DIFF Announces Texas Avery Award Winner, Expanded Slate

Pete Docter, writer / director of Best Picture Nominee “Up,” has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Texas Avery Award at the Dallas International Film Festival. The award will be presented at a ceremony during this year’s Festival.

Docter, who’s previously worked on “WALL-E,” “Monsters, Inc,” “Toy Story” and the short film “Mike’s New Car” (all nominated for Academy Awards), is also in the running for Oscars on Sunday for Best Original Screenplay and Best Animated Feature for “Up.”

In addition to naming Docter for the Texas Avery Award, the Dallas Film Society announced more films that would be showcased throughout the eleven-day Dallas International Film Festival, including three World Premieres:

• WORLD PREMIERE: A Surprise In Texas (USA – Director: Peter Rosen)

  “A Surprise In Texas” is a documentary focusing its camera lens on the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth Texas, where 29 young contestants come from all over the world to compete for the most prestigious prize in the music world. The film highlights the story of one of them, a 20 year old from Tokyo, Nobuyuki Tsujii, blind from birth.

• The Dry Land (USA – Director: Ryan Piers Williams)

  “The Dry Land” follows a young U.S. soldier, James (Ryan O’Nan), as he returns home from duty in Iraq. Having not found the direction and purpose he sought from the service, James hurls himself back into his old life and finds it no longer fits. He tries to reconcile his experiences abroad with his life in rural Texas, but despite the support of his wife (America Ferrera), his mother (Melissa Leo), and friend (Jason Ritter) he is unable to settle in. James turns to an Army buddy (Wilmer Vaderrama) for help and together they travel the country in search of redemption. Thinking that the war was behind him, James comes to realize that the fight for his life has only begun.

• Earthling (USA – Director: Clay Liford)

  “Earthling” is a sci-fi drama following the events that occur after a mysterious atmospheric event aboard the international space station causes a small group of people to wake up and realize that their entire lives have been a lie. Now they have to make a choice. Live amongst men, or try to find a way back home. Starring Rebecca Spence, Peter Greene, William Katt, Jennifer Sipes.

• Greenlit (USA – Director: Miranda Bailey)

  “Greenlit” follows the production of “The River Why” as the filmmakers attempt to keep an environmentally friendly set thanks to the supervision of a “green” consultant. What starts off with great enthusiasm quickly devolves in this insightful and hilarious film about the difficulties of living up to good intentions.

• WORLD PREMIERE: The River Why (USA – Director: Matthew Leutwyler)

  Directed by Matthew Leutwyler, “The River Why” is a drama about a man known as “the Mozart of fly fishing” who leaves his big city home in rebellion from his family. In the process he comes in contact with an assortment of eccentric characters who help him in his journey to adulthood. Starring Zach Gilford, Amber Heard, William Hurt, Kathleen Quinlan and William Devane.

• Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child (USA – Director: Tamra Davis)

  A documentary about the artist and phenomenon who became notorious for his graffiti art under the moniker Samo in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side scene, sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and became best friends with Andy Warhol. Appreciated by both the art cognoscenti and the public, Basquiat was launched into international stardom. However, soon his cult status began to override the art that had made him famous in the first place.

• Kick In Iran (Germany – Director: Fatima Geza Abdollahyan)

  A documentary profiling Sarah Khoshjamal, a 20-year-old Taekwondo superstar and the first female professional athlete from Iran to qualify for the Olympics. This skillful vérité portrait follows the unassuming Khoshjamal in the nine months leading up to the 2008 Beijing games. Living in an Islamic country, she is required to wear a hijab at all times and, unlike her fellow competitors around the world, cannot train with men; however, the power in her fighting resoundingly breaks down stereotypical barriers.

• Obselidia (USA – Director: Diane Bell)

  A romantic drama about a man writing an encyclopedia of obsolete things. In his quest to capture people, technologies, and ideas that are disappearing, he meets a free spirited cinema projectionist. Together they go on a road trip to Death Valley to interview a scientist who is predicting the eminent end of the world, and on their strange journey, they discover perhaps love is not obsolete after all. Staring Michael Piccirilli and Gaynor Howe

• Skateland (USA – Director: Anthony Burns)

  A coming-of-age film set in 1983 centering on ‘Ritchie’, a worker at Skateland, the roller rink and local hangout of a small town. With Skateland due to close, the party scene getting stale, and his romantic life as cloudy as his future, Ritchie struggles to make sense of it all. When tragedy strikes his friends and family, Ritchie must face the music—and make the biggest decision of his life. Starring Shiloh Fernandez, Ashley Greene, Heath Freeman

• Waking Sleeping Beauty (USA – Director: Don Hahn)

  A look at the “rebirth” of the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney in the mid-1980s. The studio had fallen on hard times with artists polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control. The conditions produced a series of box office flops and many believed the best days of animation were over. The film shines a light on an influx of new leadership and talent helped Disney regain its magic with a staggering output of hits – “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty And The Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” and more—over the next ten years.

• WORLD PREMIERE: We Are The Sea (USA – Director: Neil Truglio)

  A drama about a young English teacher returning from the brink of tragedy to find his life exactly where he left it — in shambles. Turning cautiously to his friends, family, and even his students for guidance, he explores the possibilities for forging a future from a history of mistakes. The film features the music of Iron & Wine. Starring Jeff Childress and Allison Savoy

• Winter’s Bone (USA – Director: Debra Granik)

  A drama following the daring struggle of a teenage girl, ‘Ree’, who must go in search of her crystal-meth-making father, after he skips bail and goes missing. Unless she is able to find him, she and her young siblings and disabled mother will face destitution. In a heroic quest, Ree traverses the county to confront her kin, break their silent collusion, and bring her father home. Starring Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, and Lauren Sweetser.

Tickets for the 2010 Dallas International Film Festival go on sale March 18, from the Dallas Film Society web site (DallasFilm.org) and by phone at 214-720-0663.