Reply With QuoteThis year's festival was the best yet. I went to several screenings and one event. Moving to the Palomar was a brilliant idea and the weather really cooperated. There were also lots of people/movie crossover from SXSW. Can't wait till next year!
What's the DIFF. haha
There's been plenty of positive fluffy pieces about this year's film festival, and there's real reason for the joy - everything seems to be selling out. I'd like to go ahead and suggest to the DIFF organizers again to start looking at Fair Park for some of the gala events in the future.
This year's festival was the best yet. I went to several screenings and one event. Moving to the Palomar was a brilliant idea and the weather really cooperated. There were also lots of people/movie crossover from SXSW. Can't wait till next year!
I followed the festival on facebook.
They need to get better movie stars next year.
Bill Paxton, Jane Seymour, William Devane, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Kathleen Quinlan are pretty big stars to me.
And Amber Heard is very nice looking.
Tighten the female dog!
I'm glad to see DIFF staged several events at Fair Park during the year. I still like to hope the festival is able to earn so much favorable attention from film makers, critics and viewers that it attract crowds big enough to make use the Fair Park Esplanade and Venues for parties, and I still would love to see the Music Hall upgrades so the facility has a dual function as a gigantic revival movie house as well as top notch live theater venue.
I think revival films at the Music Hall would work to the advantage of DIFF and the USA Film Festival. Since the two Dallas film festivals cater to mostly different audiences, there's excellent opportunity for event organizers to cooperatively build attendance and prominence with jointly hosted events. Certainly the two non-profits should continue to operate independently, and explore the potential of back-to-back festivals. April becomes and entire month of special film screenings in Dallas. hummmmm....
I think they're getting better stars this year. Red Carpet walkers are certainly better dressed this year.Originally Posted by tamtagon
Although DIFF dropped (couldn't afford...!) the AFI association before the rule-of-thumb five year sink-or-swim benchmark, it's looking like the festival is building a very successful regional foundation, and that's saying a lot considering the regional competition - USA Film Festival and SXSW. These three popular film festivals really seem to complement each other. As the economy improves and more people have more disposable income, NorthPark will probably try to float a version of Fashion at the Park, too.
I won't be at all surprised to see the folks trying to stage an International Jazz Festival in Dallas hook up with the DIFF, and provide some of the 'musical component' DIFF folks seem to want.
I think this year's festival is one of the best ones they have had (in terms of film offerings). I'm also glad they split with AFI; now the Dallas Film Society is able to attract paying memberships and offer programing throughout the year.
Totally! Without AFI, DIFF will be able to evolve it's own personality.
There's a Groupon lasting 3 more days for 50% off tickets to the 2012 Dallas International Film Festival.
https://www.withoutabox.com/03film/0...stival_id=5497
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The Festival completed a successful 2011 run in April with 184 films, more than 190 screenings and attendance of over 32,000.
In 2012 the Festival will once again span 11 days and feature International Premiere screenings with nightly red carpet entrances at theaters throughout the city, award presentations, filmmaker panels and other special events.
http://diff2012.dallasfilm.org/fest-...-to-diff-2012/
April 12 - April 22
Hey all, if you are doing the fest, check out my college buddy Jeremy White's short "The Kids Won't Like It." It debuts on the 14th but I'll be seeing it on the 15th. I was in a couple of his films at Emory where he won some national awards before going to UCLA for film school, where he is now. Tickets for the fest are kinda pricey but if you already have one, it'd be cool to see you there.
http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainm...m-festival.ece
Not such a wonderful review.... but does look like DIFF is going to stick around, slowly building a following and a good reputation. As noted, programming the festival for content rather than flash is a strong point, and probably what keeps the big name stars away. That's a really good thing; cities all over the place have been flooded by film festivals with the hope of putting themselves on the "map." Drawing star power is such a fleeting fancy, and is only sustained by the festivals with a solid foundation.Assessing the sixth Dallas International Film Festival
by: Chris Vognar Movies
22 April 2012
After 11 days, the sixth Dallas International Film Festival is in the books. Let’s take a look back at what all went down, what went right and what we might see in the future. Star power: Not glowing, but not bad. It was nice to get Laura Linney in town to receive a Dallas Star Award and participate in a talk show at the Nasher Sculpture Center. But the opening-night presentation of Liberal Arts, a good get for a solid film that opens in September, could have used some guest pizzazz (no offense to producer Claude Dal Farra, who was in attendance, but an actor or two would spice things up).
