Austin Film Festival to Honor Brad Bird, Andrew Haigh and Aleshea Harris; Bird's 'Ray Gunn' Set for Premiere

Brad Bird will receive the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award at the 2026 Austin Film Festival on 31 October, with the Texas festival also premiering his animated feature Ray Gunn, starring Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell. Variety

The festival runs 29 October through 5 November. Bird's honour headlines a first wave of announcements that also recognises two other storytellers: Andrew Haigh, who will accept the Writer's Writer Award, and Aleshea Harris, recipient of the New Voice Award. All three will be celebrated at the 31 October ceremony. Variety

Bird is the writer-director behind The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille and Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol. Ray Gunn, his long-gestating animated noir, marks his return to the medium where he built his reputation. Johansson and Rockwell lead the voice cast.

Haigh's credits include Weekend, 45 Years and All of Us Strangers — intimate, character-driven dramas that have made him a favourite among screenwriters. The Writer's Writer Award speaks directly to that peer recognition: a honour voted by fellow practitioners rather than by critics or audiences.

Harris, a playwright whose work includes What to Send Up When It Goes Down and On Sugarland, takes the New Voice Award. Her stage writing has drawn acclaim for formally inventive storytelling that confronts race and violence, and the festival position recognises a career still on the rise.

Barbara Morgan, the festival's co-founder and executive director, said the organisation is proud to present its first wave of announcements celebrating storytellers. Variety

The Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award has been handed out before: Ron Howard received it in 2009, during the festival's earlier years. Austin Film Festival

The Austin Film Festival distinguishes itself from larger autumn events like Telluride and Toronto by programming around the screenplay rather than the gala premiere. Panels, readings and competitions are built around the craft of writing, which makes the lineup of honourees — a feature animator, a drama writer-director, and a playwright — a natural fit.

For audiences, 31 October offers a rare double: Bird picking up a career award and screening a new film the same night.