Although he’s garnered numerous accolades and distinctions for his work on films such as UP, SUPER 8 and the TV show Lost, Oscar and Grammy-winning film composer Michael Giacchino didn’t always plan to write music. At a young age he loved his father’s record collection, which included Benny Goodman, Louis Prima, The Beach Boys even Scottish Marches and Henry Mancini. But once he saw STAR WARS in the theaters the filmmaking bug really hit him. “That! Whatever that is, that’s what I want to do.”

Using his father’s old Keystone 8mm camera Michael started making stop-motion films. “I took piano lessons but filmmaking was the passion for me, and I just kept making movies—and a big part of making those movies was selecting music to put in them. In the early days, 8mm films were silent so I used a tape recorder and would try to time out exactly what was going on with my films. I would, very crudely, edit together music soundtracks based on all the records I’d listened to.”

Michael’s love of movies took him to film school, which later led to Juilliard where he became more serious about music. Learning more about orchestration and musical theory, Michael started getting into different instruments and learning everything he could about the orchestra. Afterward, he began producing video games and found himself writing and producing music for Dreamworks’ Medal of Honor series.

His work soon got the attention of J.J. Abrams, who at that time was developing the TV series Alias, and they immediately hit it off.

Michael Giacchino

“We both grew up making 8mm movies—Super 8, 16mm movies—and one of the reasons we get along very well is because we had that shared experience growing up. Filmmaking is one of the great arts because it involves all the other arts, you know. It’s not just one thing; it involves so many different crafts that need to work together and that’s very inspiring and interesting to me.”

Working on projects ranging from video games to television, animated to live-action films, and even writing music for theme parks, Giacchino has easily transitioned from one medium to another. Yet there’s one central and singular element that drives his work.

“It’s always about storytelling—specifically emotions and character. For me, it’s simply about emotions and writing what I’m feeling. When a film or TV show affects me in that certain way, then that’s when I feel that I love my job the most, because I can give you back what I’m feeling. If I have to manufacture something, because I’m feeling nothing, that’s a very difficult thing to do. I tend to shy away from any project where I get the sense that I’m not gonna feel anything working on this. There needs to be some passion behind it.”

Sometimes it’s easier for the audience to relate to a human element. However, Michael has composed themes for characters both human and non, and he treats the subject matter all the same.

“To me there’s nothing any more real about a character like Spock or a rat that can cook. They’re all characters, they’re all parts of the story we’re telling and I try to treat the animated ones just as I would treat the human ones. Just because it’s a rat, I don’t want to demean what he’s thinking or feeling. I want to treat him as I would treat Kirk or the kids from SUPER 8.

“I try to look at them all as real people as opposed to just a thing. And if you’re looking at them that way, and you’re looking for what drives them/what they’re thinking and feeling, that’s how you get the audience on board with what you need to do story-wise.”

Michael has composed numerous beloved and familiar themes, yet he’s not really known to conduct his own music. Taking the stand at the Dallas Symphony for his three-night engagement will, even for an Oscar-winner, be a new experience for him.

“I’ve been conducting more and more over the years and am starting to get more comfortable conducting full-length things and doing that. So I think I’m close to the point to the point where I’ll go ‘OK I’ll do the whole thing.’

“It’s all about getting the confidence to do it. It’s one thing when you’re with all your players that you know in the studio setting; in an orchestra it’s different. A lot of times I choose not to conduct the film scores because I want to be with the director in the booth. I want to talk with him as we hear the music. But it’s fun and I’m looking forward to it and I do enjoy doing it, so this concert with the Symphony is something I have been looking forward to.”

Marc Ciafardini is the founder and editor of Go. See. Talk! a Dallas-based website focused on cinema.

Most of the people in the photo above join the DFS staff a month or two before the Festival, and then they work ceaselessly to produce the event. We’re sad to see them go, but we know a lot of them will be back next year.

We would have to take a photo from space to capture all of our volunteers in a single shot. We are grateful to each and every one of them, however. They are the backbone of the Festival and it wouldn’t happen without them.

Our sponsors give us the equipment and monetary resources to produce this event for Dallas. Their commitment to the art of film and to the community makes it happen. Visit our sponsors page to show them you appreciate their involvement.

We thank our filmmakers for allowing us to show their work. Our goal is to expose their films to new audiences that will support their creativity and the craft of filmmaking for years to come.

DFS Members, thank you for your passion for film, and for entrusting us with the responsibility to curate year-round programs and an annual festival that highlight both films and filmmakers.

Lastly, we appreciate the support of the City of Dallas and its residents. We strive to return the favor by introducing Dallasites to films and filmmakers that they can’t experience anywhere else, and by introducing filmmakers to the city’s excellent production facilities, crew and locations.

Thanks for making DIFF 2012 a success! Please join in on the Dallas Film Society’s year-round programming. Click here to become a member.

FAITH, LOVE & WHISKEY

Two kaleidoscopic films both with distinct visual flair walked away with the top honors in the Narrative & Documentary Feature competitions: Kristina Nikolova’s Bulgarian film FAITH, LOVE & WHISKEY won the narrative category (Nikolova tearfully accepted the award despite previous claims that “I won’t cry; I’m a tough girl.”), and Bill and Turner Ross’s TCHOUPITOULAS won the documentary contest. The Narrative competition jury also gave a Special Mention for Breakout Performance to Michael Rainey Jr. for LUV and a Special Mention for Acting for Kim Kold in TEDDY BEAR.

WOLF

The strong lineup in this year’s Texas Competition meant the jury had a difficult decision to make, but Ya’ke Smith’s much-talked-about directorial debut WOLF was awarded the $30,000 camera package courtesy of Panavision. The jury also gave a Special Mention to David Zellner’s KID-THING.

“It’s been a hard road because of the subject matter,” said Smith, whose film addresses several taboo subjects at once, “and I have to thank the Festival for believing in it and having the boldness for programming it and screening it.”

DIRTY ENERGY

With emotion, Bryan D. Hopkins accepted the Environmental Visions Grand Jury Prize for his documentary DIRTY ENERGY, a personal look into the trials of the citizens directly affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. With only $200 in his bank account, Hopkins travelled to Louisiana to highlight these ongoing personal struggles that have been forgotten in the mainstream news cycle.

“Anyone who’s made a film realizes that you never do it alone,” Hopkins said. “When I started this film I had $200, a bag of groceries and food stamps. At least now I know I’m not crazy.”

THE INVISIBLE WAR

For the second year running, Lauren Embrey presented the $10,000 Silver Heart Award courtesy of the Embrey Family Foundation. Kirby Dick’s THE INVISIBLE WAR won the award as it most represented a filmmaker’s dedication to fighting injustices and creating social change for the improvement of humanity.

Dana O’Keefe’s AARON BURR, PART 2 won the Grand Jury Prize in the Shorts Competition. A Special Mention went to Brent Hoff’s THE LOVE COMPETITION and a Special Mention for Unique Storytelling in the Student Shorts went to Afarin Eghbal’s GRANDMOTHERS. REEL FX presented the award for Best Animated Short to Grant Orchard’s A MORNING STROLL, while the Grand Jury Prize winner of the Student Shorts was Justin Tipping’s NANI, which also walked away with the overall Audience Award for Best Short in the evening’s biggest Filmmaker Award surprise.

NANI

“This is crazy. What happened?,” Tipping exclaimed. “This is the beginning of my career, my journey … it’s a little surreal, growing up watching movies, then making them, and now I’m at a dinner table with RoboCop,” referring to his seat near Peter Weller, who is in town for tomorrow night’s 25th Anniversary Screening of the Dallas-filmed 1987 sci-fi classic.

In the year that the International Spotlight focused on South Korea, it seemed especially fitting that the Audience Award for Best Narrative went to Kang Je-kyu’s epic MY WAY, while closer to home, Bess Kargman’s family-friendly FIRST POSITION won the Audience Award for Best Documentary.

The winners of the Grand Jury Prizes for all the competitions will each receive movie magic budgeting and scheduling software bundles from Entertainment Partners.

Presented by TXU Energy’s Chief Marketing Officer Michael Grasso, cash grants for the TXU Energy Light Up the Red Carpet Student Film Contest were handed out to students in High School and College categories. High School winners: Abelardo Gonzalez’s film NO BLACKOUT won the $7,500 award for Vidal M. Trevino Magnet School, Christian Vasquez’s A SPARK took the $5,000 prize for Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and Carolina Trevino’s THE ENERGY POLICE won the $2,500 award for The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), Houston. College winners, whose prize money will be split between the winners and their schools, were: Dillon White and North Lake College, $7,500 for ZAP!, Edgar Cortes and The Art Institute of Dallas, $5,000 for DOMI CILE, and Wojciech Stypko and the University of North Texas, $2,500 for MAN POWER.

FAITH, LOVE & WHISKEY, which won the $10,000 Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature, will be screened on Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Angelika. TCHOUPITOULAS, the $10,000 Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Feature winner, will be screened on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. at the Angelika, and WOLF, which took the Texas Competition and its $30,000 camera rental package, will be screened on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Texas Theatre. DIRTY ENERGY received the $10,000 Grand Jury Prize in the Whole Foods Environmental Visions Competition and will be screened during Earth Day Dallas on Saturday at 12:10 p.m. in the Hall of State at Fair Park. THE INVISIBLE WAR, the $10,000 Embrey Family Foundation Silver Heart Award winner, will be screened on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. at the Angelika.

AARON BURR, PART 2; NANI and A MORNING STROLL are the winners for Best Short Film, Student Short and the REEL FX Animated Short, respectively, and NANI is also the winner of the Audience Award for Short Film. They will all be screened together along with Special Mention shorts on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Angelika. Another Audience Award winner, MY WAY for Narrative Feature, (will be screened on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Angelika) and FIRST POSITION, the Audience Award winner for Documentary Feature, (will be screened on Sunday at noon at the Angelika).

