The Dallas International Film Festival 2023 Kicks Off This Weekend — These Are Five Must-See Films

The Dallas International Film Festival returns for its 17th annual week-long event on April 28 through May 5, 2023. For seven days, you can catch some of the best narrative, documentary, and short films from across the globe.

This year, the festival comes home to its original location — West Village — at the slick, newly opened Violet Crown Cinema (formerly the Magnolia Theatre). Most films will be screened in one of the new theater’s five fully renovated auditoriums, but some will take place at Texas Theatre.

Ahead, we highlight some of the films we’re most looking forward to at the festival. From a biographical dramedy about BlackBerry to a documentary about an all-female skateboarding team, these are five must-see films at the Dallas International Film Festival 2023.

BlackBerry

Friday, May 5 at 7 pm at Texas Theatre

Starring Glenn Howerton, Michael Ironside, and Jay Baruchel, this biographical dramedy follows the rise and fall of BlackBerry in the early 2000s. Inventor Mike Lazaridis (Baruchel) and businessman Jim Balsillie (Howerton) team up to bring the addictive new cell phone to the world. But as the hit phone reached its peak, the Smartphone wars began and the company fell apart.

Chocolate Lizards

Saturday, April 29 at 7 pm at Texas Theatre and Sunday, April 30 at 3:34 pm at Violet Crown

This World Premiere comedy follows Erwin Vandeveer (Rudy Pankow) as his car breaks down in Buffalo Gap, Texas while headed home to L.A. after being fired from his first acting job. Stranded in the small Texas town, he meets Merle Luskey (Thomas Haden Church) who will lose his oil drilling operation unless he comes up with enough money in a month. The two team up with local waitress Faye Brown (Carrie-Anne Moss) in a plan to avoid financial ruin.

Sk8 Girlz

Saturday, April 29 at 7:15 pm and Sunday, April 30 at 9 pm at Violet Crown

The World Premiere of this documentary takes place at the Dallas International Film Festival this year. It follows an all-female skateboarding team based out of Orange County, California as they travel the country and world. As they navigate what it means to be in the spotlight of a male-dominated sport, they must also deal with their personal lives as teenagers and young women.

Match Me If You Can

Friday, April 28 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, April 29 at 10:10 pm at Violet Crown

A competitor to Chocolate Lizards in the Texas Feature Competition, this film follows a female computer programmer (Georgina Reilly) who is deemed “unmatchable” but an online matchmaking service. After an online rant makes her an internet sensation, she meets up with the head of the dating company (Wilson Bethel) who says that they didn’t reject her.

Breaking the Code

Saturday, April 29 at 5:30 pm at Violet Crown

Directed, written, and produced by Michael Flanagan, this documentary follows Fort Worth artist Vernon Fisher. It begins with his childhood when he was born to rural Texas farmers in 1943 and his only exposure to painting was “something you did to houses.” Since the 1980s, Fisher has exhibited next to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, becoming one of the most important artists of the 20th century.

You can find the entire schedule for the Dallas International Film Festival 2023 here.