DIFF Becomes Academy Award-Qualifying Festival, Expands 2025 Screenings

The Dallas International Film Festival has rolled out the dates and sites for its 19th annual festival, to be screened April 25 to May 1, 2025. In October, DIFF was named for the first time as an Oscar Qualifying Festival by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Led by DIFF CEO Beth Wilbins and DIFF Artistic Director James Faust, the seven-day festival’s host venue will be Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Victory Park, located near American Airlines Center at 2365 Victory Park Lane in Dallas.

Additional DIFF screenings and events will be held in the AT&T Discovery District, the Harwood District, the historic Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff, and at the Dallas Design District’s Virgin Hotels Dallas—which returns for the third year as the festival’s premier sponsor.

Other “world-class” Dallas destinations for the festival are yet to be announced, DIFF officials said.

Red carpets, Q&A’s, and 125-plus film screenings

A documentary about Dude Perfect had its world premiere on DIFF’s opening night in 2024 [Photo: DIFF]

Next spring’s DIFF festival will be “a global adventure” featuring more than 125 film screenings, panels, Q&As with filmmakers and actors, and nightly red carpet events. There will also be “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,” organizers said.

DIFF films are curated from submissions received by filmmakers from 60 countries worldwide, including across the U.S. and Texas. They include narrative features, documentaries, and short films of all genres from studios and independent filmmakers.

With its new status announced in October, the Dallas International Film Festival is now one of only 59 film festivals in the U.S. 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 DIFF 2025 will include 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, DIFF noted, as long as the films meet all the requirements set forth in the official rules for that season. Eligibility details are available here.

Submissions now open for DIFF 2025

Submissions for the 2025 Dallas International Film Festival are now open, organizers said. Info about film and screenplay categories, programming strands, awards and prizes, rules, and deadlines is available here.

As of December 1, sponsors for DIFF 2025 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, and Virgin Hotels Dallas.

Government and Foundation sponsors include the 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 include Event Horizon Films and Four Corners Brewing Co. Festival partners include AdChat DFW, BestofGuide.com, DGN Entertainment News, Mario Zie, and Sherrill Actors Studio. For sponsorship inquiries, DIFF CEO Beth Wilbins can be contacted at [email protected].

More about DIFF and its 2,500 ‘widely diverse’ films screened to date

DIFF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts and culture organization which originally launched as the Dallas Film Society 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,” the organization said.

DIFF says that through its curation of “the broadest range of expression through film,” it serves as North Texas’ “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.

Committed to celebrating films and their impact on society, DIF honors filmmakers and recognizes 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. For more info on DIFF 2025, go here.