TCHOUPITOULAS receives the $10,000 Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Feature

WOLF receives the $30,000 camera rental Grand Jury Prize for the Panavision Texas Competition

DIRTY ENERGY receives the $10,000 Grand Jury Prize for the Whole Foods Environmental Visions Competition

THE INVISIBLE WAR receives the $10,000 Embrey Family Foundation Silver Heart Award

AARON BURR, PART 2, NANI and A MORNING STROLL are named winners for Best Short Film, Student Short and the REEL FX Animated Short

Audience Awards go to MY WAY for Narrative Feature, FIRST POSITION for Documentary and NANI for Short Film

DALLAS, TX, APRIL 21, 2012 – The Dallas International Film Festival presented by Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers announced its 2012 award winners at its annual gala, The Dallas Film Society Honors presented by the Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation and supported by the Trinity Diversified Film Fund Advisors.   In an evening where independent film and filmmakers were celebrated for their incredible work, award winners were thrilled with cash prizes and grants that totaled over $70,000.

Two kaleidoscopic films with distinct visual flair walked away with the top honors in the Narrative & Documentary Feature competitions: Kristina Nikolova’s Bulgarian film FAITH, LOVE & WHISKEY won the narrative category and Bill and Turner Ross’s TCHOUPITOULAS for documentary.   The Narrative competition jury also gave a Special Mention for Breakout Performance to Michael Rainey Jr. for LUV and a Special Mention for Acting for Kim Kold in TEDDY BEAR.

The strong lineup in this year’s Texas Competition meant the jury had a difficult decision to make, but Ya’ke Smith’s much-talked-about directorial debut WOLF was awarded the $30,000 camera package courtesy of PANAVISION.   The jury also gave a Special Mention to David Zellner’s KID-THING.

Two years to the day since Deepwater Horizon exploded and oil poured into the Gulf, Bryan D. Hopkins accepted the Environmental Visions Grand Jury Prize for his documentary DIRTY ENERGY, a personal look into the trials of the citizens directly affected by this disaster.  With only $200 in his bank account and on food stamps, Hopkins travelled to Louisiana to highlight these ongoing personal struggles that have since been forgotten in the mainstream news cycle.

For the second year running, Lauren Embrey presented the $10,000 Silver Heart Award courtesy of the Embrey Family Foundation. Inspired by the film’s courage and the need to necessitate change, Kirby Dick’s THE INVISIBLE WAR won the award as it most represented a filmmaker’s dedication to fighting injustices and creating social change for the improvement of humanity.

Dana O’Keefe’s AARON BURR, PART 2 won the Grand Jury Prize in the Shorts Competition.  A Special Mention went to Brent Hoff’s THE LOVE COMPETITION and a Special Mention for Unique Storytelling in the Student Shorts went to Afarin Eghbal’s GRANDMOTHERS.  The Grand Jury Prize winner of the Student Shorts was Justin Tipping’s NANI, which also walked away with the overall Audience Award for Best Short.  REEL FX presented the award for Best Animated Short to Grant Orchard’s A MORNING STROLL.

In the year that the International Spotlight focused on South Korea, it seemed especially fitting that the Audience Award for Best Narrative went to Kang Je-kyu’s epic MY WAY. Closer to home, Bess Kargman’s family-friendly FIRST POSITION won the Audience Award for Best Documentary.

The winners of the Grand Jury Prizes for all the competitions will each receive Movie Magic Budgeting and Scheduling software bundles from Entertainment Partners.

Presented by TXU Energy’s Michael Grasso, cash grants for the TXU Energy “Light Up the Red Carpet” Student Film Contest were handed out to students from both high schools and colleges.  Abelardo Gonzalez’s film NO BLACKOUT won the $7,500 award for Vidal M. Trevino Magnet School, Christian Vasquez’s A SPARK took the $5,000 prize for Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and Carolina Trevino’s THE ENERGY POLICE won the $2,500 award for The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA), Houston.  For colleges, the prize money was split between the winners and their schools. Dillon White and North Lake College will share the $7,500 award for ZAP!, Edgar Cortes of The Art Institute of Dallas will share the $5,000 award for DOMI CILE, and Wojciech Stypko of the University of North Texas will share the $2,500 award for MAN POWER.

The film awards were interspersed through the evening with touching tributes to men and women in the film industry who have each made a significant contribution to modern cinema. The Texas Avery Animation Award presented by REEL FX was given to the animator Glen Keane who is known for creating the hero and/or heroine in the much-loved animated classics (ALADDIN, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST). Presenting Sponsor Arthur E. Benjamin highlighted the tireless work that film industry veteran Eric Pleskow has undertaken in his career as CEO of both United Artists and Orion Pictures.  The 2012 Dallas Film Society Honors represented a very personal connection with Benjamin as his beloved Uncle, the late Robert S. Benjamin, worked for Pleskow for many years. To be asked to present the Lifetime Achievement Tribute to Pleskow was a huge honor for Benjamin.

“I feel the Dallas Film Society Honors this year is a true example of The Circle of Life,” said Arthur E. Benjamin. “My Uncle Bob loved working for Eric Pleskow, so for me to be here tonight and have the opportunity to publicly congratulate him is a real honor.”

On receiving the Dallas Shining Star Award, Academy Award Nominee Gabourey Sidibe (PRECIOUS) expressed how special it was to be in a room with students who are practicing their art and how in awe she is of their bravery to do what they love.  Academy Award winner, Ronald L. Schwary then presented Bernie Pollack, a legend in costume design, with a Dallas Star Award complete with two very personal tributes from Robert Redford and Harrison Ford, recorded especially for Pollack’s recognition in Dallas. In receiving the award, Pollack quipped “I look at this speech as a costume designer, I want to keep it long enough to cover the subject but short enough to keep it interesting!”

Academy Award Winner Laura Linney (YOU CAN COUNT ON ME, THE TRUMAN SHOW, THE SAVAGES) accepted her Dallas Star Award with grace and humility and commented on the positive effect film festivals can have on people’s lives. The guests were touched by the deep respect Linney and Sidibe, her co-star in “The Big C”, showed each other throughout the evening.

“This year’s Dallas Film Society Honors paid tribute to both the indie filmmaker and the film industry veteran,” said James Faust, artistic director of the Dallas Film Society. “From Ya’ke Smith with his directorial debut to Eric Pleskow who has scores of films under his belt, from acknowledging Gabourey Sidibe’s rising star to Laura Linney’s expansive career, we want to applaud the new visionaries alongside those who have the breadth of experience that most can only dream about.  This Honors event is our way of giving back to those who have impacted and continue to impact the face of cinema.  I am exceptionally proud of the winners this year.”

JURY AWARDS:
Narrative Feature: FAITH, LOVE AND WHISKEY
Dir:  Kristina Nikolova

Special Mention, Breakout Performance: LUV, Michael Rainey Jr.

Special Mention, Acting: TEDDY BEAR, Kim Kold

Documentary Feature: TCHOUPITOULAS
Dirs: Bill Ross, Turner Ross

PANAVISION Texas Filmmaker Award: WOLF
Dir: Ya’Ke Smith

Special Mention: KID-THING
Dir:  David Zellner

Silver Heart Award: THE INVISIBLE WAR
Dir:  Kirby Dick

Environmental Visions Grand Jury Prize: DIRTY ENERGY
Dir: Bryan D. Hopkins

Grand Jury Prize Short: AARON BURR, PART 2
Dir: Dana O’Keefe

Special Mention Short: THE LOVE COMPETITION
Dir:  Brent Hoff

Grand Jury Prize for Student Short: NANI
Dir: Justin Tipping

Special Mention Student Short, Unique Storytelling: GRANDMOTHERS
Dir:  Afarin Eghbal

Grand Jury Prize, Animated Short: A MORNING STROLL
Dir: Grant Orchard

AUDIENCE AWARDS
NARRATIVE: MY WAY
DIR: Kang Je Kyu
Cast:  Jang Dong-gun, Joe Odagiri, Fan Bing-bing, Kim In-kwon, Do Ji-han, Han Seung-hyun

DOCUMENTARY: FIRST POSITION
DIR: Bess Kargman

SHORT: NANI
DIR: Justin Tipping

TXU ENERGY “Light Up the Red Carpet” VIDEO CONTEST WINNERS FOR HIGH SCHOOLS:
$7,500 prize winner – NO BLACKOUT
DIR: Abelardo Gonzalez
$5,000 prize winner – A SPARK
DIR: Christian Vasquez
$2,500 prize winner – THE ENERGY POLICE
DIR: Carolina Trevino

TXU ENERGY “Light Up the Red Carpet” VIDEO CONTEST WINNERS FOR COLLEGES:
$7,500 prize winner – ZAP!
DIR: Dillon White
$5,000 prize winner – DOMI CILE
DIR: Edgar Cortes
$2,500 prize winner – MAN POWER
DIR: Wojciech Stypko

2012 DIFF JURY MEMBERS:
NARRATIVE FEATURE JURY includes:
Clay Jeter – Director:  JESS + MOSS (Winner of the 2011 DIFF Target Filmmaker Award)
Rose Kuo – Executive Director, Film Society of Lincoln Film Center
Mike Ott – Director: LITTLEROCK (Winner of 2010 AFI FEST, Audience Award)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE JURY includes:
Anne Buford – Director:  ELEVATE (Winner of the 2011 DIFF Target Filmmaker Award)
Bill Guentzler – Artistic Director of the Cleveland International Film Festival
Cameron Yates – Director:  THE CANAL STREET MADAM

PANAVISION TEXAS COMPETITION JURY includes:
Berndt Mader – Director:  FIVE TIME CHAMPION (Winner of the MPS TEXAS FILMMAKER AWARD, 2011)
Don Stokes – President/Owner of Post Asylum, Inc.
Kim Voynar – Writer for Movie City News

ENVIRONMENTAL VISIONS COMPETITION JURY includes:
Jennifer Ellington – Whole Foods Market
Keith Maitland – Emmy-nominated documentary, THE EYES OF ME broadcast on PBS’ INDEPENDENT LENS.
Troy Stuckey – Professor at the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences at SMU

SHORT COMPETITION JURY includes:
David Hale Smith – Dallas area Literary Agent, Director of InkWell Management, LLC.
Aaron Marshall – Director:  ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE (Winner of the Spirit Award at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival.
Rosie Wong – Senior Manager of the Sundance Industry Office for the Sundance Film Festival.

