2010 Dallas IFF wrap-up from Jen Yamato at Cinematical

Festival coverage in general tends to focus on the biggies -- Sundance, Toronto, Cannes, Berlin -- but regional festivals like this one in Dallas (or the Savannah Film Festival in Georgia, or the Oxford Film Festival in Mississippi) feel important in a different way. They breed grassroots-level enthusiasm for movies -- mainstream, independent, foreign, or short-form -- and foster community around discussions of said films.