The Oak Cliff Film Festival is back for its 14th annual eclectic and exciting celebration of captivating films from all over the world. Held June 26-29 at the historic Texas Theatre and other Oak Cliff venues, this year’s lineup brings together screen, sound and soirees to celebrate the arts and community.
Bedazzled with special presentations and cinema treats, there is more to this year’s festival than carefully crafted blocks of film like world premieres of the short films from the OCFF High School Filmmaking Workshop and updates about grants for upcoming North Texas filmmakers from the North Texas Pioneer Film Grant to open up diverse perspectives in film. Spotlight Features of the festival include Electric Child, directed by Simon Jaquemet, a US Premiere, and Long Live the State directed by Matthew Perniciaro, producer of “Her Smell” and “Skate Kitchen,” presents the Texas Premiere of his new feature highlighting the career and lasting alt-comedy impact of a comedy troupe reuniting for a tour. This will be the film’s Texas Premiere.
Attendees can even get moving with House DJ after the screening of Elegance Brown’s new documentary, “Move Ya Body”: The Birth of House, exploring the meteoric rise of house music with a group of Chicago friends who turned an underground sound into movement. Dance off that popcorn, patrons!
Courtesy of the Oak Cliff Film Festival
The festival will also feature the DFW Premiere of director Bradford Thomason’s “The Spirit of Halloweentown” with the director in attendance, as well as the Texas Premiere of “East of Wall” and “Removal of the Eye” with Artemis Shaw and Prashanth Kamalakanthan in attendance.
Opening night is packed with highlights including an opening night showing of “Street Smart: Lessons From a TV Icon” in a Texas Premiere about Sonia Manzano, and her trailblazing role as Sesame Street’s beloved character Maria. It is the film’s Texas Premiere, and the director, Ernie Bustamante, will be in attendance for the screening. PLANET B will DJ in the lobby.
Courtesy of the Oak Cliff Film Festival
The Late Night Shorts block at 9:15 p.m. Friday at the Oak Cliff Assembly brings the weird, surreal and wonderful with shorts about clowns, desserts and even eggs. Director Chelsie Pennello’s “Cherry-Colored Funk” is a karmic tale of a shifty grifter whose past catches up to him when he opens an Italian ice shop.
Joel Mendez-Zarate, a DFW writer and director, will be showing his film “Fatal Egg” at this year’s festival. Making an omelette should be easy enough, but not if the universe has other plans.
Courtesy of the Oak Cliff Film Festival
“While The Fatal Egg is first and foremost a comedy designed to entertain and surprise, it also explores the weight of personal responsibility in absurd ways,” Mendez-Zarate said. “I wanted to make a film that surprises people — one that makes them laugh but also leaves them with something to think about. What begins as a goofy, offbeat comedy takes a turn into something unexpected, revealing a larger, almost existential weight.”
A DFW writer and director, Mendez-Zarate did so with the help of friends from the Dallas creative community including Stomping Ground Comedy and the Dallas Filmmakers Alliance.
Not to be outdone, the two narrative shorts film blocks teem with tantalizing stories.
Block one at 1:15 p.m. Saturday at the Bishop Arts Theatre Center, kicks off with “Rusty Lightnin’ Kick Starts,” directed by Jack Kyser about a cowboy car salesman unhappy with his alter ego.
Block 1 wraps with Nuke, a short directed by director Kelsea Bauman-Murphy about a comedian who usurps the power of a nuclear missile alert to go out with a bang. Narrative Shorts block 2, at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Kessler Theater, will screen “Donor,” directed by Erin Doyle Cooper, about an ethical dilemma spurred on by the outrageous costs of IVF. Another noteworthy watch in this block is “Melody of Love” about a cowboy whose eyes won’t stray from his horse.
The Cinema 16 Shorts block runs from 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Texas Theatre with a trippy trip through seven valleys in the Ukraine in director Anna Kipervaser’s “Next Her Heart.”
Visually stunning films season this block including “Maratein, Maratein” by Julia Yezbick, in her reflection on her heritage that expands borders and bloodlines. Director Tommy Becker brings a poetic art rock short about technology, nostalgia and humanity in “The Shape of Things to Come.”
Oak Cliff Assembly hosts the Animated Shorts block 2:45 p.m. Saturday that includes Azkena, directed by Lorea Lyons and Ane Ines Landeta exploring generations bonding through motherhood. “Double or Nothing,” from Switzerland and directed by Tokay, brings magic and the buzz, depicting the story of Akio Kashiwagi, a real estate mogul in 1980s Tokyo.
This year’s fest has two documentary short blocks for the nonfiction film aficionados.
The first block screens 4:45 p.m. Saturday at Oak Cliff Assembly, followed by block 2 at 1 p.m. Sunday at Kessler Theater. In this block, Kristal Sotomayor’s “Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” pays homage to the legendary Mother Cavallucci by weaving together the present and past to provide a striking portrait of belonging and memory.
Courtesy of the Oak Cliff Film Festival
“The lineup is always excellent!” Sotomayor said. The short experimental documentary “Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” has already won Best LGBTQ Documentary at the 2025 Poppy Jasper International Film Festival.
Documentary Shorts kicks off with Chimera, Directed by Daniel Cantu, about skateboarder James Alby and his dive into ceramics. Judah Agbonkhina co-directs “Behind the Strings: Amplifying Black Feminism in Guitar Culture,” exploring the erasure of Black women who play guitar, produced by the Pegasus Media Project and collaborating partner Swan Strings.
“I am honored to have ‘Behind The Strings: Amplifying Black Feminism In Guitar Culture’ be a part of THE Oak Cliff Film Festival!” Agbonkhina said. “We worked hard on this film, and it feels good to have the world premiere in Oak Cliff. Salute to the team!”
Courtesy of Jess Garland; Photography by Ashley Gongora
Later in the block, local legend Bart Weiss’ film, Rolling Film, Rocking History, Al Maysles Captures the Beatles combines music, history and storytelling with Maysles sharing his experience with the Beatles’ first arrival in the USA.
The festival closes on Sunday with the 7:30 p.m. world premiere screening of “Gypsy 83: The Director’s Cut at Texas Theatre” with Todd Stephens in attendance to show off the 2001 cult-comedy.
Finally for one last encore, for those that have the energy and dedication to cinema to finish strong, the afterparty at Texas Theatre starts 10 p.m. Sunday, June 29, until the roar is over.
If you are more than just a fan, and would like to get involved and support the arts and film in Oak Cliff, sign up to volunteer, or come fill a coveted seat. Get your passes and the full program here.
