We are now accepting submissions for our 2020 edition!

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Welcome to Dallas Independent Film Festival, an event dedicated to independent films of all genres and origins.

At Dallas Independent Film Festival, we are looking for films that are pushing the boundaries of filmmaking. Our aim is to be an advocate for filmmakers with a unique vision and to promote their work by showcasing it to a large audience. Getting recognition is increasingly difficult for independent filmmakers in the world of content coming from everywhere, which is why our mission is to carefully consider and select a wide range of films to promote to the indie film loving crowd.

We are collaborating with the legendary Texas Theatre in Dallas, which can host more than 700 people in its famous cinema hall. The Texas Theatre is a movie theatre and Dallas Landmark located in the Oak Cliff neighbourhood of Dallas, Texas. When first opened in 1931, the Texas Theatre was the largest suburban movie theatre in Dallas and was part of a chain of theatres financed by Howard Hughes. It gained historical significance in 1963 as the location of Lee Harvey Oswald’s arrest.

This large, historical venue will allow filmmakers to show their work to an exceptionally big audience, hungry for great, rare indie films.

As part of the festival, we are organizing an award ceremony, with a short Q&A, where the awarded filmmakers will have a chance to answer the audience’s questions about their films, as well as a networking event, for those who would like to get to know their fellow filmmakers and audience members.

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Dallas Independent Film Festival is run in association with Close:Up, a collection of international film festivals supporting indie filmmaking. By establishing a working network among filmmakers, producers and marketing professionals, we share one common goal: to forge productive and lasting relationships between independent filmmakers and audiences.

Awards & Prizes

Films selected for the Official Selection will be nominated for an award in at least one of the following categories:

Best Feature Film
Best Documentary
Best Short Film
Best Short Documentary
Best Drama
Best Comedy
Best Thriller
Best Music Video
Best Writing
Best Directing
Best Cinematography
Best Performance by an Actress
Best Performance by an Actor

★ A selected list of films from the nominated ones will be screened at the cinema in front of a live audience. All films of the Official Selection will receive our laurels. Winners of the festival will be announced during the award ceremony and online on our website and social media following the festival.

★ Winners of the Best Writing, Best Directing & Best Cinematography will receive a Fee Waiver to our partner festival Phoenix Film Festival, one of The 25 Coolest Film Festivals, according to MovieMaker Magazine! The fee waiver code will be valid for the 2020 edition of Phoenix Film Festival.

Rules & Terms

All content submitted to us must be in English or with English subtitles.

All films must have been made in or after 2015. We place no restrictions on your work in terms of premiere status or whether your work has been made available online.

Filmmakers are responsible for sorting out the copyright on their own materials.

We may promote your film through social media, for which we may require all available promotional materials.

By submitting to us you give us the right to screen your film at Dallas Independent Film Festival.

Nominations: All films nominated for every category.
Official Selection: Films selected for screening will be notified via email. If you received a Nomination email, but no Official Selection email, it means your film will not be screened, but is still a contender for an award in its category.
Award Winners: Chosen from both the Nominations and the Official Selection.

We retain the right to change the date and venue of the festival under special circumstances, which all filmmakers will be informed about through our online platforms.

Any technical issues with the submitted films are 100% the responsibility of the filmmakers. If, at the time of judging, your video file doesn’t work or doesn’t have English subtitles (if in a language other than English), it will be automatically rejected, without a refund. Please contact the festival team ASAP if there are any issues with the submission process, and a solution will be found.

We cannot provide refunds.

By submitting to us you agree to our terms and conditions and to receiving marketing newsletters and discounts about film festivals in the form of emails. We will never sell your information to third parties.