Best of Fests 2020

Film festivals based in North Texas have joined forces once again to present the second edition of the Best of Fests February 27 through March 1 at Alamo Drafthouse-Cedars and the Texas Theatre. Presented by EarthX, and EarthxFilm, 26 different film festivals will be celebrated in the one-of-a-kind event, with a screening of 11 feature films and 25 short films that either were popular with their audiences or represent their programming aesthetic.

Participating film festivals include; 3 Stars Jewish Cinema, Asian Film Festival of Dallas (AFFD), Czech That Film, Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF), Dallas Jewish Film Festival, Dallas VideoFest (#AltFiction, #DocuFest), Deep Ellum Film Festival, Deep in the Heart Film Festival, Denton Black Film Festival, EarthxFilm, Festival de Cine Latino Americano, Fort Worth Independent Film Showcase, Frame4Frame, Lone Star Film Festival, North Texas Film Festival, Oak Cliff Film Festival, Pegasus Film Festival, Q Cinema, Sons of the Flag Stars and Stripes Film Festival, South Asian Film Festival, Thin Line Film Festival, Topaz Film Festival, and Women Texas Film Festival.

Best of Fests will open on Friday, February 28, at the Texas Theatre with EarthxFilm’s screening of Louis Schwartzberg’s “Fantastic Fungi,” which looks at the magical world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth. Along with the stunning photography, experts, scientists and authors lend their views on how the fungi kingdom offer us answers and solutions to some of our most pressing medical, therapeutic, and environmental challenges. The film will be preceded by an animated short from the Pegasus Film Festival. Morgan McGrath’s “The Wolf And The Rabbit,” is a charming film where a young wolf wants to play with a very wary rabbit that was his friend when they were babies.

Other highlights include Amber McGinnis’s award-winning comedy-drama “International Falls.” Presented by the Women Texas Film Festival, the film stars comic and actress Rachel Harris as a woman stuck in a small, snowbound border town with dreams of being a stand-up whose life is changed when she meets a washed up, burned out comedian (played by Rob Huebel) with dreams of doing anything else. The film also stars comedian and actor Kevin Nealon. DIFF will present a 10th anniversary screening of Will Patton’s “Brotherhood” about a pledge at a college fraternity faced with a moral dilemma, and the Dallas Video Fest will screen Elizabeth Coffman’s documentary, “Flannery,” an exploration of the life and work of author Flannery O’Connor, whose distinctive Southern Gothic style influenced a generation of artists and activists. The Lone Star Film Festival will present Luke Dick’s RED DOG, which looks at the filmmaker’s upbringing among strippers, bouncers, and outcasts that populated one of Oklahoma City’s most notorious strip clubs.

Each film will also feature appearances by the filmmakers, including a pre-festival concert on Thursday, February 27, by Luke Dick and the Steve Band at the 3 Links Club in Deep Ellum. (2704 Elm Street). The concert kick-off to the Best of Fests will also acknowledge the 20th Anniversary of the local legendary Deep Ellum Film Festival, which was founded by Michael Cain, the Co-Founder and President of EarthxFilm.

EarthxFilm is the 501c3 fiscal sponsor of Best of Fests. Sponsors and partners include EarthX and EarthxFilm, Kinetigraf Entertainment, Prekindle, Selig Polyscope, Alamo Drafthouse, Texas Theatre, Dallas Film Commission/Dallas Creative Industries, Dallas Producers Association, Visit Dallas, supernatural, Kelly Kitchens PR and Wildworks PR.

Film festival passes and tickets are on-sale now. For a complete list of participating films, and for more information, visit www.bestoffests.org.