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Local filmmaker seeks city support to finish 1982 Austin community film restoration
Summary
Producer-director Cecilia Garza Trevino screened a 3-minute clip and described years-long efforts to restore a 1982 Austin community-produced feature. She asked the commission for visibility and connections to preservation resources and local partners.
Cecilia Garza Trevino presented a 3-minute clip and described an ongoing post-production and restoration effort to complete a feature-length film shot in Austin in 1982. She said the original production was a community project shot on location across Austin, largely on weekends and without pay for participants, and that she has spent years scanning and restoring 16mm footage to bring it into digital form.
Why it matters: The project documents locations and community practices that have changed or disappeared in Austin and may have archival and cultural-historical value for the city.
Trevino said the film’s original print required extensive restoration after decades in storage and that she has used fiscal sponsorship through Film Independent for tax-deductible donations. She asked staff and commissioners for leads to preservation partners and funding opportunities for completion and post-production work.
Several commissioners and attendees recommended local archival partners and technical resources. One commissioner suggested Preservation Austin and the Austin History Center as likely resources; another attendee recommended the Texas Archive of the Moving Image and local analog-film practitioners with experience on Super 8 and 16mm formats. Trevino said she has already contacted the Texas Film Commission and the Austin Film Society, which helped her scan the material into digital files but could not provide direct production funding for a historic 16mm feature.
Next steps: Commissioners and staff offered to circulate Trevino’s web link and letter to relevant preservation organizations and to forward information on local technicians and possible fiscal or in-kind partnerships. Trevino requested clarification about eligibility under ACME’s draft funding programs and whether she could apply for program-specific grants such as Elevate or other production funds under the Creative Reset.