STUDENT COMPETITION JURY includes:
Johnny Ma – Director:  THE ROBBERY (Winner of the 2011 Student Shorts Grand Jury Prize)
James M. Johnston – Director:  KNIFE, Awarded Creative Producing Fellowship at Sundance Film Institute 2011.

ANIMATION COMPETITION JURY includes:
REEL FX Entertainment – Funded in 1993, Reel FX is an award-winning creative studio where accomplished artists and preeminent technology converge to produce extraordinary creative solutions. Their services include visual effects, animation, design and creative editorial.

SILVER HEART JURY includes:
Embrey Family Foundation – The Foundation was established in 2004 for the purpose of supporting programs that advance human rights, healthy communities, the environment, education and creativity.

The sixth annual Dallas International Film Festival kicked off on April 12, 2012 in the historic Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas with a tribute to Cinemark USA’s Lee Roy and Tandy Mitchell followed by Josh Radnor’s crowd pleaser LIBERAL ARTS.

Highlights of the Festival included the strong, diverse line up of films programmed by artistic director James Faust and senior programmer Sarah Harris that saw many of the films at rush line within hours of the Festival opening. Filmmakers remarked how well the new Festival Village worked at Mockingbird Station – the hub of the 2012 Festival and home to the Faulkner Design Festival Lounge, the Prekindle Box Office, the nightly red carpets and only a few steps away – the host hotel, the Hotel Palomar Dallas.

Educational programs shone brightly with over 400 high school students taking part in High School Day on April 13 throughout the Dallas Arts District. Despite the cool inclement weather, Family Day proved a lot of fun for 1,500 people at NorthPark Center and costume designer Bernie Pollack thrilled theatre and cinema students at SMU with his dedicated Master Class.

Directorial debuts from X-MEN and GOLDENEYE star Famke Janssen (BRINGING UP BOBBY), DIFF alum Ryan O’Nan (THE BROOKLYN BROTHERS BEAT THE BEST) and Lisa Immordino Vreeland (DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL) had packed audiences in delight.  THE OTHER DREAM TEAM, featuring the Dallas Mavericks’ Donnie Nelson, was an instant hit with the home crowd.  DIFF enjoyed its first ever filmmaker baby on the red carpet as QWERTY duo Bill Sebastian and Dana Pupkin proudly showed off their three-month-old to the waiting press.  The South Korean Spotlight proved a wonderful success with Kang Je-kyu’s MY WAY and the world premiere of LET ME OUT with the filmmakers from South Korea in attendance.

DIFF’s closing weekend will feature ‘Conversations with’ Dallas Star Award Honorees Laura Linney and Bernie Pollack as well as Special Honoree Eric Pleskow, and Dallas Shining Star Award recipient Gabourey Sidibe and Texas Avery Animation Award honoree Glen Keane will hold post-screening Q&A sessions with audience members.  Encore presentations of Filmmaker Award winners and previously sold-out screenings will also take place on April 21-22. The 25th Anniversary Screening of ROBOCOP, with Peter Weller and many other cast and crew in attendance, is the Closing Night centerpiece screening on April 21.

Overall, the 2012 Dallas International Film Festival showcased 83 features and 99 shorts for a total of 182 films from 27 countries.

ABOUT THE DALLAS FILM SOCIETY
The Dallas Film Society celebrates films and their impact on society.  A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the Dallas Film Society recognizes and honors filmmakers for their achievements in enhancing the creative community, provides educational programs to students to develop better understanding of the role of film in today’s world, and promotes the City of Dallas and its commitment to the art of filmmaking. The annual Dallas International Film Festival, scheduled for April 12 – 22, 2012, is a presentation of the Dallas Film Society. In addition to producing one of the largest festivals in the Southwest, the Society produces numerous year round events, screening series and partnership programs with arts organizations around the city.  For more information, call (214) 720-0555, or visit www.DallasFilm.org.  The offices of the Dallas Film Society are located at 3625 North Hall Street, Suite 740, Dallas, TX 75219.

2012 FESTIVAL SPONSORS: ABCO, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, American Airlines, The Angelika Film Center, The Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation, Arts and Culture Magazine, Austin Film Festival, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital, BNYMellon, Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers, Central 214, CBS Radio, Colibri Promotions, Community Trust Bank, Cowles & Thompson, The Crow Collection of Asian Art, D Magazine, Dallas Film Commission, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Observer, Design Expediting Services International, Division of Film & Media – Southern Methodist University, Downtown Dallas, Inc., Earth Day Dallas, East Dallas Christian Church, El Creative, Eurochannel, Faulkner Design Group, Flagship Marketing, Forte Public Relations, G Texas Custom Catering, Gemini Light Sound & Video, GrandLuxe Magazine, Hotel Palomar, Hyatt House, I Heart Cinema, LasCaux Films, Livestream, Media 2-Way Radio, Metro PCS, Mockingbird Station, Modern Luxury, Modia Home Theater, Movie Magic, MySweetCharity, Nasher Sculpture Center, NorthPark Center, Omni Hotel  Dallas, Panavision, Pencilneck, Plains Capital Bank, Post Asylum, Prekindle, Private Social, Pure Evil Sound & Music, Reel FX, The Residences at Hotel Palomar, SAGIndie, Sandshop Media, Showtech Production, Inc., smartwater, Stella Artois, Temerlin Advertising Institute at Southern Methodist University, Texas Association of Film Commissions, Texas Capital Bank, Texas Film Commission, Texas Western Hospitality, Time Warner Cable, Trinity Diversified Film Fund Advisors, TXU Energy, Univision, The UPS Store on Lemmon Avenue, Vergent Communications,  Videotex Systems, Inc., West Village, WFAA, Whole Foods Market, WRR Classical 101.1, Zeus Comics.

ABOUT BOARDWALK AUTO GROUP VOLKSWAGEN DEALERS
Boardwalk Auto Group has three Volkswagen Dealerships serving the North Dallas community.  Boardwalk Volkswagen, located in Richardson, Texas, was recently named 2012 Volkswagen Dealer of the Year for Texas by DealerRater® reflecting on the dealer’s commitment to unparalleled customer service.  Park Cities Volkswagen and McKinney Volkswagen are also two of the Highest-Rated DealerRater® Certified Volkswagen Dealers in Texas. Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers offer the absolute best selection and price in the Metroplex in addition to their state-of-the art Service Departments. Boardwalk Auto Group is one of the premier auto groups in the nation representing Porsche, Audi, Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and Volkswagen.  For more information about Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers, please visit www.DallasVWDealers.com.

ABOUT ARTHUR E. BENJAMIN
Arthur E. Benjamin is an internationally recognized corporate leader, philanthropist and animal welfare advocate. He has founded, acquired and grown numerous businesses, as well as nonprofit organizations, including American Dog Rescue and The Butterfly Effect Foundation (also known as the Gail L. & Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation).  His primary goal in business and philanthropy is “Better Lives for People and Pets,” fueled specifically by his passions for education, animal rescue and the fight against breast cancer.

ABOUT TRINITY DIVERSIFIED FILM FUND ADVISORS
The Trinity Diversified Film Fund Advisors is a Texas based film finance company providing capital for independent films through a diversified film fund format. The Advisors strategically place investments which support investors, filmmakers and distributors who are committed to creating impactful, empowering and entertaining content.

Academy Award Nominee Laura Linney to be Honored
with the Dallas Star Award

LIBERAL ARTS Named as Opening Night Film

HELLO I MUST BE GOING Named as Saturday Centerpiece

THE OTHER DREAM TEAM Named as Thursday Centerpiece

Dallas, TX, April 5, 2012 – The Dallas International Film Festival presented by Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers announced today that three-time Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Laura Linney will be honored with a Dallas Star Award at the Dallas Film Society Honors. Todd Louiso’s HELLO I MUST BE GOING and Marius A. Markevicius’ THE OTHER DREAM TEAM will be screened in DIFF’s coveted Saturday and Thursday Centerpiece slots respectively. Also, the previously announced LIBERAL ARTS is confirmed as the Opening Night Gala presentation.

With the announcement that Linney will be honored with the Dallas Star Award for the remarkable contribution she has made to modern cinema, the Dallas Film Society Honors presented by the Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation and supported by the Trinity Diversified Film Fund Advisors will bring Linney together with her co-star in “The Big C” Gabourey Sidibe on April 20, 2012. Linney’s portrayal of characters that have a surface beauty underpinned by deep emotional complexity has won her international acclaim and critical respect in the two decades since her debut in George Miller’s LORENZO’S OIL (1992).  The 1990s saw a steady rise to fame for her through superb performances in PRIMAL FEAR (1996), ABSOLUTE POWER (1997) and as Meryl Burbank and Hannah Gill in the much-loved, THE TRUMAN SHOW (1998).  At the turn of the millennium, Linney earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal as single mother Sammy Prescott in Kenneth Lonergan’s YOU CAN COUNT ON ME (2000).  Acclaimed performances in THE HOUSE OF MIRTH (2000) and MYSTIC RIVER (2003) were followed by a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for KINSEY (2004) and another Best Actress nod for her role as conflicted sibling Wendy Savage in THE SAVAGES (2007).  In 2008, Linney won the Emmy Award for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for “John Adams” and most recently has been nominated for another Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for “The Big C”. Linney has just finished production on Focus Features’ HYDE PARK ON HUDSON which will be released theatrically in December 2012.

“Laura Linney is a true star of the stage and screen – a star whose light shines brighter as each year passes,” said James Faust, artistic director of the Dallas Film Society. “She is an actress who consistently delivers powerful performances that never fail to bring you into the heart of her character.  She can be raw, vulnerable, powerful, enigmatic, poignant, comedic, dramatic and, at the same time, utterly beautiful.  She personifies what the Dallas Star Award is all about and it is a huge privilege for us all in Dallas to honor her this year.”

‘A Conversation with Laura Linney’ will take place at 11:00 a.m on April 21 at the Nasher Sculpture Center. A screening of YOU CAN COUNT ON ME will follow at 2:45 p.m at the Angelika Film Center in Mockingbird Station.

