Movies featuring Viggo Mortensen, Forrie J. Smith and other notables are slated for the April 25-May 2 event.
Folks in Big D will be launching a celebration of cinema Thursday with the kickoff of the 2024 Dallas International Film Festival. Set to continue through May 2, this movie smorgasbord will offer dozens of dramatic and documentary features and shorts on its menu, including the U.S. premiere of The Dead Don’t Hurt, the critically acclaimed new Western starring and directed by Viggo Morgensen (Hidalgo, Appaloosa); LANE: Life | Legend | Legacy, Brad Hughes and James Trawick’s celebratory documentary about the gone-too-soon rodeo legend Lane Frost; and the world premiere of director-actor Jake Allyn’s Ride, a filmed-in-Nashville rodeo-themed crime drama starring C. Thomas Howell, Annabeth Gish — and Forrie J. Smith of Yellowstone.
Here are seven titles on our radar, with synopsis info drawn from the DiFF catalog:
The Dead Don’t Hurt
In the 1860s, fiercely independent French-Canadian Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps of Phantom Thread) embarks on a journey with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Viggo Mortensen), attempting to forge a life together in the dusty town of Elk Flats, Nevada. When Holger decides to go fight for the Union in the burgeoning Civil War, Vivienne must fend for herself, which isn't easy in a town controlled by a corrupt mayor (Danny Huston).
Ride
Three generations of bull riders fight to raise money to transfer the family's young daughter to a better cancer hospital. Set in Stephenville, Texas, Ride explores rodeo, addiction in the Heartland, and the cowboy’s place in modern America. C. Thomas Howell, Annabeth Gish, Jake Allyn, and Forrie J. Smith star.
LANE: Life | Legend | Legacy
Through the people closest to him and bull riding champions of today, documentarians Brad Hughes & James Trawick deep dive into the story of Lane Frost, a cowboy who lived a life that became a legend and ultimately left a lasting legacy on the sport of rodeo and Western culture in so many ways, even to this day.
Harsh Treatment
When a pair of failed outlaws botch a big score, they have to settle for a much smaller one instead — putting them in the crosshairs of a dangerous tracker who’ll do just about anything to recover the priceless treasure they don’t realize they’ve stolen.
Without Arrows
Filmed over the course of thirteen years (2011-2023) by documentarians Jonathan Olshefski and Elizabeth Day, Without Arrows chronicles the vibrance and struggle of a Lakȟóta family. Delwin Fiddler Jr., a champion grass dancer from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, left his reservation as a young man to escape a trauma that splintered his family, and built a new life in Philadelphia. A decade later he abandons it all and returns home to fulfill his mother’s ambition and carry on the legacy of their thiyóšpaye (extended family).
Texas Music Revolution
Since 1997, KHYI-FM in Dallas has championed the authentic, unpolished sound of indie Americana and country music. It’s a cause that crystallized when station manager Joshua Jones founded Texas Music Revolution, an annual festival designed to showcase and introduce new musicians to local listeners.
Water Wars
Nestled in the Valley of Hidden Waters within the West Texas desert, Dell City thrives as a remote oasis. But turmoil strikes as El Paso offers lucrative water deals to neighboring landowners. Dell City’s close-knit community faces division due to new water board rules, alleged to be influenced by billionaires, locking them out of these opportunities. Dell City’s ranchers embark on a legal battle against the influential water board, ultimately reaching the Texas Supreme Court. Water Wars narrates this small-town strife with statewide implications, prompting contemplation on the equitable sharing of life’s most precious resource: water.
