Dallas International Film Festival announces opening night film
The Land, an indie drama about four skateboarders featuring Erykah Badu and Moises Arias and executive produced by the rapper Nas, will open the Dallas International Film Festival April 14. It is one of 15 films added to the schedule Tuesday.
The film, the feature debut from Steven Caple Jr., will screen at the City Performance Hall. “The Land is a gritty, exciting film featuring new talent that challenges audiences in a great way, as well featuring one of our city’s favorite home grown artists in the cast,” said James Faust, Artistic Director of the Dallas Film Society, in a release.
The other films announced ifor the festival, which runs until April 24, include:
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You: A documentary from Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady about the pioneering TV producer who gave the world All in the Family, Good Times and The Jeffersons.
Microbe and Gasoline: Michel Gondry gave us Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 12 years ago and hasn’t really set the world on fire since. But he’s back with this French language road-trip saga.
Rise of the Legend: This martial-arts drama starring the legendary Sammo Hung and was nominated for a ton of awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards and won for visual effects.
Embers: This science-fiction film about a virus that wipes out memory has won or been nominated for many honors on the festival circuit. Director Claire Carré is definitely someone to watch.
Under The Shadow: The feature film debut from Iranian director Babak Anvari is a horror film set in ‘80s Tehran just after the revolution.
Beeba Boys: Just as American audiences aren’t used to seeing horror films in an Iranian context, they may not be familiar with gangster films in an Indian Sikh one. But that’s just what this award-winning Canadian drama -- the action is set in Vancouver -- does.
Parasyte 1 and Parasyte 2 -- Takashi Yamakazi’s two films about a young man fighting parasites are part of the midnight programming.
Operation Avalanche: Matt Johnson stars in and directs this thriller about a conspiracy within NASA.
The Master Cleanse: Anjelica Huston, Johnny Galecki, Oliver Platt, and Kyle Gallner star in this comedy-drama about a man who goes to a spiritual retreat and gets more than he bargains when starts to release toxins from his body.
The Rebound: A wheelchair basketball league is the focus of this documentary.
How Heavy This Hammer: This is a Canadian film about a man addicted to online gaming.
Spaghetti Man: A riff on the superhero movie about a guy who become a superhero after an encounter with a bowl of spaghetti and a microwave.
Screenings will take place at the Angelika Dallas and the Alamo Drafthouse Dallas. Tickets are available at http://secure.dallasfilm.org/diff2016 and at the physical box office located at Mockingbird Station. For more information, go to dallasfilm.org.
This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 3:29 AM with the headline "Dallas International Film Festival announces opening night film."