Artistic director James Faust acknowledged that it was tough to bring in talent this year; most targeted names were working on projects or already done promoting whatever they had to promote. From my perspective, this is far from the most important element of a film festival; a strong and timely lineup easily trumps a guest list, and the folks who did come in were usually engaged, interesting and varied. But this is still Dallas, the city likes to see and be seen, and a bit more wattage would help raise the festival’s profile and make those ubiquitous red carpets seem a bit less ridiculous.
The lineup: Programming has always been DIFF’s strong suit, and that hasn’t changed. The documentary roster was particularly packed this year, featuring regional treats (the Texas Stadium eulogy America’s Parking Lot, the New Orleans fantasia Tchoupitoulas ) and national favorites. Some of the highlights showed previously at other festivals, but that’s not really important. Most Dallas moviegoers don’t make it out to Sundance or even SXSW, and DIFF gives them the opportunity to see what’s hot and what might not even make it into wide distribution.
I like the riskiness of this year’s lineup. Dallas native Terence Nance’s An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, a Sundance alum, is flat-out strange and wonderful, a romantic narrative experiment that plays like a mid-’60s Godard film. Ya’Ke Smith’s Wolf, which won the Grand Jury Prize in the Texas Competition, heralds a big new talent willing to embrace thorny issues (sexual abuse in the black church) without worrying about the bottom line.
For every dud showing at this year’s DIFF, you could find a handful of small gems. That’s a ratio any film fan can live with.
Logistics and hospitality: I wouldn’t mind a return to the multifilm, semicasual opening-night affair, like 2010’s shindig at the Angelika. The Majestic, which hosted this year’s opening, is a gorgeous venue, but it’s also a little daunting and overly formal for such a friendly event. Bring it back down to earth a little. Fill the lobby with the buzz of people bouncing from movie to movie, a sound that warms up the rest of the festival. This remains DIFF’s biggest strength, especially with the action centrally located in the Mockingbird Station area: a welcoming, communal spirit that tells outsiders to come on in and encourages residents to feel some pride in what has become an enthusiastic and learned film scene.
DIFF is a good look for a city with the reputation — often earned — for valuing style over substance. Keep expanding that everyone-welcome atmosphere that lies at the festival’s core and DIFF will become even more of a destination.
I thought this year's festival did a very good job with programming (much stronger than the past few years). Seeing one of the films at the Texas Theatre was a treat, though they probably lost some exposure by not using AMC Northpark this year. We really need a showcase cinema downtown capable of hosting a festival... perhaps within walking distance of the Majestic to capitalize on that venue's "premier" experience.
...expanding the scope of this thread, here's a good write up about the Dallas Video Festival, celebrating it's 25th birthday this year:
http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com...iversary.html/
September 27-30 at the DMA.
http://www.videofest.org/
I think the USA Film Festival is the longest running program in North Texas:
http://www.usafilmfestival.com/
ummmm, some other notable festivals:
Asian Film Festival
http://2012.asianfilmdallas.com/
Lone Star Film Festival in Fort Worth
http://lonestarfilmsociety.com/
http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainm...nstallment.ece
So, like, Dallas has a bunch of these near-big deal film and video festivals in addition to even more smaller niche festivals.... is it more than most places? If the film/TV production industry ever starts to really settle in, the festivals would probably attract more out of towners.By CHRIS VOGNAR
25 September 2012
Several venues have hosted the Dallas VideoFest over the years, including the Kalita Humphreys Theater and the Angelika Film Center. But festival director Bart Weiss has always had a soft spot for the event’s original location, the Dallas Museum of Art.
...Weiss has commissioned local video artists to show their work on the external walls of the Omni Dallas Hotel,
...Thursday through Sunday at the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood St. Expanded Cinema showing 8 tonight on the walls of the Omni Dallas Hotel.
So it looks like Dallas is on the 'leading edge' of with this artistic use of the side of a building....
http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainm...ded-cinema.ece
Not to be a downer here but is this really that unique? I read the article and I still don't see how this was at all unique or a first that can be credited to Dallas. My only guess is that the answer I seek is in the details. I know a number of people who have seen digital artwork similar to this in other cities. YouTube is full of fun and serious videos that seem like they would be credited the same. I'm sure there has be an article somewhere that explains this in more detail.
