CENTER FOR AFRICANA FUTURES PRESENTS
Houston Futures
Film Race
48 Hours.
Five Minutes.
Imagine Houston's Future.
September 10–12, 2026
30 TEAMS
•
90 FILMMAKERS
•
48 HOURS
•
5 MINUTES
•
ONE CITY
•
ONE QUESTION
•
30 TEAMS • 90 FILMMAKERS • 48 HOURS • 5 MINUTES • ONE CITY • ONE QUESTION •
What does the future of Houston look like?
The Houston Futures Film Race invites filmmakers, students, artists, and community storytellers from across Greater Houston to answer that question on film.
Thirty teams will have just 48 hours to imagine, write, shoot, edit, and submit an original five-minute film.
Science fiction. Documentary. Comedy. Horror. Romance. Animation. Experimental. Musical. Something we haven't imagined yet.
Any genre is welcome.
Because this Race isn't about predicting the future.
It's about imagining one.
THREE FILMMAKERS. THREE ROLES.
ONE TEAM.
Every Houston Futures Film Race team consists of exactly three registered filmmakers.
WRITER/DIRECTOR
Imagine it.
Develop the film’s creative concept and story and direct its realization.
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Capture it.
Translate the team’s vision into images.
EDITOR
Shape it.
Transform the team’s material into the completed film.
Filmmaking is collaborative. All three registered filmmakers may contribute creatively throughout the Race. These roles identify each filmmaker’s primary responsibility—they do not create silos.
Teams may also work with additional cast and crew, including actors, sound personnel, production assistants, composers, designers, hair and makeup artists, and others. Additional participants may be credited in the completed film, but the Writer/Director, Director of Photography, and Editor are the three official competing filmmakers.
30 TEAMS. THREE HOUSTON COHORTS.
The inaugural Houston Futures Film Race brings together filmmakers from across Greater Houston through three competition cohorts.
10 team spaces are available in each cohort.
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Teams representing Texas Southern University.
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Teams representing the University of Houston.
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Open to high school students, community and independent filmmakers, and students from other colleges and universities throughout Greater Houston, including the University of Houston–Downtown, Houston Community College, Rice University, and the University of St. Thomas, and the surrounding region.
Registration is free. Space is limited.
Thirty teams. Three cohorts. One Houston Futures Film Race.