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Thru the Lens Film Festival

Thru the Lens Film Festival (TTLFF) is a small Austin short film festival run by Robert and Elizabeth Cantu, listed at the Courtyard by Marriott Austin-University Area. It focuses on performance-driven narrative shorts, including edgy, dark and mature work, and programs about 25 films of 30 minutes or less in five categories: Y'all Texans, Narrative, Women Voices, Horror and Student. Each category block is followed by a Q&A and an award, and the program includes a directors and actors roundtable. The first edition was set for April 12, 2024; filmmaker reviews describe a 2025 edition. Entries are currently closed and no 2026 or 2027 dates are posted.

Festival · Austin · Active

Next
Usually spring
Courtyard by Marriott Austin-University Area
Robert Cantu (festival director) and Elizabeth Cantu (coordinator/programmer)
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Categories
Y'all Texans
Narrative
Women Voices
Horror
Student
Prizes
Lens trophies and certificates for each category winner (trophies only on attendance); nominee certificates.

Notable

First-year listing (archived September 2023) set the first event for April 12, 2024, with shorts under 30 minutes and fees $20–$45 ↗︎
Listed as running 3 years; about 25 shorts in five categories, a directors and actors roundtable, Q&As after each block; reviews from May–June 2025 refer to that year's festival, one noting there was no in-person screening ↗︎
Sources
  1. Thru the Lens Film Festival FilmFreeway
  2. Thru the Lens Film Festival (archived listing) FilmFreeway via Wayback Machine 2023-09-21

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