The Denton Black Film Festival has landed on MovieMaker Magazine's 2026 list of the 25 coolest film festivals in the world, a recognition that comes about 11 weeks before the festival opens its 13th year in Denton.
MovieMaker asked a group of filmmakers and film industry experts to pick the festivals, the Denton Record-Chronicle reported Wednesday. One panelist was filmmaker Ya'Ke Smith, who received the festival's Texas Filmmaker EPIC Award earlier this year. Smith wrote for the magazine that organizers "have built more than a film festival," describing a gathering place where artists and audiences connect, according to the Record-Chronicle.
Harry Eaddy, the festival's executive director and a co-founder, told the Record-Chronicle that there are more than 12,000 film festivals and that being counted among the top 25 is "quite an honor." He told the paper that visitors often say the event "feels like a family reunion."
The 2027 festival
The in-person festival runs Jan. 27-31, 2027, with virtual programming continuing through Feb. 7, according to the festival's website. Its theme this year is "Together We Make."
Eaddy told the Record-Chronicle the lineup will include Questlove's documentary on Earth, Wind & Fire and a 35th-anniversary screening of Spike Lee's "Malcolm X." Brandon Collins, creator of Drunk Black History, is scheduled for a "Drunk Black Film History" performance.
Beyond screenings, the festival schedules poetry readings, live music, comedy, art exhibits, panels and workshops. It bills itself as the largest Black film festival in Texas and the Southwest and the first major Black film festival on the national calendar each year.
