Foreign/indie/specialty movies in DFW (Houston, Dallas: city hall, houses, neighborhoods)

[aceplace]

One thing I like is to visit alternative cinema. Dallas has many good film festivals, such as the AFI festival, the USA Film Fest, and the Dallas Video Fest, among a dozen others. But we also have a rich selection of independent films playing at any one time. For example, for the weekend of June 20 to June 22, there were 19 specialty films playing in Dallas or Fort Worth. This is much better than, for example, Washington DC, where I was visiting last week. Washington has several art film houses in the district and the suburbs, but they generally duplicate their titles, and thus fewer films to select from.

This topic may be of interest to people migrating to DFW, but I have not seen it referenced before. Does anyone have any comments? Are specialty films important to you?

[ctrres]

I know for a fact that the Boston area has most of the indy/arthouse titles 3 or 4 weeks before they hit Dallas.

I think Washington is similar. I'm pretty sure that when I saw "Coffee and Cigarettes" in Shirlington and "Fog of War" in Bethesda, they weren't showing in D. The thing about DC is that it's arguably more cosmopolitan than NYC, which makes up for it in size.

The more popular things tend to show up in Dallas earlier or at the same time. I know it's not the way it should be; just flakes in power in the industry with dullard outside perceptions. There are enough things in the pipeline even right now that the Inwood theater shouldn't be showing "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

[jtrichel]

The American Film Institute is the oldest and most respect non-profit film organization in the U.S.... started by LBJ with the National Endowment for the Arts. The fact that AFI has brought AFI Dallas film festival is a big deal, as they have never done anything outside of LA AFI fest previously (Silverdocs, etc. are much smaller scale).

This is all part of the Arts district growth that Dallas is experiencing. Very exciting.

[ctrres]

Shifting the discussion to pick up on dt, I think that the scale and quality of the Arts District has far exceeded the dreams of its original planners, civic boosters and benefactors in the short 25 years since its conception. It had in the beginning been naively envisioned as a cultural epicenter slash starving artists' lair by a city hall that didn't understand the economics, and instead has naturally come together as a collection of serious infrastructure that rivals that which only a handful of cities in the country can offer. Prior to that, Houston--and, in a niche, FW--had been the only places in the south to provide neighborhoods of formal accommodations of that kind of art. With Dallas's increased population density and the physical plant that's taking shape in the district, it's possible that now performances and talent--especially in opera--that would have coalesced or premiered foregone in Houston will naturally gravitate northward.

[aceplace]

Well, discussing the Arts District is getting somewhat off track, but I'll essay to opine that Dallas, and the Arts district, needs some sort of permanent film institute, i.e. a building holding significant film exhibits and exhibitions, in a dedicated building. Film is basically the most popular art form we have, even if you despise the popular taste.

Are the Dallas indie films really opening later? That's hard to believe, since other cities have fewer titles showing at any time, especially in the case of Washington where I just came from.

Speaking of DC, they don't seem to have the exposure to Bollywood films that we do here in DFW... there's no equivalent of FunAsia, etc. over there. I have heard that our Bollywood cinema opens at the same time as it does in Mumbai.

[jtrichel]

aceplace, why dont you become part of the solution!... American Film Institute will definitely be the biggest film presence in Dallas, and lots could be done for the Indie community through AFI moving forward... they are looking for volunteers and employees... message me if interested

thanks!

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by ctrres

There are enough things in the pipeline even right now that the Inwood theater shouldn't be showing "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

I agree, but they have to get the revenue to finance their new "living room" viewing area. The fact that we have something like that is something else in cinema that Dallas has and most other cities do not.

Also, the multiplexes in Dallas often have one or two indie films on the bill... other towns usually don't.

[TrueDat]

Not sure how DC falls within the film-distribution cycle but in terms of indie/arthouse films, when movies get to Dallas seems to vary widely. For example, the American documentary Bigger Stronger Faster opened here a week after it opened in LA and NYC. The Russian-Mongolian-Kazakh Mongol opened two weeks after LA and New York. The Israeli Jellyfish opened six weeks after LA. And some, like Ten Canoes, the first feature film done entirely in an Australian Aboriginal language, open in LA (summer 2007) and don't open here at all even though, judging from this positive review -- 'Ten Canoes' - MOVIE REVIEW - Los Angeles Times - calendarlive.com -- there might've been an audience.

[aceplace]

Originally Posted by TrueDat

Not sure how DC falls within the film-distribution cycle but in terms of indie/arthouse films, when movies get to Dallas seems to vary widely. For example, the American documentary Bigger Stronger Faster opened here a week after it opened in LA and NYC. The Russian-Mongolian-Kazakh Mongol opened two weeks after LA and New York. The Israeli Jellyfish opened six weeks after LA. And some, like Ten Canoes, the first feature film done entirely in an Australian Aboriginal language, open in LA (summer 2007) and don't open here at all even though, judging from this positive review -- 'Ten Canoes' - MOVIE REVIEW - Los Angeles Times - calendarlive.com -- there might've been an audience.

Since it opened at a Landmark theatre in LA, maybe Mark Cuban, if he reads this forum, can bring it to Dallas. It does seem like the sort of film that would do well here... exotic, one-of-a-kind, not a left wing polemic, something unusual to tell your friends about on Monday, to establish you as a sophisticated Cineaste.

[jtrichel]

Originally Posted by aceplace

Since it opened at a Landmark theatre in LA, maybe Mark Cuban, if he reads this forum, can bring it to Dallas. It does seem like the sort of film that would do well here... exotic, one-of-a-kind, not a left wing polemic, something unusual to tell your friends about on Monday, to establish you as a sophisticated Cineaste.

Mark, but even more so Todd Wagner, are very committed to bringing more independent films to Dallas as part of AFI Dallas next year