Please visit the GUESTS section of the site for photos of recent and past visiting artists for
KidFilm and the Spring Festival, as well as our other year-round programs.
All programs are open to the public. Members receive additional and free screenings throughout the year.
With help from our Sponsors, we are able to offer all of our annual programs as FREE ADMISSION for the community. We believe that a great city should have access to high-quality arts and cultural programs for all communities with no financial barriers.
We have over 50 years of program archives; We display only a few samples of programs on our site.
The Festival also has working partnerships with hundreds of local and area organizations (cultural, social service, health, film/video, etc.) to present our year-round programs. Contact us for additional information at any time.
The USAFF annual Spring Festival and KidFilm Family Festival programs celebrate equality, diversity, relationships and respect for others, literacy, cultural equity and access to the arts through a number of FREE programs every year.
We're a 50-Day Film Festival!
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SPRING FESTIVAL (54 YEARS RUNNING)Annual curated showcase featuring an eclectic line-up of the best new American films and foreign works (shorts and features), Tributes to Master Artists, presentations by filmmakers (in attendance for all films), and the 41st Annual International Short Film & Video Competition. Filmmakers receive travel and lodging to present their films. Filmmaker guests include master artists, mid-career artists and emerging talents.
Next program installment - Recent programs can be viewed below. To request a schedule of events for an upcoming program, send an email request marked "spring fest schedule" to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 2023 Program Schedule |
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Studio films that have premiered or previewed at KidFilm include THE LEGO MOVIE, THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY, ICE AGE, NANNY MCPHEE, CURIOUS GEORGE, A WRINKLE IN TIME, THE SECRET OF KELLS, AKEELAH AND THE BEE, CASTLE IN THE SKY, MILLIONS, KUNG FU PANDA 3, THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS, and many more! |
KIDFILM FAMILY FESTIVAL (40 YEARS RUNNING)
Next Program Installment --
40th Annual KidFilm Family Festival, January 20-21, 2024
Printed KidFilm flyers will be available for pick in January up at the Angelika Film Center Dallas.
To view a PDF of past year's KidFilm �PUBLIC Program schedule, click below:
(Important NOTE for Teachers & Funders: There is a completely different program line-up for the KidFilm SCHOOL Programs; Please contact us to receive more info about our Arts-in-Education School Field Trips program.)
2024 Program Schedule
2023 Program Schedule 2022 Program Schedule 2021 Program Schedule 2020 Program Schedule 2019 Program Schedule 2018 Program Schedule 2017 Program Schedule 2016 Program Schedule 2015 Program Schedule 2014 Program Schedule 2013 Program Schedule 2012 Program Schedule 2011 Program Schedule 2010 Program Schedule 2009 Program Schedule |
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CLASSICS IN BLACK & WHITE SERIES
Presented by the Angelika Film Center Dallas and
SUNSET BOULEVARD
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FIRST MONDAY CLASSICS FILM SERIES
Presented by the Angelika Film Center Dallas and
LABYRINTH For showtimes and ticket information please visit www.angelikafilmcenter.com/dallas |
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TRIBUTES TO MASTER ARTISTS
Periodically throughout the year, the Festival honors artists who have
made outstanding individual contributions to the film arts including actors, directors, writers, cinematographers, editors, composers and more. |
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RESTORED PRINTS / CLASSIC FILMS Featured presentations include historical and contemporary classics, cult favorites, animated classics, creature features and restored prints and reissues presented on the BIG SCREEN, frequently with filmmaker guests in attendance. Recent year's screenings have included Journey to the Center of the Earth (with Arlene Dahl, Pat Boone and Diane Baker in attendance), Creature From the Black Lagoon (60th anniversary with Julie Adams in attendance), The Princess Bride (25th anniversary with Rob Reiner in attendance), Rosemary's Baby (40th anniversary with William Fraker in attendance), The Stepford Wives (with Paula Prentiss and Owen Roizman in attendance), Bonnie and Clyde (with Arthur Penn and Dede Allen in attendance), In Cold Blood (with Quincy Jones and Scott Wilson in attendance), In the Heat of the Night(with Quincy Jones and Norman Jewison in attendance), The Magnificent Seven (with Elmer Bernstein in attendance), To Kill a Mockingbird and The Sting (with Henry Bumstead in attendance), They Live (with Meg Foster in attendance), Susan Slade (presented by John Waters with Connie Stevens in attendance), Imitation of Life (50th anniversary with Juanita Moore in attendance), Metropolitan (25th Anniversary with Whit Stillman in attendance); The Best of Everything with Diane Baker in attendance; The Last Wave with Richard Chamberlain in attendance; The Naked Kiss with Constance Towers in attendance; Carrie with Piper Laurie and Betty Buckley in attendance; Holiday Screening of Elf with Ed Asner in attendance; Orson Welles' Othello, Made in U.S.A., Il Sorpasso, Children of Paradise (Les enfants du paradis), Safety Last!, and many more. |
