DIFF has announced the World Premiere of LAST SHOT as its Opening Night Film during the 20th edition of the annual Dallas International Film Festival. The film, directed by Andy Palmer and written by Todd Friedman, features Jamie Pressly who also co-produced. It will open DIFF 2026 on Thursday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the Historic Texas Theatre, while the US Premiere of KENNY LOGGINS: CONVICTION OF THE HEART will be the Closing Night Film on Thursday, April 30.
Additionally, DIFF announced that Michael De Luca, Co-Chair and CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, will be the Keynote Speaker at its first-time DIFF Industry Conference, presented in collaboration with Dallas Film Commission.
The Festival has also added ROUND PEGS SQUARE HOLES, a documentary starring Mark Cuban, Billy Gibbons, and Reverend Horton Heat as the Founders Night Film on April 24 at 5:45 p.m. at The Texas Theatre.
Festival co-founder Michael Cain said, “I’m deeply grateful to the Dallas International Film Festival for embracing this new Founders Evening, generously sponsored by Reeder Capital, and to director Russell Hobbs for allowing us to World Premiere Round Pegs Square Holes, a story I chose because it was born in Deep Ellum, the neighborhood that started it all for us back in 1999 with the Deep Ellum Film Festival. It’s a privilege to honor my dear friend and co-founder, the late Liener Temerlin, and all those who helped bring this vision to life. This evening is both a tribute to the creative spirit that shaped Dallas and a celebration of the future it continues to inspire.”
The Festival is an Oscar® Qualifying Festival, and will feature screenings of more than 120 films, Q&A sessions, and panels with filmmakers and actors, nightly DIFF Red Carpets, and special events. Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas Victory Park, located steps away from American Airlines Center at 2365 Victory Park Lane, returns as the host venue. Additional screenings and events will be held at the historic Texas Theatre and the artful Virgin Hotels Dallas – which returns for the fourth year as the Premier Sponsor of the Festival – among other world-class Dallas destinations to be announced.
New films added to the lineup of feature films for DIFF 2026 include:
AS WE BREATHE (Narrative Feature) (Turkey) – US Premiere
Director: Seyhmus Altun
In a small Anatolian town in the early 2000s, ten-year-old Esma’s world quietly unravels after a factory explosion sets off an unrelenting fire. As smoke poisons the land and her family struggles to survive, Esma clings to what remains of her childhood. The film is a tender portrait of resilience in the face of invisible disasters, a story about growing up too soon, holding on to hope, and refusing to disappear.
FIREFLIES AT EL MOZOTE (Narrative and Latino Feature) (United States)
Director: Ernesto Melara
This compelling action war drama, with strong social relevance, was inspired by true events. It chronicles the well-documented massacre of the village of El Mozote, Morazán Province, El Salvador, considered to be the worst atrocity perpetrated by government forces on civilians in modern Latin American history. This coming-of-age story follows a ten-year-old survivor in his quest to avenge the deaths of his family and the destruction of his village.
LAST SHOT (Narrative Feature) (United States) – World Premiere
Director: Andy Palmer
Caden Issacs, a 12-year-old basketball prodigy, navigates the turbulent waters of grief and adolescence after the sudden death of his father, Darren. Moving to Nashville to live with his estranged mother, Lexi, a driven music executive, Caden struggles to find his place on a new elite basketball team while grappling with the high expectations of those around him. Through intense rivalries, newfound friendships, and the relentless pursuit of excellence, Caden learns to process his pain and rediscover his passion for the game.
LONELY NIGHTS (Latino Feature) (Mexico)
Director: Julián Acosta Vera
Andres, a shy, upper-class young man begins an unexpected relationship with Lorena, a young prostitute controlled by a pimp. A bond forms between them that forces them to question their lives amidst social pressure, violence, and expectations.
OCCUPATIONAL HAZARD: THE FIRST CORAL REEFERS (Documentary Feature) (United States)
Director: John H. Cunnigham
Journey through the 1970s and early ’80s with the original members of Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band as they recount their contributions to iconic albums, life on tour, and the lasting impact they had in shaping a unique and enduring genre of music.
POWWOW PEOPLE (Documentary Feature) (United States)
Director: Sky Hopinka
Structured around the arc of a single day, this vérité-style documentary is grounded in the rhythms, relationships, and lived experience of a contemporary Native gathering. Rather than entering as outside observers, the filmmakers organized the powwow itself, inviting dancers, singers, vendors, and community members to participate in the making of this film.
ROUND PEGS SQUARE HOLES (Documentary Feature) (United States) – World Premiere
Directors: Michael Dunaway and Russell David Hobbs
This feature documents the art renaissance and rebirth of Deep Ellum in the 1980s-90s, Deep Ellum’s musical history and how art scenes and movements promote and protect individuality. Deep Ellum, now 150 years old, started as a Freedman’s town, grew to be an edgy outsider community home of the blues scene in the 1920s-30s, then sat dormant until 1984. Dallas was an extremely materialistic city, people were hungry to create a scene of free expression, art, music and theater, an open door of opportunity. The flood gates opened and everybody from all over Texas and beyond came and discovered what they were gifted in and a community flourished.
THREE COLORS: PAN-AFRICAN (Narrative Feature) (United States)
Director: Elijah Davis
Winner of the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at Slamdance 2026, this anthology feature film has three chapters that each take their meaning from the themes behind the colors of the Pan-African flag – red, black, and green.
Actor/director Lou Diamond Phillips, who first gained attention with his roles in LA BAMBA, STAND AND DELIVER, and YOUNG GUNS, will accept the DIFF Dallas Star Award as part of the Festival, and will be honored at a luncheon hosted by Virgin Hotels Dallas on Friday, April 24. He will discuss his latest film, KEEP QUIET – which will have its North American Premiere at DIFF before its theatrical release by Lionsgate in April – onstage with NBC 5 Today anchor Deborah Ferguson.
The DIFF Industry Conference, presented in collaboration with Dallas Film Commission, will feature panels focusing on filmmaking, television production, and how to thrive in an ever-changing industry, according to Katie Schuck, the Dallas Film Commissioner, and Austin Flores, who is the Location Specialist for Dallas Film Commission and will serve as Conference Director.
The Dallas International Film Festival is a global adventure featuring more than 120 film screenings, panels, Q&As with filmmakers and actors, nightly Red Carpets, live screenplay table reads, awards, and other events and activations where filmmakers, screenwriters, film industry leaders, celebrities, sponsors, and audiences come together to experience and discuss film. Films are curated from submissions received by filmmakers from 100+ countries worldwide, across Texas, and the United States, and include narrative features, documentaries, and short films of all genres from studios and independent filmmakers. Festival information is available at https://diffdallas.org/diff.
The Dallas International Film Festival is one of only 59 film festivals in the United States and only 181 film festivals worldwide to earn the designation of Oscar® Qualifying Festival by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Oscar® Qualifying short film awards at the Dallas International Film Festival are: Grand Jury Prize – Best Animated Short Film; Grand Jury Prize – Best Documentary Short Film; and Grand Jury Prize – Best Narrative Short Film.
Films that win qualified awards may be qualified to enter the 99th Academy Awards®, provided that the films meet all the requirements set forth in the official rules for that season. See https://www.oscars.org/oscars/rules-eligibility for details.