DIFF 2012 will kick off on April 12 with an Opening Night Gala at the historic Majestic Theatre.  Following a red-carpet entrance and a tribute to Cinemark USA’s Lee Roy and Tandy Mitchell, Josh Radnor’s LIBERAL ARTS will be screened to the 1,000-plus guests of Opening Night.  Starring Zac Efron, Elizabeth Olsen, Josh Radnor, Richard Jenkins and Allison Janney, LIBERAL ARTS centers on 30-something Jesse, who falls for a young 19-year old college student when he is invited back to his alma mater.  A hit at Sundance Film Festival, LIBERAL ARTS will provide the perfect tone to launch this year’s festival to the Dallas audience.

DIFF also confirmed that the Saturday Centerpiece will be the highly praised comedy HELLO I MUST BE GOING from actor, writer and director Todd Louiso (HIGH FIDELITY (2000); THANK YOU FOR SMOKING (2005)).  The new film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, stars Melanie Lynskey (WIN WIN (2011); UP IN THE AIR (2009)) as Amy, a recently divorced New York photographer who moves back in with her parents in suburban Connecticut, then shakes up her life by starting an affair with a young actor.  Co-starring Blythe Danner, Christopher Abbott and Julie White, the film had its North American rights snapped up by Oscilloscope Laboratories in preparation for a theatrical release this year.  HELLO I MUST BE GOING will be screened at the Angelika Film Center in Mockingbird Station on Saturday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m.

Completing the Centerpiece line-up, THE OTHER DREAM TEAM is a perfect choice for a Dallas spotlight: the incredible story of the 1992 Lithuanian basketball team coached by Donnie Nelson, known now as the general manager of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team.  The Lithuanian athletes struggled under Soviet rule, but they became symbols of Lithuania’s independence movement and against all odds they triumphed at the Barcelona Olympics.  Not since Steve James’ HOOP DREAMS has a basketball documentary created such compelling viewing. Members of the original team will join Donnie Nelson and director Markevicius at the Landmark Magnolia Theatre screening on Thursday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m.

“We have been tracking all of these three films since we saw them at Sundance in January,” said Sarah Harris, senior programmer for the Dallas Film Society. “This is one of the many joys of this job – finding films in their infancy and helping create a buzz through the festival circuit in anticipation of their theatrical release. Screening THE OTHER DREAM TEAM in Dallas with Donnie Nelson in attendance will be a real highlight for anyone with even a hint of interest in sport.  We are thrilled that these three films will join MY WAY as part of our Centerpiece series: each one brings it own unique flavor to the festival and I know that our audience will not be disappointed.”

Finally, two additional screenings have been added to the film schedule:

BERNIE (USA)
Director: Richard Linklater
In small-town Texas, the local mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow but when he kills her, he goes to great lengths to create the illusion that she’s alive. Starring Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey and Shirley MacLaine

GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS (USA)
Directors: Shana Sosin, Barbara Stepansky, Jennifer Chambers Lynch, Beth Grant, Tracie Laymon, America Young
Six filmmakers were awarded $1000 each to make a short film. The filmmakers were given only two rules: it had to be written, directed, produced, shot, and edited by women, and the finished product had to express what “feminine strength” meant to the filmmakers. GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS is the result of these terrific collaborations, a half a dozen short films that showcase the diverse and unique voices of young female filmmakers from around the country.
CONVENTION OF DYING
MY OWN PRIVATE DEMON
HOW TO HAVE A HAPPY MARRIAGE
THE PERFECT FIT
A HIDDEN AGENDER
LOCKED-IN

Tickets are currently on sale at the Prekindle Box Office in the Festival Village at Mockingbird Station at 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane, Suite 105.  DIFF passes are also for sale and range from $100 for a Faulkner Design Group Festival Lounge Pass to $750 for an all-access Star Pass.  To purchase tickets and passes, telephone the Prekindle Box Office at 972-707-0838 or visit: www.DallasFilm.org. For further information about the Dallas Film Society telephone 214.720.0555.

Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers Announces

Costume Designer Bernie Pollack to be Honored with the

Dallas Star Award

Academy Award Nominee Gabourey Sidibe to be Honored with the Dallas Shining Star Award

Full Line Up of the Spotlight on South Korea

Additions to the Full Schedule

Dallas, TX, March 28, 2012 – The Dallas International Film Festival presented by Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers announced today that a Dallas Star Award would be presented to one of the great legends of costume design, Mr. Bernie Pollack.  DIFF also announced that rising star, Ms. Gabourey Sidibe will be honored with the Dallas Shining Star Award for the contribution she has made to film in her short, yet impressive career to date.  Both Pollack and Sidibe will receive their awards at DIFF’s annual awards dinner, the Dallas Film Society Honors on Friday, April 20, 2012.  Other announcements include the full line-up for the South Korean International Spotlight and programming duo James Faust and Sarah Harris have announced the titles of additional films which will play in the Premiere Series, World Cinema and Deep Ellum Sounds categories.

Bernie Pollack’s legend as a costume designer spans over 40 years and more than 40 motion pictures and television shows, including some of the greatest big-screen comedies and dramas of the 1980s and ‘90s: THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN (1979); ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980); BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY and RAIN MAN (1988); A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT (1992), INDECENT PROPOSAL (1993); and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1994).  Pollack has also personally seen to the on-screen and on-stage wardrobes of such celebrated performers as Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright and Melanie Griffeth, and is responsible for such iconic looks as Ford’s Indiana Jones, Redford’s Roy Hobbs in THE NATURAL, and Hoffman’s Raymond Babbitt in RAIN MAN and Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in TOOTSIE.

“In 2010, we made a commitment that the Dallas Star Award would recognize not only the contribution that actors and directors have made to the advancement of film, but also the incredible work of the men and women in the film industry who have made equal impact but are not household names,” said James Faust, artistic director of the Dallas Film Society. “Bernie Pollack is a film industry veteran and a superstar in his field of costume design. His work has helped create and instantly recognize some of the greatest characters in film, and that is nothing short of pure artistry.  We also had the fortune of honoring his late brother, Sydney Pollack, in 2007 so I am humbled that we have the opportunity to complete the circle and put Bernie’s work on a pedestal this year.”

Academy Award nominee, Gabourey Sidibe will be honored with the Dallas Shining Star Award in recognition of the impact she has made to the art of film in the four short years since she was plucked from studying for her degree in Psychology and cast in the title role as Claireece in Lee Daniels’ PRECIOUS (2009).   Sidibe’s breakout role was a revelation and was met with huge critical acclaim, providing a source of inspiration for many.  This role earned her accolades across the world and opened up doors into the Golden Globe nominated Showtime comedic series “The Big C”, opposite Laura Linney.  Sidibe was recently seen in Brett Ratner’s TOWER HEIST opposite Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy. She can soon be seen in Victoria Mahoney’s independent film YELLING TO THE SKY.

“Meeting Gabourey Sidibe in 2008 was one of my favorite moments of my career to date,” adds James Faust.  “She not only has an extraordinary talent on screen, she has the most incredible presence in life and that is a rare find.  Gabourey has an illustrious career ahead of her and this Shining Star Award is indicative of that. I can’t wait for Dallas to experience her infectious enthusiasm – she will knock the socks off our Honors event!”

Conversations with Gabourey Sidibe and Bernie Pollack will be open to pass and ticket holders on April 21, 2012. On that day, a special screening of PRECIOUS will take place prior to the conversation with Ms. Sidibe.

Joining MY WAY and world premiere LET ME OUT, the line-up for the International Spotlight on South Korea is completed by titles PUNCH, QUICK and SECRETS, OBJECTS.  In working to complete the full schedule line-up, DIFF announced that DRAGON AGE: DAWN OF THE SEEKER joins the Premieres Series.  Two new titles are added to the musical Deep Ellum Sounds category: TONIGHT YOU’RE MINE and QUEENS OF COUNTRY starring Lizzy Caplan and DIFF alum, Ron Livingston.  World Cinema gains two extra titles POLICEMAN and STILL LIFE. Finally, PRECIOUS and the 60^th anniversary of SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN will be featured as Special Presentations with ALADDIN being added in conjunction with the conversation with Texas Avery Animation Award recipient, Glen Keane.   The additional films are as follows:

Premiere Series

DRAGON AGE: DAWN OF THE SEEKER (USA)

Director: Fumihiko Sori

In the land of Orlais, where battles are fought with swords and magic, a young heroine rises as templars, mages, and dragons clash.

Stars Luci Christian, Pam Dougherty, Mike McFarland, Christopher Sabat and John Swasey.

South Korean Spotlight

PUNCH (South Korea) – Texas Premiere

Director: Han Lee

Poor and meek but rebellious 18-year-old Wan-deuk has a hunchback father, a strange uncle, and a Filipino mother who just re-appeared after being missing most of his life. But when his radical and confrontational schoolteacher, Dong-joo—who is every bit the troublemaker Wan-deuk is—corrals the fight-prone youngster into channeling his rage as a kickboxer, Wan-deuk learns what family truly means. Based on the novel by Kim Yeo-ryung and adapted screenplay by Kim Dong-soo, PUNCH was one of Korea’s biggest box office draws in 2011.

Stars Yun-seok Kim, Ah In Yoo, Su-young Park, Yeong-jae Kim and Sang-ho Kim.

QUICK (South Korea) – Texas Premiere

Director: Beom-gu Cho

Motorcycle messenger Ki-soo witnesses a building blow up just after he delivers a package to it. He moves onto his next job—escorting a girl group singer, Ah-rom, to a TV station. As she puts a proffered helmet on her head, he gets a call saying that her helmet is a booby trap, and that he has more deliveries. Made in the spirit of the American action movies SPEED and CRANK, this 2011 Korean box office success by Jo Beom-goo is definitely a ride.

Starring Min-ki Lee, Ye-won Kang, In-kwon Kim, Chang-Seok Ko and Jin-mo Ju.

SECRETS, OBJECTS (South Korea) – Texas Premiere

Director: Young-Mi Lee

40-year-old Sociology professor Hye-jung falls for a 21-year-old Usang, a male student who helps her project research on women’s extramarital affairs. Stars Seo-hee Jang, Suk Won Jeong, Pil-mo Lee and I-Young Shim.

Deep Ellum Sounds

QUEENS OF COUNTRY (USA) – Texas Premiere

Directors: Ryan Page, Christopher Pomerenke

Living in a fantasy era long gone and obsessed with old time country stars, the prettiest girl in a small Arizona town finds a lost iPod filled with songs that speak to her sensitive heart. Stars Lizzy Caplan, Ron Livingston, Joe Lo Truglio, Maynard James Keenan, Matt Walsh and Anthony Zanlungo.

