PREVIEW: The 2010 DALLAS International Film Festival
North Texas film fans should have had April 8 – 18 marked down on their calendars for months, as the DALLAS International Film Festival rolls into town with eleven days of an amazing cross-section of cinematic excellence. Simply put, DIFF is a world-class film festival being held right in your backyard, and if you don’t get out to a few of the screenings or events this year, you’ll kick yourself for months to come.
First, if you haven’t already done so, download the Quick Guide to the Festival (2.4 MB PDF) and plot out your schedule. With over 150 films on the calendar, you need an attack plan.
Red Carpet Crash has the DALLAS IFF beat covered: not only will we have reviews of the films within hours of screening, but we’ll have a nightly recap show, “DallasFest After Dark,” live from the Festival Lounge nightly at 10:30 pm (and available on-demand each morning) featuring red carpet coverage, interviews with some of the attending filmmakers, and exclusive content you won’t want to miss.
We’ve got a few tips to make your festival scheming easier:
Opening Night
Instead of highlighting one film for the kickoff of the festival, DIFF takes over all eight screens of the Angelika on Thursday, April 8 with a brilliant cross-section of the programming you can expect through the next eleven days. Bill Paxton, Kelly Monaco, Billy Zane and Mayor Tom Leppert headline the Red Carpet for the evening, then you can choose from “Skateland,” “Bill Cunningham New York,” “Multiple Sarcasms,” “A Town Called Panic,” a special Opening Night Shorts Block, or a rare exhibition of Pedro Infante’s “We The Poor (Nostros Los Pobres).”
And, while we’re on the subject…
Red Carpets
There’s a Red Carpet each night of the festival, with actors and directors pressing the flesh with reporters and fans throughout the run. Some of the confirmed names include America Ferrera, Wilmer Valderrama, Amber Heard, Clay Liford, Clint Howard, Kathleen Quinlan, William Devane, and James Keach. We’ll have video from the Red Carpet each night (it’s kind of what we do), but you should come experience it live at the Angelika.
World Premieres / Centerpiece Galas
Three movies – “A Surprise In Texas,” The River Why” and “We Are The Sea” – will get their first exhibition at DIFF’10. In addition, “Solitary Man” and “The Joneses” will be shown in gala fashion to Festival audiences.
Dallas Star Award Winners
The DALLAS International Film Festival has made a commitment to honor individuals who have advanced modern cinema, and the 2010 Dallas Star Award recipients embody that credo: John Lee Hancock, director of “The Blind Side,” “The Rookie” and “The Alamo”; Guillermo Arriaga, whose films include “Babel,” “The Burning Plain,” “21 Grams” and “Powder Keg”; and Wally Pfister, cinematographer for “The Dark Knight,” “Insomnia,” “Memento” and F. Gary Gray’s “The Italian Job.” The Dallas Star Awards will be presented as part of the DALLAS Film Society Honors program on Friday, April 16 at the Hotel Palomar.
Texas Avery Award
Each year, DIFF honors a groundbreaking animator with the Texas Avery Award, with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Pete Docter getting the nod in 2010. Docter directed “Up” (which took home the Oscar for Best Animated Film this year) and “Monsters, Inc.”, and worked in various roles on Pixar’s “Toy Story,” “Toy Story 2,” “A Bug’s Life” and “WALL*E.”
Panel Discussions
The Nasher Sculpture Center is the home for this year’s killer slate of Talk/Shows, ranging from “Creature Features” to “Navigating the Seas of Film Financing and Distribution.” All Talk/Shows are free and open to the public. In addition, the Texas Film Commission is hosting a series of Industry Speakeasy events at Central 214′s Patio Lounge in the Hotel Palomar, and the Festival Lounge will feature several special presentations throughout the week.
Star Passes
While you can purchase individual tickets to the films and other events of the DALLAS International Film Festival, the best way to get the most out of the fest is to grab a Star Pass. Not only do Star Pass holders get access to all of the movies and Opening and Closing Night gala events, you also get to cruise past the lines and head right into the theater for each screening. You can line up your Star Passes at the Festival Box Office, or buy ‘em online at DallasFilm.org.
