Oak Cliff Film Fest Wants Your Films, Lone Star Film Fest Scores One Of HBO’s The Watchmen And The Music-Focused Cacophony Film Fest Debuts In Dallas.
Lights, camera, and damn get a load of all this action.
Yes, film fans, it’s been a busy couple of weeks in North Texas-related film news — and particularly on the film festival front.
Beyond all the flicks you should be catching in theaters this month, let’s quickly run through what you need to know about these events.
Ready? Word. Let’s gooooooooooo.
- Earlier this week, the Oak Cliff Film Festival — traditionally our favorite fest in town — announced its intentions to return for a ninth year from June 4 through June 7 next year. Once again, the four-day annual event plans to screen some 70-plus films in various venues in Oak Cliff, and early-bird VIP Badges — holders are granted access to all screenings, shows, parties and the VIP lounge — are currently on sale for $125 a pop (down from the $175 rate they’ll return to on March 1, 2020). Just as notable: Submissions to OCFF are officially now being accepted right here through April 13, 2020, with organizers seeking narrative features, documentary features, narrative and documentary shorts, experimental films, student films and, for the first time in fest history, animated shorts to be screened at the event. Also up for grabs is up to $35,000 in grants from the festival and its partners at the Austin Film Society, Sailor Bear, Ley Lime Entertainment and the Dallas Producers Association. Find out more about the latest OCFF plans here.
- Next week, Fort Worth’s top film festival will be going big. Throughout its November 13 and November 17 run, the Lone Star Film Festival will screen more than 150 films as part of its 13th annual offering — but, just as interesting are its ancillary offerings. Most notably, the festival will welcome award-winning actor Tim Blake Nelson — star of last year’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and currently the man behind the mask of Looking Glass in HBO’s stellar The Watchmen series — and award him with its Bill Paxton Achievement Award. Additionally, the festival will host a panel with Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph about streaming’s influence on Hollywood prior to hosting a world-premiere screening of the documentary Netflix vs. The World. Further highlights include discussions about Fort Worth gaining traction as an up-and-coming film hub, how-to sessions with PR & marketing experts on strategies for film promotions and panels about the portrayal of mental health in film. Learn more about all of those offerings here.
- After debuting in Bryan, Texas, last month and hosting offerings in London and Los Angeles shortly thereafter, the travelling and fully music-focused Cacophony Film Festival — a new venture from the team behind Good Records — will hit the Alamo Drafthouse location in The Cedars on Saturday, November 9. Highlighted by Good Records’ own Live from the Astroturf, Alice Cooper film that documents the once-in-a-lifetime Alice Cooper performance the Dallas record store hosted in 2015, the festival will also screen seven music-related shorts and six additional full-length features, including docs about such luminaries as PJ Harvey and ZZ Top. Head here for more info.
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