TONIGHT YOU’RE MINE (UK) – Texas Premiere

Director: David Mackenzie

Two feuding rock stars get handcuffed together for 24 hours at a music festival where they are both due to perform. Starring Luke Treadaway, Natalia Tena, Mathew Baynton and Alastair Mackenzie.

World Cinema

POLICEMAN (Israel) – Texas Premiere

Director: Nadav Lapid

A member of an Israeli anti-terrorist unit clashes with a group of young radicals. Stars Ben Adam, Michael Aloni, Meital Barda, Gal Hoyberger and Yiftach Klein.

STILL LIFE (Austria) – Texas Premiere

Director: Sebastian Meise

An unexpected letter forces siblings Bernhard and Lydia to confront each other and to deal with their family history.

Starring Anja Plaschg, Daniela Golpashin, Christoph Luser, Roswitha Soukup and Fritz Hörtenhuber.

Special Presentation

ALADDIN (1992, USA)

Director: Ron Clements

The animated classic follows Aladdin, a street-urchin who accidentally meets Princess Jasmine who is in the city undercover. They love each other, but she can only marry a prince. Voices include Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin and Jonathan Freeman.

PRECIOUS (2009, USA)

Director: Lee Daniels

In Harlem, an overweight, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction. Starring Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd and Lenny Kravitz.

We have an opportunity for you to see the BULLY at a free screening on April 11 at the Angelika Film Center.

Synopsis:
Directed by Sundance and Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, BULLY is a beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary. At its heart are those with huge stakes in this issue whose stories each represent a different facet of America’s bullying crisis. BULLY follows five kids and families over the course of a school year. Stories include two families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-year-old daughter who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With an intimate glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principals’ offices, the film offers insight into the often cruel world of the lives of bullied children.

To attend the screening, click here and enter the code DFMST2GN to download a pass for two.

Click here to read the full release.

The online Festival Guide, where DIFF attendees can plan their Festival experience, will be available on Monday, March 19 at DallasFilm.org.

United Artists and Orion Pictures’ Eric Pleskow to be honored
at the Dallas Film Society Honors

PANAVISION to award the winners of the Texas Competition with a $30,000 camera rental package for their next production

Full Schedule including all Features and Shorts

Star-laden films include James Cromwell, Zac Efron, Danny Glover, Richard Jenkins, Diane Keaton and Elizabeth Olsen

Dallas, TX, March 15, 2012 – The Dallas International Film Festival presented by Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers announced today that the past president and CEO of United Artists and Orion Pictures respectively, Eric Pleskow, will be honored for his lifetime achievements in the film industry at the Dallas Film Society Honors on April 20.  Also revealed is the full schedule of features and shorts that will be screened through the Festival’s 11-day run (April 12 – 22, 2012). Finally, the lucky filmmakers who win the Texas Competition category will enjoy a camera rental package worth $30,000 for their next production, courtesy of PANAVISION.

In a year where key industry players and their achievements are celebrated and put under the spotlight, Austrian native, Eric Pleskow will be honored for the work he has done in advancing the film industry through his incredible tenures as president and CEO of both United Artists and Orion Pictures.  During Pleskow’s time at United Artists (1951 – 1978), their market share of motion picture revenues, among the major film companies, rose from last place in 1951 to first place in 1977.  They also earned ten Best Picture Academy Awards, more than any other studio in any comparable period for such films as THE APARTMENT (1960), WEST SIDE STORY (1969), MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969), ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975) and ROCKY (1976).  In 1978, Pleskow formed Orion Pictures and during his regime, Orion was honored with Best Picture Academy Awards for AMADEUS (1984), PLATOON (1987), DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990) and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991).

“In our decision to dedicate the 2012 DIFF to Cinemark’s Lee Roy and Tandy Mitchell, we decided to spotlight the important and tireless work that film industry executives undertake to bring these works of art to the big screen.  Eric Pleskow, one of Hollywood’s greatest executives, has helped bring much-loved classics to fruition and yet to most people outside of the industry his name is unknown,” said Lee Papert, president and CEO of the Dallas Film Society. “That is the beauty of a film festival.  We have the opportunity of opening people’s eyes to the unbelievable work that these powerful men and women do behind-the-scenes in the film industry and I am thrilled to highlight Eric Pleskow’s achievements in Dallas.”  Eric Pleskow will be honored at the Dallas Film Society Honors on April 20 and will have a “Conversation with…” on Saturday, April 21.

Film technology giant PANAVISION is confirmed as the sponsor of the coveted Texas Competition category.  Seven filmmakers in this category will have the opportunity to vie for the Texas Competition Award, which will come with a generous camera rental package from Panavision for their next production.  The value of this package is worth $30,000 which is a goldmine for independent filmmakers.

With 111 films representing 27 countries, 5 World Premieres, 1 North American Premieres, 1 U.S Premiere and 36 Texas Premieres, the Dallas International Film Festival is heading into its 6th year with a rich tapestry of features and shorts that celebrate the best of independent filmmaking and a strong line-up of DIFF’s celebrated alum:  Morgan Spurlock presents COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN’S HOPE; Bob Byington returns with SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME following his success at DIFF 2010 with HARMONY AND ME; DIFF 2009 Environmental Visions winner for CRUDE and Academy Award nominee Joe Berlinger will grace this year’s Festival with the celebrated Paul Simon documentary, UNDER AFRICAN SKIES. World Premieres of Will Moore’s SATELLITE OF LOVE and Timothy Armstrong’s COWGIRLS N’ ANGELS will see talent Zachary Knighton (HAPPY ENDINGS), Janina Gavankar (TRUE BLOOD), James Cromwell (L.A CONFIDENTIAL, THE ARTIST) and rising star Bailee Madison (CONVICTION, DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK) adorning the Dallas screens.  Brandon Dickerson’s SIRONIA will see musician and writer Wes Cunningham and SMU alum Amy Acker (CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, ALIAS) return to their Texas roots and X-MEN’s Famke Janssen will introduce her directorial debut BRINGING UP BOBBY.  Other star laden films include (in alphabetical order) Common, Barry Corbin, Marcia Cross, Mark Duplass, Zac Efron, Danny Glover, Richard Jenkins, Milla Jovovich, Diane Keaton, Arielle Kebbel, Kevin Kline, Melissa Leo, Andrew McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss, Elizabeth Olsen, Bill Pullman, Jason Ritter, Sam Shepard, Wilmer Valderrama, Michael Urie, Dianne Wiest, Michael K. Williams.

James Faust, artistic director of the Dallas Film Society comments, “I am exceptionally proud of the slate of films we have lined up this year.  With works from 27 countries, a spotlight on South Korea, edgy blockbusters as well as challenging, thought provoking independent films there really is a film in this line-up for everyone.  Some people think film festivals are inaccessible for the general public – this year we are working to dispel that theory for good.  Come one, come all and join us in this truly international celebration of film.”

Passes are currently for sale and range from $100 for a Festival Lounge Pass to $750 for an all-access Star Pass.  Tickets go on sale at the Prekindle Box Office and online to the public on March 22. The Prekindle Box Office will be featured as part of the Festival Village at Mockingbird Station at 5321 E. Mockingbird Ln., Suite 105. For further information on pass levels and how to purchase passes visit: www.DallasFilm.org or telephone 214.720.0555.

The full schedule is as follows
Centerpiece

MY WAY (South Korea) – Texas Premiere
Director: Je-gyu Kang
Inspired by a true story. Jun Shik works for Tatsuo’s grandfather’s farm while Korea is colonized by Japan, but he has a dream to participate in Tokyo Olympics as a marathon runner. Starring Dong-gun Jang, Jô Odagiri, Bingbing Fan and In-kwon Kim.

Premiere Series

BROOKLYN BROTHERS BEAT THE BEST, THE (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Ryan O’Nan
A singer-songwriter hits the road with a self-appointed music revolutionary.  Cast includes Ryan O’ Nan, Michael Weston, Arielle Kebbel, Andrew McCarthy, Jason Ritter, Wilmer Valderrama, Christoper McDonald and Melissa Leo.

BRINGING UP BOBBY (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Famke Janssen
A European con-artist and her son Bobby find themselves in Oklahoma in an effort to escape her past and build a better future. Starring Milla Jovovich, Bill Pullman, Marcia Cross and Rory Cochrane.

COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN’S HOPE (USA)
Director: Morgan Spurlock
A behind-the-scenes look at the fans who gather by the thousands each year in San Diego, California to attend Comic-Con, the world’s largest comic book convention. Featuring Kevin Smith, Stan Lee, Eric Hensen, Stephenie Werner, Tayler Hudson and Chuck Rozanski.

COMPLIANCE (USA)
Director: Craig Zobel
When a prank caller convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee, no one is left unharmed. Starring Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp and Philip Ettinger.

DARLING COMPANION (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
A story of a woman who loves her dog more than her husband and then her husband loses the dog. Cast includes Diane Keaton, Kevin Kline, Dianne Wiest, Richard Jenkins, Sam Shepard, Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss and Ayelet Zurer.

DIANA VREELAND: THE EYE HAS TO TRAVEL (USA) – Texas Premiere
Directors:  Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt, Frédéric Tcheng
A look at the life and work of Diana Vreeland, the influential fashion editor of Harpers Bazaar and later the editor of Vogue.

LIBERAL ARTS (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Josh Radnor
When 30-something Jesse is invited back to his alma mater, he falls for a young 19-year-old college student and is faced with the powerful attraction that springs up between them. Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Zac Efron, Josh Radnor, Allison Janney, Richard Jenkins.

Narrative Feature Competition

FAITH, LOVE AND WHISKEY (USA, Bulgaria) – Texas Premiere
Director: Kristina Nikolova
Neli, a Bulgarian woman, engaged to a well-off American panics and runs back home. She reunites with her drifter friends and falls in love with her passionate but alcoholic best friend. When her fiance arrives Neli must make a choice between two opposing futures. Starring Ana Stoyanovska and Valeri Yordanov.

