Dead Weird Film Festival - Austin, Texas

Dead Weird Film Festival

Dead Weird is an independent genre film festival based in Austin, Texas.

The festival focuses on strange, dark, and unconventional films that live outside traditional categories.

Dead Weird programs horror, experimental, underground, and genre-blending work that takes risks and embraces the weird. Films screen for live audiences in a shared theater setting, with an emphasis on atmosphere, discovery, and films that leave an impression.

This is not a polished industry showcase.
Dead Weird is built for filmmakers who make bold work and audiences who want something different.

What Dead Weird Looks For

Dead Weird accepts short films across horror and genre-adjacent styles, including:

• Horror and dark genre films

• Experimental and unconventional narratives

• Underground, outsider, and boundary-pushing work

• Films that blur tone, form, or expectation

We’re less interested in perfection and more interested in intention, voice, and originality.

The Experience

Dead Weird is designed to feel immersive and communal.

Filmmakers and audiences experience the films together. Screenings are curated, focused, and paced to maintain energy. The festival favors atmosphere over scale and connection over polish.

If your film is strange, risky, or hard to categorize, Dead Weird is built for it.

Submissions

All films are submitted through FilmFreeway.