Dallas International Film Festival to feature screenings with North Texas connections

The Dallas International Film Festival announced its first 17 films for its 17th edition.

The festival runs from April 28 to May 5 at Violet Crown Cinema in West Village Uptown. The films range from documentaries and dramas to thrillers and comedies, organizers said.

DIFF 2023 is a comeback of sorts. In 2020, the in-person festival was postponed because of the pandemic. In 2021, it returned as an abbreviated in-person three-day event at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in the Cedars. Last year, DIFF took place over seven days in October at various Dallas venues. This year, the festival will be headquartered at Violet Crown Cinema, which was its base four years ago when it was the Magnolia Theater.

The festival will feature screenings of more than 100 films submitted from more than 60 countries in addition to Q&A sessions with filmmakers and actors. The event also will include nightly DIFF Red Carpets, a Festival Lounge and special events. Virgin Hotels Dallas is the event’s premiere sponsor.

“These films are just a glimpse of the powerful stories we’re honored to present at DIFF 2023,” James Faust, DIFF artistic director said in a release.

Several of the films have North Texas connections.

Into The Spotlight is a documentary that follows a Dallas-based theater troupe of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are determined to write, rehearse and perform their 11th annual original musical during the 2021-22 season. The documentary is directed by Emmy Award-winner Thaddeus D. Matula of Dallas.

Jeremy Coon, a graduate of Berkner High School in Richardson, directed A Disturbance in the Force: How the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened. It’s a behind-the-scenes documentary about the ill-fated holiday special that aired on CBS the week of Thanksgiving in 1978. Coon was also the executive producer of Napoleon Dynamite (2004).

Breaking the Code is a documentary about artist Vernon Fisher, who was born in Fort Worth in 1943. Fisher became one of the more prominent artists of the 20th century, exhibiting alongside Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Gibson Icons: Rex Brown of Pantera is a documentary about Red Brown, a longtime bassist for North Texas metal band Pantera. Brown shares personal stories surrounding his childhood, the bonds built between his band members, and the enduring legacy of Pantera.

Chocolate Lizards is a comedy-adventure film starring Erwin Vandeveer, played by Rudy Pankow, who finds himself stranded in Buffalo Gap, Texas, with Merle Luskey, played by Thomas Haden Church, a former Dallas resident who attended the University of North Texas.

Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection is a documentary about Karen Carpenter’s personal struggles told through never-before-released recordings. Dallas-based AMS Pictures produced the film.

The Doldrums will premiere with a comedy/drama about three characters whose friendships shift when the oldest goes to college. The film is told in six vignettes filmed in Dallas.

The Wild Man follows a young journalist who travels to Ochopee, Fla., with friends to investigate young women who have been going missing. The film was shot on locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

DIFF 23 will also feature two other world premieres. Savage is the comeback story of bull rider Clayton Savage. SK8 Girlz documents the rise of an all-female skateboarding team based out of Orange County.

Other screenings: Bad Press, It’s Only Life After All, Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes, The Eternal Memory, The New Americans: Gaming a Revolution, Blue Jean and The Origin of Evil.

“James Faust is once again curating a festival for the ages,” Beth Wilbins, DIFF CEO, said in the release.

DIFF is the signature program of Dallas Film, a nonprofit established in 2006. Since its founding, DIFF has screened more than 2,000 films from 50 countries, provided more than $1.1 million in awards and hosted more than 100,000 filmgoers and filmmakers.

About DIFF 2023

When: April 28-May 5

Where: Violet Crown Cinema, 3699 McKinney Ave., Dallas.

Categories: Grand Jury prizes will be awarded for Best Texas Short Film, Best Texas Feature, Best Documentary Short Film, Best Documentary Feature, Best Narrative Feature, Best Animated Short Film and Best Student Film within the Shorts Competition. Audience Awards will be given for Best Documentary Feature, Best Narrative Feature and Best Short Film. A Dallas County Historical Commission Prize will be awarded for Best Historical Film. Other film categories and tracks will include World Films, Environment/Sustainability, Latino Films, Family Films, Indigenous Films, LGBTQIA+, Music, Persons with Disabilities, Sports and Midnight Films, among others.