FATHER’S CHAIR (Brazil) – Texas Premiere
Director: Luciano Moura
A man who has put his career ahead of everything else in life learns the value of family when his son goes missing. Stars Wagner Moura, Lima Duarte, Mariana Lima and Brás Antunes.

LUV (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Sheldon Candis
Over the course of one day, a shy 13-year-old forms a bond with his troubled uncle as he shows the boy what it takes to be a man in Baltimore. Starring newcomer Michael Rainey, Jr., Common, Michael K. Williams, Danny Glover, Meagan Good and Charles S. Dutton.

MAYA (Albania) – North American Premiere
Director:  Pluton Vasi
A man who has been living in the west returns to his village in Albania to bury his father. Having met the beautiful Maya, he wants to stay on and make a life for himself there, but a vicious web of rumor and hearsay threatens his happiness. Starring Genti Kame, Rovena Lule Kuka, Myzafer Zifla

SAVE THE DATE (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Michael Mohan
Two sisters fumble their way along the road to happiness. Stuck between having it figured out and screwing it up, they’re compelled to learn how to love and be loved in the moments when everything changes. Stars Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie, Martin Starr and Mark Webber.

SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME (USA)
Director: Bob Byington
The film follows Max, his best friend Sal and a woman they both adore through 35 years of mandatory but apparently unfulfilling entanglements at weddings, funerals, hospitals, eateries, divorce courts… and the tool shed.  Stars Keith Paulson, Jess Weixler, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman

TEDDY BEAR (Denmark) – Texas Premiere
Director: Mads Matthiesen
Dennis, a 38-year-old bodybuilder, would really like to find true love. He has never had a girlfriend and lives alone with his mother in a suburb of Copenhagen. Stars Kim Kold, David Winters, Elsebeth Steentoft, Chanicha Shindejanichakul and Lamaiporn Hougaard.

Documentary Feature Competition

BIBA! ONE ISLAND, 879 VOTES (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Benjamin Bloodwell
BIBA! follows the rallies and debates of Trenton Conner and Henry San Nicolas in their battle for control over the Pacific island, Tinian, which was the launch point for the Enola Gay in World War II and presently the home of the Voice of America broadcasting towers, sending pro-democracy propaganda into China and North Korea.

BROOKLYN CASTLE (USA)
Director: Katie Dellamaggiore
Amidst financial crises and unprecedented public school budget cuts, BROOKLYN CASTLE takes an intimate look at the challenges and triumphs facing members of a junior high school’s champion chess team.

ESCAPE FIRE: THE FIGHT TO RESCUE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE (USA)
Directors: Matthew Heineman, Susan Froemke
ESCAPE FIRE exposes the perverse nature of American healthcare, contrasting the powerful forces opposing change with the compelling stories of pioneering leaders and the patients they seek to help. The film is about finding a way out, about saving the health of a nation.

THE IMPOSTER (UK)
Director: Bart Layton
Layton uncovers the story about a young Frenchman who convinces a grieving Texas family that he was their 16-year-old son who went missing for 3 years.

LOW & CLEAR (USA)
Directors: Kahlil Hudson, Tyler Hughen
A meditation on friendship and life in the disappearing wilderness of the West, LOW & CLEAR follows two formerly close friends who reunite for one last fly-fishing trip. Over the course of their time together they come to understand how much they have each changed and how these changes now threaten the friendship.

TCHOUPITOULAS (USA)
Directors: Bill Ross, Turner Ross
Three young brothers take to the night streets of New Orleans in this sensory and kaleidoscopic odyssey.

WE’RE NOT BROKE (USA) – Texas Premiere ♥
Directors: Karin Hayes, Victoria Bruce
An exposé on how the government has allowed U.S. corporations to avoid paying taxes and the growing wave of discontent that it has fostered.

Documentary Showcase

GIRL MODEL (USA) ♥
Directors: David Redmon, A. Sabin
Follows a complex supply chain between Siberia, Japan, and the U.S. within the modeling industry. The story is told through the eyes of the scouts, agencies and a 13 year-old model.

THE INVISIBLE WAR (USA) – Texas Premiere ♥
Director: Kirby Dick
An investigative and powerfully emotional documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military, the institutions that perpetuate and cover up its existence, and its profound personal and social consequences.

NO ASHES NO PHOENIX (Germany) – Texas Premiere
Director: Jens Pfeifer
A locker room exposé about young basketball players in Hagen, Germany who face their fears of losing and challenge enormous odds to succeed. The team signs “Michael Jordan”, but their savior brings a lot more baggage to Hagen than just a famous name.

VITO (USA) – Texas Premiere ♥
Director: Jeffrey Schwarz
The story of Vito Russo, founding father of the gay liberation movement, author of “The Celluloid Closet,” and vociferous AIDS activist in the 1980s.

World Cinema

5 BROKEN CAMERAS (Palestine, Israel, France) – Texas Premiere ♥
Directors: Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
A documentary chronicles a Palestinian farmer’s nonviolent resistance to the actions of the Israeli army.

ALPS (Greece) – Texas Premiere
Director: Giorgos Lanthimos
A nurse, a paramedic, a gymnast and her coach have formed a service for hire. They stand in for dead people by appointment, hired by the relatives, friends or colleagues of the deceased. Starring Aris Servetalis, Johnny Vekris, Ariane Labed, Aggeliki Papoulia and Stavros Psyllakis.

ELENA (Russia) – Texas Premiere
Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev
Elena and Vladimir are an older couple from different backgrounds. Vladimir is a wealthy and cold man, Elena comes from a modest milieu and is a docile wife. They
have met late in life and each one has children from previous marriages. Stars Aleksey Rozin, Andrey Smirnov, Yelena Lyadova and Nadezhda Markina.

EXTRATERRESTRIAL (Spain)
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Everyone knows what to do if one morning the sky would be absolutely full of UFOs: run as fast as you can. However, what would happen if the invasion started while you are in the flat of the girl of your dreams, the one you have just met? Starring Michelle Jenner, Carlos Areces, Julián Villagrán, Raúl Cimas and Miguel Noguera.

I WISH (Japan) – Texas Premiere
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
A 12-year-old boy, Koichi, wishes that his family separated by divorce is brought together again. He devises a plan that a miracle will transpire at the exact moment when two bullet trains bound in opposite directions pass each other.
Starring Hoshinosuke Yoshinaga, Rento Isobe Ryôga Hayashi and Kanna Hashimoto.

SALT OF LIFE (Italy) – Texas Premiere
Director: Gianni Di Gregorie
Gianni is a retiree who has become invisible to most everyone around him. In response, he tries his best to generate some kind of extracurricular love life. Stars Gianni Di Gregorio, Valeria De Franciscis Bendoni, Alfonso Santagata and Elisabetta Piccolomini.

INTOUCHABLES (France) – Texas Premiere
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
A true story of two men who should never have met: a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident and a young man from the projects. Starring François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot and Clotilde Mollet.

WHERE DO WE GO NOW? (France, Lebanon, Egypt, Italy) – Texas Premiere
Director: Nadine Labaki
A group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village. Starring Claude Baz Moussawbaa, Layla Hakim, Nadine Labaki and Yvonne Maalouf.

Latino Showcase

BEING: CAFÉ TACVBA (Mexico) – U.S. Premiere
Directors: Ernesto Contreras and José Manuel Craviotto
As Mexican rock band Café Tacvba celebrates 20 years, this film uncovers the creative process that brings them together, their friendship, frustrations and the desire of still being a rock band, Featuring Ruben Albarran, Emmanuel del Real, Enrique Rangel and Joselo Rangel.

HELENO (Brazil) – Texas Premiere
Director: José Henrique Fonseca
A biography of the tragic life of one of Brazil’s greatest soccer players, Heleno de Freitas. Starring Rodrigo Santoro, Othon Bastos, Herson Capri, Angie Cepeda and Erom Cordeiro.

MARIACHI GRINGO (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Tom Gustafson
A stifled, small-town man stuck in a dead end life, runs away to Mexico to be a mariachi singer. Starring Shawn Ashmore, Martha Higareda, Kate Burton and Adriana Barraza.

South Korean Spotlight

LET ME OUT (South Korea) – World Premiere
Directors: Jae Yong Soh, Chang Rae Kim
A student filmmaker whose inexperience, demands and impatience cause every human involved in his first film – an undead melodrama – to go crazy.  So, the zombies step in and help out.
Starring Hyun Sang Kwon, Geunsup Han, Yumouyoung, Hee Von Park and Jessica Choi.

Texas Competition in partnership with PANAVISION

AMERICA’S PARKING LOT (USA)
Director: Jonny Mars
Two die-hard fans and leaders of the legendary ‘Gate 6′ tailgate party spend their last season with the Dallas Cowboys at historic Texas Stadium. When the Cowboys move 20 miles west to Arlington, the shifting politics and economics of major league sports threaten to dissolve the friendships and traditions they have built over 20 years and they scramble to preserve their place in AMERICA’S PARKING LOT.

CINEMA SIX (USA) – World Premiere
Directors: Mark Potts, Cole Selix
Three small-town friends have to decide whether to keep their easy jobs at a movie theater or actually try to do something meaningful with their lives. Cast includes John Merriman, Mark Potts, Brand Rackley, Byron Brown, Lindsey Newell, Heather Wallis, Madi Goff, Chris Doubek, Cole Selix, Kevin M. Brennan, Maggie Carey and Barry Corbin.

KID-THING (USA)
Director: David Zellner
A fever-dream fable about a rebellious girl who spends her time roaming the land, leaving destruction in her wake. Starring Sydney Aguirre and Nathan Zellner.

SATELLITE OF LOVE (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Will Moore
To atone for his absence at their wedding, globe-trotting and hard-partying musician, Samuel, invites his best friend Blake, a successful chef, and Blake’s new wife Catherine (with whom Samuel has previously shared both a bed and a bond) to idyllic Nadi Vineyards for a week-long party in paradise.  Samuel imports cosmopolitan DJ, Michelle, from Barcelona to stir the pot. Stars Nathan Phillips, Zachary Knighton, Shannon Lucio and Janina Gavankar

SIRONIA (USA)
Director: Brandon Dickerson
A singer-songwriter beat up by the L.A. music machine moves with his wife to Sironia, Texas. Starring Wes Cunningham, Amy Acker, Tony Hale, Jeremy Sisto, Courtney Ford, Carrie Preston and Robyn Lively.

