The Oak Cliff Film Festival is back in its old neighborhood for a 14th edition. The event
is calling all movie fans back into the theater to experience "real movies for real people."
Festival organizers hope that their lineup, including lots of films with Texas themes, will lure you in. They believe watching films together as an audience brings about a "real, honest, self-excavation of the human experience."
The four-day festival, in venues all over Oak Cliff, spotlights 26 feature-length films, 19 of which are having their Texas premieres at the festival, and 2 having world premieres. There are also over 60 short films included in the lineup.
Here's a sneak peek at some can't-miss highlights.
OPENING NIGHT, THURSDAY, JUNE 26
On the top of the bill for opening night is the Texas premiere of Street Smart: Lessons from a TV Icon. The 2025 documentary tells the story of Sonia Manzano, the actress who played Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 to 2015. Manzano was also the first Latina on TV in a regular role. Filmmaker Ernie Bustamante will be in attendance.
Another film making its Texas premiere on opening night is the sci-fi/fantasy OBEX. This homage to ’90s video games is about a boy who sets out on an adventure to rescue his dog who has gone missing inside the state-of-the-art video game OBEX. Filmmaker Albert Birney will be in attendance.
MUSIC PERFORMANCES
On Thursday evening after the screening of OBEX, head to the lobby of the Texas Theatre for an opening-night party featuring a special DJ performance from Planet B.
After the North Texas premiere of Spirit of Halloween Town on Friday, gather behind the screen at the Texas Theatre for a live performance from the Austin-based experimental band The Octopus Project. The group has released six studio albums and scored six feature films, including the dark comedy The Disappearance of Toby Blackwood and a documentary about Reading Rainbow titled Butterfly In the Sky.
TEXAS SPOTLIGHT
This year’s festival features 18 films with Texas connections. Here are three noteworthy selections to check out.
Behind the Strings: Amplifying Black Feminism in Guitar Culture. This documentary short aims to increase representation and access for Black women, girls and femmes in guitar culture. Produced by two Dallas nonprofits – Swan Strings and Pegasus Media Project – the film highlights the diversity and intersectionality of these individuals within guitar and music. It explores their history, opportunities and the challenges they face in being confident in their identity and artistry.
In Age of Audio, Dallas filmmaker Shaun Michael Colón traces the rise of podcasting and how
our listening patterns influence everything we do. Interviews with audio storytelling pioneers such as Ira Glass, Kevin Smith, Kara Swisher, Marc Maron, Roman Mars and more tell the medium’s Wild West-style origin story and the fight to keep authenticity on air today.
Meet the Noisemakers Noise Music is described as a genre that explores sound beyond traditional music and uses unconventional instruments, electronic sounds and the manipulation of audio signals to create "noisy" textures. Meet the Noisemakers explores the noise music scene in Denton through the community of noise artists and their mission to reject the commercialization of art and music. The film highlights the welcoming nature of the scene, even for those who are part of marginalized groups within the broader Denton music scene.
CLOSING NIGHT, SUNDAY, JUNE 29
Filmmaker Todd Stephens returns to the Oak Cliff Film Festival to present the never-before-seen director’s cut and restoration of his 2001 queer, coming-of-age cult comedy Gypsy 83. The film follows two young misfits who head for New York City to celebrate their idol and muse Stevie Nicks at The Night of 1,000 Stevies cosplay event.
Details: June 26-29 at the Texas Theatre, 231 Jefferson Blvd., Dallas and venues around Oak Cliff. Single tickets are $14. VIP all-inclusive badges are $225. 2025.oakclifffilmfestival.com
The Go See DFW calendar is a partnership between KERA and The Dallas Morning News.
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