I don't know if it's unique, or something that started in Dallas, but I do know there's not many buildings - in the world - that have the built-in lighting capability such a large graphics display.... I know there's been all kinds of vid-art projected on the side of a building, but the cooperation between artists, technicians, broadcasters and the hotel is novel in this country, if not unique.
This single project created for the 25th anniversary of the Dallas Video Fest will probably result in the side of a downtown Dallas building covered with LEDs capable of "high-enough" resolution that when seen from the Trinity River Park will be clear, easy to follow. Anyway.....
Here's a link to the Lone Star Film Festival coming up in November:
http://lonestarfilmsociety.com/festival-lineup/
Anyone on this site going to look at movies in Fort Worth this weekend?
http://dallas.culturemap.com/newsdet...festival-2012/
The dueling Metroplex film festivals could use a dose of the old fashioned Fort Worth v. Dallas rivalry. Nothing tugs and event or facility toward the world class level more than Dallas is better, No Fort Worth is better....Calling all cinephiles: Lone Star Film Festival's 4 must-see events
BY ALEX BENTLEY
11.07.12
Dallas-Fort Worth has a thriving film scene. Local productions are on the rise, Hollywood has increasingly used our city as a backdrop for movies, and TV shows and top-notch movie theaters abound.
We are also lucky to have a variety of film festivals, including the Lone Star Film Festival, which runs November 7-11 in Fort Worth. An event such as this not only exposes local audiences to films they might not otherwise have seen, but it also gives us a chance to show outside filmmakers what our area has to offer.
This year's Lone Star Film Festival is jam-packed, so here's a guide to the four best events in the next five days.....
i wish i knew this event sooner. Is there any event like this now?
Starts this week
http://diff2013.dallasfilm.org/
The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart.
This event seriously needs a downtown home.
^word
No offense to anyone, but a headline that includes "Walking the Red Carpet in Addison" is a little embarassing for the International Film Festival.
The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart.
But we are all supposed to support regional cooperation....
Really though they did have it Downtown as the original home, aka Majestic, but there wasn't enough smaller theaters and people willing to drive downtown to fill the theaters. Course now that Oak Cliff has three active smaller theaters there is more hope. We just need the Joule to invest in a worthy venue that's not quite as big as the Majestic and we might have the beginnings of a film festival friendly urban center.
Last edited by cowboyeagle05; 08 April 2013 at 07:55 PM.
...from Michael Cain facebook:
http://www.usafilmfestival.com/image...t.schedule.pdfDALLAS International Film Festival just wrapped an incredible festival and now the USA Film Festival comes out with an amazing lineup. DFW film lovers really have it good this month!
Maybe after this festival season though another may be needed, we might be able to determine whether staging the festivals back-to-back improves quality and attendance. As noted by many, these two biggest DFW film festivals would benefit from a theater venue specifically designed to accommodate special events.
Has the USA Film Festival always been less than a week long? humrph
The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart.
http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/201...festival-wars/
Interesting read, with a little history:Oak Cliff Film Festival Poised To Triumph in Film Festival Wars
May 3rd
by Peter Simek
Well, last year there was a new addition to the crowded local film fest market (which includes the DIFF and USA, as well as the Dallas Video Festival, Thin Line Film Festival, Lone Star Film Festival, Asian Film Festival, Texas Black Film Festival, Arab Film Festival, and more). It’s called the Oak Cliff Film Festival, and it was launched by the filmmakers/film presenters who run the Texas Theatre (Aviation Cinemas).
http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Maga...om_Itself.aspx
I wonder what would happen if these festivals could develop some sort of symbiotic program review....Can the USA Film Festival Be Saved From Itself? Once bold and adventurous, it's become little more than a pest, eclipsed by the larger Dallas International Film Festival.
by Peter
3.21.2012
...What we can be sure of is that the USA Film Festival will never become the festival it once was, large and encyclopedic; the Dallas IFF has done too good a job stealing that turf. What the USA Film Festival could become, however, is something like it was when it started, bold and adventurous, seeking out films that fall through the cracks of prissier, more populist festivals. All it would take is the kind of rebrand that followed in the wake of the administrative shake-up that has completely transformed another local arts organization once thought washed up: the Dallas Contemporary.
The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart.
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