THANK YOU FOR JUDGING (USA)
Directors: Sean Fornara, Michael Urie, Selma Al-Faqih, Travis Flournoy
In Texas every year, the best of the best come to be judged at the mother of all Speech and Debate competitions. These kids will tug at your heart strings and tickle your funny bone as they learn not only about speaking in public, but also confidence, adult relations, and self-presentation, both in appearance and eloquence. Featuring Michael Urie.

WOLF (USA)
Director: Ya’Ke Smith
A family is shaken to the core when they discover that their son has been molested. As they struggle to deal with the betrayal, their son heads towards a total mental collapse because of his love for his abuser. Cast includes Irma P. Hall, Mikala Gibson, Shelton Jolivette and Jordan Cooper.

Environmental Visions Competition in partnership with Whole Foods

ATOMIC STATES OF AMERICA, THE (USA) – Texas Premiere
Directors: Don Argott, Sheena Joyce
In 2010, the United States announced construction of the first new nuclear power plant in more than 32 years. A year later, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Fukushima Power Plant in Japan sparking a fierce debate in the U.S. over the safety and viability of nuclear power.

DIRTY ENERGY (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Bryan D. Hopkins
April 20th, 2010: The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig abruptly exploded into flames off the Gulf of Mexico just 50 miles from the coast of Louisiana tragically taking the lives of 11 workers. Now, with the disaster’s first anniversary passed, the fate of the Gulf is still largely unknown.

LAST CALL AT THE OASIS (USA)
Director: Jessica Yu
LAST CALL AT THE OASIS presents a powerful argument for why the global water crisis will be the central issue facing our world this century. Among those appearing in the film are Erin Brockovich-Ellis, Jay Famiglietti, Peter H. Gleick and Tyrone Hayes.

Family Friendly

COWGIRLS N’ ANGELS (USA) – World Premiere
Director: Timothy Armstrong
A group of rodeo trick-riders recruits a young girl to join them. Stars Jackson Rathbone, James Cromwell, Bailee Madison, Alicia Witt, Drew Waters and Frankie Faison.

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982, USA)
Director: Steven Spielberg
A meek and alienated little boy finds a stranded extraterrestrial. He has to find the courage to defy the authorities to help the alien return to its home planet. Stars Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton and Drew Barrymore.

FIRST POSITION (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Bess Kargman
A documentary that follows six young ballet dancers as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix.

OBLIVION ISLAND: HARUKA AND THE MAGIC MIRROR (Japan) – Texas Premiere
Director: Shinsuke Sato
Having lost her mother, Haruka is now a 16-year-old girl and feels neglected by her father. She escapes to her grandmother’s house and discovers a fox-like creature who steals her keys. She follows him and is transported into a magical world. Starring Haruka Ayase, Miyuki Sawashiro, Mitsuki Tanimura, Naho Toda and Nao Ohmori.

Deep Ellum Sounds

ANDREW BIRD: FEVER YEAR (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Xan Aranda
Filmed during culminating months of the acclaimed singer-songwriter’s most rigorous year of touring, Andrew Bird crosses the December finish line in his hometown of Chicago – feverish and on crutches from an onstage injury. FEVER YEAR is the first to capture Bird’s precarious multi-instrumental looping technique and features live performances at Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater with collaborators Martin Dosh, Jeremy Ylvisaker, Michael Lewis and Annie Clark of St. Vincent.

UNDER AFRICAN SKIES (USA)
Director: Joe Berlinger
Paul Simon returns to South Africa to explore the incredible journey of his historic Graceland album, including the political backlash he received for allegedly breaking the UN cultural boycott of South Africa designed to end the Apartheid regime. Among those appearing in the film are Maya Angelou, Harry Belafonte, Whoopi Goldberg, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, Oprah Winfrey and Paul Simon.

Midnight Specials

BINDLESTIFFS (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Andrew Edison
Three high school virgins, suspended from school on a bogus graffiti charge, flee to the inner city in an attempt to live out the plot of The Catcher in the Rye – a book they neither have read nor understand. Starring John Karma, Luke Loftin, Andrew Edison and Will Fordyce.

JUAN OF THE DEAD (Spain, Cuba)
Director: Alejandro Brugués
Where the Cuban government sees an American conspiracy and the rest of the world sees a non-political zombie outbreak, Cuban nationalist and scoundrel Juan sees the business opportunity of a lifetime – charging people to kill their undead loved ones.
Stars Blanca Rosa Blanco, Elsa Camp, Alexis Díaz de Villegas, Antonio Dechent and Andrea Duro.

THE PACT (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Nicholas McCarthy
As a woman struggles to come to grips with her past in the wake of her mother’s death, an unsettling presence emerges in her childhood home. Starring Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien, Agnes Bruckner, Mark Steger and Haley Hudson.

TORMENTED (Japan, Netherlands) – Texas Premiere
Director: Takashi Shimizu
TORMENTED centers on a young boy whose family seems to be unraveling around him. His sister is grappling with the reality of life or death, while his father walks a line with insanity. The situation intensifies when the boy manifests a dangerous friendship with a stuffed toy rabbit that comes to life. Starring Teruyuli Kagawa, Hikari Mitsushima and Nao Ohmori.

Special Presentation

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997, USA)
Director: Curtis Hanson
A shooting at an all night diner is investigated by three LA policemen in their own unique ways. Stars Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger and Danny DeVito.

GAYBY (USA)
Director: Jonathan Lisecki
Jenn and Matt, best friends since college who are now in their thirties, decide to have a child together, the old-fashioned way – even though Matt is gay and Jenn is straight.
Starring Jenn Harris, Matthew Wilkas, Charlie Barnett, Samantha Buck and Louis Cancelmi.

AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Terence Nance
Nance’s explosively creative debut feature documents the relationship between Nance and a young woman as it teeters on the divide between platonic and romantic delving into his own male psyche when she stands him up. Stars Alisa Becher, Jc Cain, Dexter Jones and Namik Minter.

QWERTY (USA) –Texas Premiere
Director: Bill Sebastian
An off-beat love story about a closeted competitive Scrabble savant, Zoe & her new found irascible love-interest, Marty. Together they try to carve out their place in a world filled with other people.  Starring Dana Pupkin, Eric Hailey, Bill Redding

THE REVISIONARIES (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Scott Thurman
THE REVISIONARIES follows the rise and fall of some of the most controversial figures in American education through some of their most tumultuous intellectual battles. Among those appearing in the film are Don McLeroy, Kathy Miller and SMU professor, Ron Wetherington.

ROBOCOP (1987, USA)
Director: Paul Verhoeven
In a dystopic and crime ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg with submerged memories haunting him. Starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox and Kurtwood Smith.

Community Showcase

CLOSE TIES: TYING ON A NEW TRADITION (USA)
Director: Gemal Woods
Cultural traditions have been the cornerstone of African American communities for centuries, and CLOSE TIES examines the similar impact of a new tradition—the tying of a necktie, an act associated with men who embody professionalism and prestige—that inspires high school boys to commit to a life of achievement and success.

KISSED BY THE DEVIL (USA)
Director: M. Legend Brown
Although Oakland Hill is a well known, late night radio personality, her life is far from storybook. She spends most of her time caring for her mentally ill brother Michael, who witnessed their father commit an unimaginable act.

PATRIOCRACY (USA) – Texas Premiere
Director: Brian Malone
PATRIOCRACY explores the extreme polarization in America that cripples the country from tackling its most serious problems. Featuring Elliot Ackerman, Jason Altmire, Rob Andrews, Pat Buchanan and Jason Chaffetz.

Shorts Competition

’92 SKYBOX ALONZO MOURNING ROOKIE CARD (USA)
Director: Todd Sklar
Two estranged brothers are forced to come together for a week when their dad dies in Kansas City. Dave believes he has a limited edition 1992 Skybox Series Alonzo Mourning rookie card, but Jim has other ideas.

AARON BURR, PART 2 (USA)
Director: Dana O’Keefe
A contemporary re-imagining of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr explores the idea of history as a contested narrative.

ANOTHER BULLET DODGED (USA)
Director: Landon Zakheim
A wolf in sheep’s clothing who thinks he is a sheep.

AT THE FORMAL (Australia)
Director: Andrew Kavanagh
Modern and ancient rituals collide in this macabre depiction of a high school formal.

AUDACITY (India)
Director: Anirban Roy
What happens when a father scolds his daughter? Meltdown of an entire community.

AURORA BOREALIS (USA)
Director: Matt H. Mayes
A man visits his mother in a rest home when a shift of light reveals the spaces between and inside them.

BEAR (Australia)
Director: Nash Edgerton
Jack means well, but sometimes good intentions have horrible consequences.

CHORES (USA)
Director: Terence Bernardo
On a remote and isolated farm, a man passes his days with only his animals for company. His idyllic life quickly takes a turn for the unexpected when he realizes that he is not alone.

DOUBLES WITH SLIGHT PEPPER (USA, Canada, Trinidad)
Director: Ian Harnarine
Set in Trinidad during Christmas a young street food vendor must decide if he will help save his estranged father from dying.

THE DUMP (New Zealand)
Director: Hamish Bennett
A comedy/drama about an 11-year old boy and the gradual bond he develops with his estranged dad Orlando, the sole employee at a tiny rubbish dump in rural New Zealand.

THE ELECT (USA)
Directors: Dan Moore, Erin Zacek
Everyday life inside the controversial Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, is explored through this verité-style documentary

EVERYTHING IS INCREDIBLE (USA)
Directors: Tyler Bastian, Trevor Hill, Tim Skousen
A disabled man named Agustin in Honduras has been building a helicopter in his home for the past 53 years causing controversy amongst his family and community.

FAMILY NIGHTMARE (USA)
Director: Dustin Guy Defa
This dizzying trip through the mid-1990s with a dysfunctional American family is a crumpled letter from a filmmaker to his family: a shattered kaleidoscope of the destructive patterns that have been trapped and wounded its members.

