Thin Line Film Fest has partnered with AFI DALLAS to co-host five incredible documentaries at this year's AFI DALLAS International Film Festival held March 27 - April 6.

Keeping with our goal to bring quality documentaries to North Texas, this partnership is a perfect supplement to our 2008 festival lineup. Below is a full description of each film along with their respective schedule. Thin Line Film Fest encourages everyone to come and experience great films while gaining insight into new people, new places, and new ideas.

For more information on these films or on AFI DALLAS please visit their website.

Circus Rosaire
(USA, 2007, 93 mins)
Regional Premiere
Directed By: Robyn Bliley
Featuring: Pamela Rosaire
Producers: Robyn Bliley, Chad Wilson
Cinematographer: Chad Wilson
Editor: Monique Zavistovski

The traditional circus is a dying business and that’s why Derrick Rosaire Sr. encouraged his five children to become doctors or lawyers, but to no avail. For nine generations circus life is all the Rosaire family has known. They have passed down their love and respect for the wild animals they train and treat like their own children.

Robyn Billey, actress turned director, first met the Rosaire family when she was 6 years old in Tennessee while the family was on tour. Shot over five years, this documentary is a generous and loving portrait of an amazing family and their willingness to sacrifice everything for their animals.

They struggle to find work, travel cross country, get picketed by animal activist and take odd jobs just to feed the animals. They experience their share of tragedy and shoulder it all with a “The Show Must Go On” attitude.

Screening Schedule
Wednesday, April 2nd 7:00pm @ Magnolia 3
Thursday, April 3rd 4:15pm @ Magnolia 4
Saturday, April 5th 4:00pm @ Angelika 7

Dinner with the President: A Nation’s Journey
(Pakistan, 2007, 82 mins)
In Urdu with English subtitles
Regional Premiere
Directed By: Sabiha Sumar, Sachithanandam Sathananthan
Screenwriters: Sabiha Sumar, Sachithanandam Sathananthan
Producer: Sachithanandam Sathananthan
Cinematographers: Claire Pijman, Peter Brugman
Editors: Albert Elings, Eugenie Jansen, Calle Overweg

Are dictatorship and democracy mutually exclusive? In a country with cultures as ancient and complex as Pakistan’s, the answer to what the future holds is not straightforward. Head of an emerging secular democracy amidst neighboring Islamic theocracies, President Pervez Musharraf has long been seen as a key United States ally in the region--a reputation that does not always serve him well in Pakistan.

Pakistani filmmakers Sabiha Sumar and Satha Sathananthan request a dinner with their country’s leader, and to their surprise, the request is granted. The family dinner with Musharraf and his mother forms the backdrop to a journey through contemporary Pakistan as the filmmakers forego the headlines and search the country for deeper answers.

They reveal a country where ethnic and tribal loyalties struggle against modernization, and religious Islamic forces threaten to make Pakistan a theocracy. In the crosshairs of change sits the president himself, whose ties to the military and modernization efforts in Pakistan have made him a lightning rod. -- Sundance Film Festival

Screening Schedule
Friday, March 28th 7:30pm @ Angelika 7
Saturday, March 29th 1:00pm @ Angelika 7
Sunday, March 30th 12:30pm @ Magnolia 5

Crawford
(USA, 2008, 74 mins)
Dallas/Ft Worth Premiere
Directed By: David Modigliani
Producer: David Modigliani
Cinematographers: Deborah Eve Lewis, Cary McClelland, David Modigliani, Ryan Pavelchick
Editor: Matt Naylor
Music: David Rice

Documentary filmmaker David Modigliani explores a deceptively simple question: What happens to the 705 people of Crawford, Texas, when George W. Bush moves to town? Crawford exploded overnight when Bush moved there and later declared his candidacy for President, using the tiny town as the perfect set-piece to project a folksy image. The town was thrust into the spotlight and instantly overrun with reporters and tourists. Shops opened; Main Street boomed; and the locals watched themselves on national TV. But the changes didn't stop there. Tensions grew between locals with opposing political points of view, and in 2005, the President's mounting problems followed him home in the form of Cindy Sheehan's peace movement when 20,000 impassioned protesters and counter-protesters battled it out on Crawford's tiny streets.

Bush's tenure as president will soon end; but the aftermath of his time in office may be felt in Crawford for quite some time.

Screening Schedule
Friday, March 28th 7:00pm @ Magnolia 3
Saturday, March 29th 10:00pm @ Magnolia 3
Friday, April 4th 1:00pm @ Magnolia 3

More Shoes
(USA, 2008, 75 mins)
In Spanish, French, Polish, Ukrainian, English with English subtitles
Regional Premiere
Directed By: Lee Kazimir
Screenwriter: Lee Kazimir
Featuring: Lee Kazimir
Producer: Lee Kazimir
Cinematographer: Lee Kazimir
Editor: Lee Kazimir
Music: Pascal Troemel

Legendary Filmmaker Werner Herzog, once said, “filmmakers should skip film school and instead make a journey alone on foot, let’s say from Madrid to Kiev… this journey would teach one more about what cinema truly means than would five years of sitting in classrooms.” It would take one dedicated, resourceful and crazy filmmaker to attempt such a feat. Meet Lee Kazimir.

In More Shoes, Kazmir takes us on an amazing journey through the European countryside…on foot. Covering six months, seven countries and countless wild cats, Kazmir’s film discovers the extent of his own mettle while showing us the universal nature of humanity. Along the way he meets a cast of characters WGA members only dream of creating. From fabulous French café patrons to an elderly woman celebrating her birthday picking Asparagus by the train tracks, More Shoes displays the breath of life one can only experience by living it not just recording it. Life truly becomes art in this more than unique road movie.

Screening Schedule
Saturday, March 29th 10:00pm @ Angelika 7
Sunday, March 30th 7:15pm @ Magnolia 4
Monday, March 31st 3:15pm @ Magnolia 4

Split: A Divided America
(USA, 2008, 78 mins)
World Premiere
Directed By: kelly nyks
Screenwriter: Kelly Nyks, Peter Hutchinson
Featuring: Tucker Carlson, Al Franken, Norm Ornstein, Jesse Jackson, Noam Chomsky
Producers: Peter Hutchison, Jeff Beard, Kelly Nyks
Cinematographer: Tarina Reed
Editor: Jared Scott
Music: Malcolm Francis

Director Kelly Nyks explores how partisan politics have divided citizens of this nation and what that means for the future of our country.
Simple political discussions often become so heated that many people feel it’s better not to talk about issues with their fellow citizens, who may disagree. Nyks and his team ask Americans from across the country why true political discourse about public affairs has been disconnected. Featuring interviews with Robert Putnam, Norm Ornstein, Tucker Carlson, Noam Chomsky, Thomas Frank, Jesse Jackson and others, the film travels from coast to coast to engage people in a constructive dialogue about politics and the effect political partisanship has had on society.

Split: A Divided America opens the doors for discussions about the real issues during this election year, encouraging viewers to examine the election process and how partisanship politics can affect our future before casting their vote in November.

Screening Schedule
Tuesday, April 1st 7:30pm @ Magnolia 5
Wednesday, April 2nd 10:30pm @ Magnolia 5
Thursday, April 3rd 1:00pm @ Magnolia 3