it was healing being able to connect art with this unexpected theme.

"Perhaps this year, the films did dictate the theme! The films we screened that did focus on health and mental health not only brought awareness to these issues, but they were also really engaging, well-produced films that scored highly among our judges,” Jordan acknowledges.

The 2023 SCREEN ATX festival was one day filled with all the best things. Not only were the films stacked in quality, but there were panels with  Kirtana Banskota and Chiara McCarthy from Women in Film Austin and Dallas Morgan from Caster Studios. The day was bursting with so much industry gold, and it made me think about the behind-the-scenes crew putting everything together. I have experience in running a festival (Iron Dragon TV Action Fest, to be exact), and I know the beauty and stress of assembling a working film festival. For SCREEN ATX, they have only a handful on staff, which are festival PAs and festival judges. The meat and bones of the opposition, though, are Jordan and Lloyd.

“As well as being filmmakers ourselves, Both Elizabeth and I have past experience in marketing, PR, and sponsorship, which is really helpful, so we are pretty much a two-women band right now,” elaborates Jordan. “We do bring on several PAs closer to the event to help with pre-festival organization and to ensure things run smoothly on the day. We also have a panel of 15 judges that watch and rate every film that is submitted.”

“The festival is primarily run by myself and Nadia. We have been collaborators since we met in LA in 2010. We love working together as we complement each other with our different skills and styles,” adds Lloyd.

I’m a bit embarrassed that I’m just now aware of SCREEN ATX, having missed the previous 2 years. That, however, will be rectified, as SCREEN ATX will now be a staple in my yearly festival attendance. I’m excited to see the festival grow, with more amazing films, fascinating filmmaker conversations, and enlightening industry panels. However, for Nadia Jordan and Elizabeth Lloyd, the festival’s growth means something a bit more to them.

“Our goals are to watch the festival grow and continue to help filmmakers. We love to hear from the cast and crew after the festival is over and keep our connection,” muses Lloyd. “We started the festival with a goal in mind, this is about the filmmaker and their stories, and following their success is extremely rewarding.”

“Exactly, we want to continue to grow the festival, add more workshops, panels & seminars, anything that can help filmmakers along their filmmaking journey, which is usually a challenging one,” replies Jordan. “It’s an industry where competition is high, and until you ‘make it,’ profit can be low, so we want to do everything we can to make it a little easier, no matter how small. It’s so gratifying to witness how excited the filmmakers are to see their work up on the big screen, especially if it’s for the first time. So more of all of that!”

SCREEN ATX runs in the late Spring in Austin Texas. While the 2023 festival may have ended, you can find information about the films screened, including the winners of the various awards, on their website. Make sure you follow their Instagram page (@ScreenATX) to stay up to date on the 2024 festival’s information.

Written by Lisa M Mejia

Images provided by Screen ATX