Join Us for the Dallas International Film Festival 2025, April 25-May 1, 2025!
DIFF 2025, the 19th annual Dallas International Film Festival, will screen the best narrative and documentary features and short films from across the globe.
The 19th annual Dallas International Film Festival doesn’t just screen films. The interaction between story tellers, audiences and the Texas community is what we strive to develop both during the festival and throughout the year.
DIFF 2025 is a global adventure that features premiere screenings, nightly red carpets, eye-opening documentaries, intriguing short films, filmmaker panels, award presentations, daily filmmaker happy hours, and an enhanced filmmaker hospitality program that includes city tours and a Festival Lounge where filmmakers, screenwriters, film industry leaders, celebrities, sponsors, and our audience can all come together to discuss film.
DIFF supports the beginning and end of the creative filmmaking process from script to screen. DIFF partners with Event Horizon Films to host an annual screenwriting competition where writers can submit their shorts, features or TV pilot scripts. Every submission receives a scorecard from a major representation company reader and an illustration of the script’s first scene. Winning screenwriters are exposed to high-profile industry experts and receive a variety of networking opportunities and prizes, including a produced script.
We invite you to add your voice to the conversation. At DIFF, filmmakers are invited to the festival to participate in a variety of programs, Q&A sessions and a series of panel discussions, including sessions with Dallas area high schools and universities in which filmmakers have the opportunity to discuss their work and careers with a new generation of content creators.
2025 DIFF PROGRAMMING STRANDS:
Narrative Feature Competition
Documentary Feature Competition
Short Film Competition
Texas Competition
Animated Short Competition
Premiere Screenings
Latino Cinema Showcase
DEEP ELLUM SOUNDS (Music Films)
Music Video Competition
Family Films
Faith Based Films
Environment and Sustainability Films
GAME ON (Sports Films)
Indigenous Films
Special Presentations
Filmmakers of selected films are invited to the Festival to participate in a variety of programs. Question and answer sessions after screenings are well attended and lively, and panel discussions are held throughout the Festival.
The Festival is the signature presentation of DIFF (Dallas Film Society, Inc.), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2006 “to celebrate films and their impact on society; to honor filmmakers and recognize their achievements and contribution in enhancing the creative community; to provide educational programs to students to develop better understanding of the role of film in today’s world; and to promote the City of Dallas and its commitment to the art of filmmaking".
This commitment of the early founders to the art of film and the artists who are its creators continues to guide the organization today. In addition, through curation of the broadest range of expression through film, DIFF is committed to serving as the region’s most powerful platform for diverse, emerging and underrepresented voices. Throughout its history – before DEI was a familiar acronym – DIFF has demonstrated consistent commitment to providing accessible, inclusive, immersive, educational, and entertaining film experiences for all. It is the vision of DIFF that, by promoting wide and thoughtful expression through film, our organization can help foster human connection and greater appreciation for our common humanity and our rich diversity.
FILMS
Dallas International Film Festival is an Oscar® Qualifying Festival.
Qualified awards are:
Grand Jury Prize - Best Animated Short Film
Grand Jury Prize - Best Documentary Short Film
Grand Jury Prize - Best Narrative Short Film
Films that win qualified award(s) between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025, may be qualified to enter the 98th Academy Awards®, provided that the films meet all the requirements set forth in the official rules for that season. Up-to-date rules can be found at www.oscars.org/rules.
Grand Jury Prizes are awarded to competition films in the following categories: Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Narrative Short, Documentary Short, and Animated Short. A Grand Jury Prize will also be awarded to the best Student Film in the Shorts Competition.
The Grand Jury Prize is the festival's highest honor, and all winners of this award will be presented with a trophy. The trophy is a symbol of the festival's appreciation for their outstanding achievement and the film's excellence in filmmaking. It is a lasting reminder of the film's place in the festival's history.
The Grand Jury Prize winner of the Texas Competition category will enjoy a camera rental package worth $30,000 or more for their next production, courtesy of Panavision.
Fade In software will be awarded to:
Grand Jury Prize - Best Texas Feature
Grand Jury Prize - Best Narrative Feature
Grand Jury Prize - Best Short Film
Audience awards for Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Short will also be presented.
Additional prizes will be announced as the Festival dates draw closer
SCREENPLAYS
Grand Screenplay Prizes are awarded to the Best Feature Script, Best Pilot Script, Best Short Script, Best Texas Script and Best Produced Script. The Grand Prize Short Script will be produced by EHF, screened at DIFF and entered into the film festival circuit.
Grand Screenplay Prize winners receive a table read of their screenplay performed during DIFF by qualified actors, InkTip subscription, DIFF trophy and script circulation to representation company professionals. Winners will be recognized on the Festival Red Carpet and at the awards presentation.
Additional prizes will be announced as the Festival dates draw closer.
Screenplay competition terms and conditions are available here: https://www.eventhorizonfilms.com/s2s-rules-tandc.