Cinépolis Victory Park will host festival April 25 – May 1, 2025, as DIFF celebrates first year as Academy Award® Qualifying Festival
DIFF today announced details for the 19th edition of the annual Dallas International Film Festival, which was named in October as an Oscar® Qualifying Festival by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The announcement was made by DIFF CEO Beth Wilbins and DIFF Artistic Director James Faust.
Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Victory Park, located steps away from American Airlines Center at 2365 Victory Park Lane, will serve as the host venue. Additional screenings and events will be held in the innovative AT&T Discovery District, the vibrant Harwood District, the historic Texas Theatre, and the artful Virgin Hotels Dallas – which returns for the third year as the Premier Sponsor of the Festival – among other world-class Dallas destinations to be announced.
The seven-day festival is scheduled for Friday, April 25 – Thursday, May 1, 2025.
The Dallas International Film Festival is a global adventure featuring more than 125 film screenings, panels, Q&As with filmmakers and actors, nightly Red Carpets, live screenplay table reads, awards, and other events and activations where filmmakers, screenwriters, film industry leaders, celebrities, sponsors, and audiences come together to experience and discuss film. Films are curated from submissions received by filmmakers from 60 countries worldwide, across Texas, and the United States, and include narrative features, documentaries, and short films of all genres from studios and independent filmmakers.
The Dallas International Film Festival is one of only 59 film festivals in the United States and only 181 film festivals worldwide to earn the designation of Oscar® Qualifying Festival by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Oscar® Qualifying short film awards at the Dallas International Film Festival are: Grand Jury Prize – Best Animated Short Film; Grand Jury Prize – Best Documentary Short Film; and Grand Jury Prize – Best Narrative Short Film.
Films that win qualified awards 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. See https://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility for details.
Submissions for the 2025 Dallas International Film Festival are open. Additional information on film and screenplay categories, programming strands, awards and prizes, rules, and deadlines is available at https://filmfreeway.com/DallasInternationalFilmFestival.
Sponsors as of December 1 include: PREMIER FESTIVAL SPONSOR: Virgin Hotels Dallas; MARQUEE FESTIVAL SPONSOR: Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Victory Park; SEASON SPONSORS: Akin, Bonez Creative Agency, Burned to Light Media and Video Production, Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Victory Park, Commerce House, DFW MSP, FilmFrog, Harwood, MoviCo, Nowadays Orange Productions, Violet Crown Cinema Dallas, Virgin Hotels Dallas; GOVERNMENT AND FOUNDATION SPONSORS: City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District, Moody Fund for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and Texas Commission on the Arts; FESTIVAL SPONSORS: Event Horizon Films, Four Corners Brewing Co.; FESTIVAL PARTNERS: AdChat DFW, BestofGuide.com, DGN Entertainment News, Mario Zie, Sherrill Actors Studio. For sponsorship inquiries, please contact Beth Wilbins, CEO, bwilbins@dallasfilm.org.
About DIFF | Dallas International Film Festival
DIFF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and culture organization established as Dallas Film Society, Inc. in 2006. Through year-round screenings, film series, educational programs, community partnerships, and film festivals, DIFF builds community and raises awareness of the world’s most approachable and inclusive art form.
Named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as an Oscar® Qualifying Festival, The Dallas International Film Festival is the signature presentation of the organization. Through curation of the broadest range of expression through film, DIFF serves as the region’s most powerfully inclusive and equitable platform for diverse, emerging and underrepresented voices. Since its founding, DIFF has screened more than 2,500 widely diverse new films from 60 countries, provided more than $1.1 million in awards and hosted more than 100,000 filmgoers and filmmakers.
DIFF is committed to celebrating films and their impact on society, honoring filmmakers and recognizing their contribution enhancing both the creative community and the city of Dallas, providing leadership in film education, and celebrating excellence in the art of film. More information is available at www.dallasfilm.org.
INSTAGRAM – @WeAreDIFFDallas, FACEBOOK – @WeAreDIFFDallas