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REAR WINDOW |
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SHORT FILMS For over four decades the USA Film Festival has celebrated and supported filmmakers working in the short format. From first-time filmmakers, to mid-career and master artists, we screen short film works throughout the year during our KidFilm Festival, TexFest program, Spring Festival and our long-running, prestigious Short Film Competition. To date, over $350,000 in cash awards have been distributed and every year over 100 filmmakers receive a free DCP conversion of their work to keep. Filmmakers who have received recognition early in their careers via the Competition include John Lasseter (Tin Toy), Bob Rogers (Ballet Robotique), Mark Osborne (More), Michael Almereyda (Another Girl, Another Planet), Chel White (Choreography for Copy Machine), Billy Bob Thornton (Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade), Don Hertzfeldt (Lily and Jim), Alexander Payne (The Passion of Martin), Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket), Todd Haynes (Superstar), Alan Taylor (That Burning Question), Danny Leiner (Time Expired), Jessica Yu (Breathing Lessons), Arthur Dong (Forbidden City, U.S.A.), Marlon Riggs (Tongues Untied), Bill Plympton (One of Those Days), and many others. In 2016 Linda Gray hosted the program with Bruce Davison and Kelly Lynch. Stephen Tobolowsky hosted the shorts program in 2019, and co-hosted with Peri Gilpin in 2015. |
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DINNER FUNDRAISER Hopefully, you are! The title of one of our favorite films from the 1960s inspired our super-fun fundraiser. USAFF Board member and restaurateur Abraham Salum hosts the periodic private gathering at his eponymous restaurant for 100 lucky guests. The festive evening can take place at any time of year and includes a fabulous multi-course dinner with wine pairings prepared by a guest chef flown to Dallas especially for the event. Past star chefs and experts have included legendary wine sommelier Charlie Arturaola, food writer Akiko Katayama, Chef Makoto Suzuki, sake expert Tiffany Dawn Soto and Chef Vivian Howard, star of the PBS series "A Chef's Life." Proceeds from the event benefit the year-round operations of the Festival, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. To be added to the invitation list, send us an email request at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will send ticket info! |
MEMBER SCREENINGS AND PREMIERES
Every month, the Festival hosts premieres and previews of new films, frequently with filmmakers in attendance. See the "MEMBERSHIP" and "HOME" sections of the site for a list of films and filmmaker guests.
For recent events and screenings, please visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usafilmfestival
TEXFEST and TEXAS FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE
Showcase featuring films and filmmakers with connections to the Lone Star State.
AUTHORS AND BOOK EVENTS AT THE FESTIVAL
Throughout the year, the Festival brings authors with their books to Dallas for screenings, discussion and book-signings (100-500 books per session).
A short list of our author guests includes:
Sally Field, In Pieces
James Ellroy, Perfidia
Stephen Rebello, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
Stephen Tobolowsky, The Dangerous Animals Club
Jennifer Grant, Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant
Piper Laurie, Learning to Live Out Loud
John Grisham, Bleachers
James Earl Jones, Voices and Silences
Henry Bromell, Panic
Howard A. Rodman, Savage Grace
Fay Wray, On the Other Hand
Betty Comden, Off Stage
Budd Boetticher, When in Disgrace
Michael Powell, A Life in Movies
Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, Too Funny For Words
Stephen Rebello and Edward Margulies, Bad Movies We Love
John Waters, Trash Trilogy and The Obsessions of John Waters
Louis Sacher, Holes
Leonard Maltin, Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide
Richard Condon, The Manchurian Candidate
Jack Palance, The Forest of Love
Roger Ebert, Ebert's Little Movie Glossary
Terry Jones, Nicobobinus and The Fly-By-Night
Bernie Brillstein, The Little Stuff Matters Most
Mia Farrow, What Falls Away
Andre Dubus III, House of Sand and Fog
John Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Dennis Hopper, Out of the Sixties
James Stewart, Jimmy Stewart and His Poems
Mark Frost, The Greatest Game Ever Played
Sam Staggs, Born to be Hurt: The Untold Story of Imitation of Life
Children's book authors and illustrators at KIDFILM have included:
Marc Brown
Barney Saltzberg
Ame Dyckman
Jacqueline K. Ogburn
Anna Kang & Christopher Weyant
Beth Kelly
Tom Lichtenheld
Katherine Paterson
Kate McMullan & Jim McMullan
Shane Evans & Taye Diggs
Alison McGhee
Kathi Appelt
Ed Emberley & Rebecca Emberley
Mo Willems
Laurie Keller
Rosemary Wells
Dan Yaccarino
Kimberly Willis Holt
Peter Brown
Peter H. Reynolds
Betsy Lewin & Doreen Cronin
Cari Best
Bob Barner
Mike Thaler & Jared Lee
Trevor Romain