On Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 1:00 PM, Deaf Santa Claus had its World Premiere at the 31st Austin Film Festival, screening at the Rollins Theatre at the Long Center (701 W Riverside Dr, Austin, TX 78704) — one of the most coveted festival venues in Texas. A second showing followed on Wednesday, October 30 at 8:30 PM at Galaxy Theatre 6 (6700 Middle Fiskville Rd, Austin, TX 78752).
The film was selected as one of five Texas-made world premieres in AFF’s prestigious Second Wave programming announcement, sharing the slate with Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door (the Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner) and Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch starring Amy Adams. AFF programming highlighted the documentary as a story they couldn’t not show — featuring an almost entirely Deaf crew and a deeply human Texas story.
The Cast: Charles William Graves, Kari Graves, and Kalei Graves. Directors Ben Shelton (Netflix’s Candy Jar) and Anthony Mowl introduced the 109-minute film with on-screen English subtitles. The post-screening Q&A drew more audience questions than the schedule could hold — the kind of room response festival programmers spend their careers chasing.
The AFF World Premiere launched what would become a national theatrical tour reaching nearly 20 cities across the United States through late 2025 and into 2026.