FUNGUS (Sweden)
Director: Charlotta Miller
Katrin is sitting apathetically in her dump like apartment, after being cheated on and left by her boyfriend. Time passes slowly and Katrin is just trying to endure being in her own skin.

HEART STOP BEATING (USA)
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Two visionary doctors from the Texas Heart Institute successfully replaced a dying man’s heart with a rotor-driven artificial one—proving that life is possible without a heartbeat.

HELLION (USA)
Director: Kat Candler
Little seven-year old Petey falls prey to his older brothers’ hellion ways.

THE HICCUP (USA)
Director: Matt Smukler
Two friends desperately trying to skip town find that an overheated radiator is the least of their problems.

IZZY & SALVADOR (USA)
Director: Jean-Pierre Caner
Izzy is bringing Salvador home to meet the family for the first time.

A LETTER TO JULIA (Spain)
Director: David González Rúdiez
She writes a letter to Julia.

LIFE AND FREAKY TIMES OF UNCLE LUKE (USA)
Director: Jillian Mayer
A modern adaptation of the 1962 French short film ‘La Jetee’, the film recounts Luke’s (Uncle Luke, legendary rapper from the hip-hop group 2 Live Crew) rise to fame as he changes the face of hip-hop, fights for first amendment rights, and later ushers Miami into a golden era of peace and prosperity as Mayor.

LIFELIKE (USA)
Directors: Erick Stoll, Chase Whiteside
A taxidermist coolly goes about his business.

THE LOVE COMPETITION (USA)
Director: Brent Hoff
The Stanford MRI Lab hosts the world’s first ever love competition, in which seven contestants have five minutes to neurochemically love someone as hard as they can.

LOVE HACKING (USA)
Director: Jenni Nelson
A virtual relationship becomes a reality when a robot inventor falls in love over the Internet and journeys to Nepal to meet his fiancée for the first time. They marry the next day.

MEANING OF ROBOTS (USA)
Director: Matt Lenski
The benevolent Mike Sullivan, age 65, has been shooting a stop-motion robot sex film in his apartment for the last 10 years. Now his miniature robot porn stars are threatening to squeeze him out of the space he needs to shoot his epic.

ONCE IT STARTED IT COULD NOT END OTHERWISE (USA)
Director: Kelly Sears
Terrifying and strange happenings descend on a 1970s high school.

PERFECT FIT (Mexico)
Director: Leonel Fernandez
A 30-year-old man works at a mall’s parking lot booth. He lives a lonely, monotonous and apparently an emotionless life.

PLAYTIME (Germany)
Director: Lucas Mireles
A seamless journey of German youth and innocence on a Sunday afternoon.

PLUTO DECLARATION (USA)
Director: Travis Wilkerson
Restore the classical definition of planet! Bring back planet Pluto! The solar system needs its 12th planet.

RASPBERRY JAM (USA)
Director: Courtney Ware
A mystical tale about a man who loses everything on his journey toward hope. Oh, and there’s a leprechaun, too.

ZERGÜT (USA)
Directors: Natasha Subramaniam, Alisa Lapidus
ZERGÜT focuses on the unique, often overlooked, beauty of everyday edible delights.

Shorts Before Features

THE BIRTH OF SAINT ELISEO (USA)
Director: Stacy Dean Campbell
Set along the Texas-Mexico border in the late 1930′s, THE BIRTH OF SAINT ELISEO is a story of vengeance that is not solely the Lord’s.

Student Shorts Competition

BENNY (USA)
Director: Huay-Bing Law
An overweight teenager revisits a friend from his past – now a personal fitness trainer.

GRANDMOTHERS (UK)
Director: Afarin Eghbal
In a small apartment in Buenos Aires, an old woman eagerly awaits the birth of her grandchild. However, horrific circumstances mean that she will be forced to wait for over 30 years.

THE KIDS DON’T LIKE IT (USA)
Director: Jeremy David White
The bond between two brothers is tested amidst the turmoil caused by their father.

NANI (USA)
Director: Justin Tipping
Oscar got caught spraying graffiti. Now doing community service at a nursing home, he meets Isabel who is suffering from dementia.

NEWSWORTHY (USA)
Director: Jeremy Robbins
Frederick Wiles, an ambitious high-school sophomore, with dreams of becoming the next Woodward or Bernstein, tries to find a story worthy of the seniors-only news show.

WASH ME (USA)
Director: Winston Tao
After the death of their daughter, a remorseful policeman, Mick, faces a broken marriage and seeks his penance as he answers a domestic disturbance call.

Animation Competition in partnership with REEL FX

663114 (Japan)
Director: Isamu Hirabayashi
I am a 66-year cicada. There was a big earthquake. There was a big tsunami. There also was a big accident.

DR. BREAKFAST (USA)
Director: Stephen Neary
One day at breakfast, a man’s soul bursts out of his eyeball. While the soul roams the earth eating everything in sight, two wild deer bathe, clothe, and feed the man’s catatonic body.

IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY (USA)
Director: Don Hertzfeldt
Don Hertzfeldt narrates the close of this trilogy as Bill finds himself in a hospital struggling to piece together his shattering psyche.

A MORNING STROLL (UK)
Director: Grant Orchard
When a New Yorker walks past a chicken on his morning stroll, we are left to wonder which one is the real city slicker.

MOXIE (UK)
Director: Stephen Irwin
A pyromaniac bear misses his mother.

SLOW DEREK (UK)
Director: Dan Ojari
The tale of Derek, an office worker, as he struggles with the true speed of planet earth.

WILD LIFE (Canada)
Directors: Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby
An Englishman moves to the Canadian frontier, but is singularly unsuited to it. His letters home are much sunnier than the reality.

TXU Energy Light Up the Red Carpet Video Contest
High school and college students from across Texas have been competing to win $30,000 in cash and grants in the TXU Energy Light Up the Red Carpet Student Film Contest. The students were challenged to create a video demonstrating their view of the future of energy.

All videos can be seen at http://www.txu.com/studentfilmcontest
Grand Jury Prize-Animation presented by REEL FX

The Grand Jury Prize is awarded to the film in the Animation Competition as selected by a panel of jurors from REEL FX along with the 2012 Texas Avery Animation Award recipient.
The films marked with a ♥ are eligible for the Silver Heart Award

The Silver Heart Award will be bestowed on an individual or film for their dedication to fighting injustices and/or creating social change for the improvement of humanity. The winner of the Silver Heart Award will receive a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of the Embrey Family Foundation.
The recipients of the following 2012 Dallas International Film Festival awards will receive Movie Magic Software Bundles from Entertainment Partners: Grand Jury Prize Narrative and Documentary Feature, Grand Jury Prize Texas Competition, Environmental Visions, Grand Jury Prize Short, Grand Jury Prize Student, Silver Heart Award and our Audience Award winners for best Documentary Feature, Narrative Feature and Short Film.

ABOUT THE DALLAS FILM SOCIETY
The Dallas Film Society celebrates films and their impact on society.  A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the Dallas Film Society recognizes and honors filmmakers for their achievements in enhancing the creative community, provides educational programs to students to develop better understanding of the role of film in today’s world, and promotes the City of Dallas and its commitment to the art of filmmaking. The annual Dallas International Film Festival, scheduled for April 12 – 22, 2012, is a presentation of the Dallas Film Society. In addition to producing one of the largest festivals in the Southwest, the Society produces numerous year round events, screening series and partnership programs with arts organizations around the city.  For more information, call (214) 720-0555, or visit www.DallasFilm.org.  The offices of the Dallas Film Society are located at 3625 North Hall Street, Suite 740, Dallas, TX 75219.

2012 FESTIVAL SPONSORS: ABCO, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, The Angelika Film Center, Arts and Culture Magazine, Austin Film Festival, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital, BNYMellon, Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers, Central 214, CBS Radio, Colibri Promotions, Community Trust Bank, Cowles & Thompson, D Magazine, Dallas Film Commission, Dallas Observer, Design Expediting Services International, Division of Film & Media – Southern Methodist University, Downtown Dallas, Inc., Earth Day Dallas, El Creative, Eurochannel, Faulkner Design Group, Flagship Marketing, Forte Public Relations, G Texas Custom Catering, GrandLuxe Magazine, Hotel Palomar, Metro PCS, Mockingbird Station, Modern Luxury, Movie Magic, MySweetCharity, NorthPark Center, Panavision, Pencilneck, Plains Capital Bank, Post Asylum, Prekindle, Private Social, Pure Evil Sound & Music, Reel FX, The Residences at Hotel Palomar, SAGIndie, Sandshop Media, Showtech Production, Inc., smartwater, Stella Artois, Temerlin Advertising Institute at Southern Methodist University, Texas Association of Film Commissions, Texas Capital Bank, Texas Film Commission, Texas Western Hospitality, Time Warner Cable, TXU Energy, Univision, The UPS Store on Lemmon Avenue, Vergent Communications,  Videotex Systems, Inc., West Village, WFAA, Whole Foods Market, WRR Classical 101.1

ABOUT BOARDWALK AUTO GROUP VOLKSWAGEN DEALERS
Boardwalk Auto Group has three Volkswagen Dealerships serving the North Dallas community.  Boardwalk Volkswagen, located in Richardson, Texas, was recently named 2012 Volkswagen Dealer of the Year for Texas by DealerRater® reflecting on the dealer’s commitment to unparalleled customer service.  Park Cities Volkswagen and McKinney Volkswagen are also two of the Highest-Rated DealerRater® Certified Volkswagen Dealers in Texas. Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers offer the absolute best selection and price in the Metroplex in addition to their state-of-the art Service Departments. Boardwalk Auto Group is one of the premier auto groups in the nation representing Porsche, Audi, Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and Volkswagen.  For more information about Boardwalk Auto Group Volkswagen Dealers, please visit www.DallasVWDealers.com.

This year, the Dallas International Film Festival’s Prekindle Main Box office is located in Mockingbird Station at 5321 E. Mockingbird Ln., Suite 105. It’s on the southeast side of the complex, near Urban Taco.

Before the Festival (April 12-22), the Main Box Office will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

You can purchase tickets and passes at the Main Box Office, and pick up tickets and passes that you’ve purchased from our online Prekindle Film Guide, which will be available to the public on March 22.

To purchase Festival passes and tickets to DIFF’s Opening Night online, click here.