For a film to be considered in any category, it is not necessary that it have opened theatrically in Houston. The membership of the HFCS will consider any feature-length film that we view in a theater or screen via physical media/link on or before the year’s screening deadline. The deadlines for voting are determined by the Governing Board.
We award honors in the following general categories:
- Best Picture
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
- Best Director of a Motion Picture
- Best Screenplay
- Best Animated Film
- Best Cinematography
- Best Documentary Feature
- Best Foreign Language Film
- Best Original Song
- Best Original Score
- Best Stunt Team Coordination
- Best Visual Effects
- Outstanding Achievement in Cinema
We bestow additional honors as well, such as the Lifetime Achievement and Humanitarian awards. These are bestowed on a year-by-year basis at the discretion of the membership. Where there’s a standout, we recognize it!
The Texas Independent Film Award
We also bestow our own HFCS award, the Texas Independent Film Award (TIFA), established in 2014. Texas enjoys its own storied history, and we celebrate those stories and the Texan filmmakers who tell them. A TIFA nominee might be a documentary or narrative feature, and be made by a Texan filmmaker or other who recognizes the vast opportunity of settings available in our adventurous state. We honor both the film we believe to be most impressive taken as a whole, and also the filmmaker whose vision we can’t wait to see more of in the future.
Past winners include The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, Tower, The Last Man on the Moon (for which were highly honored to receive astronaut Gene Cernan himself in attendance), and Boyhood. It is our privilege to highlight the dazzling array of content and style of films made here in our great state, and we have been greatly pleased that
Learn more about the Texas Independent Film Award here, and submit your Texas-made film today!