The annual EarthX Film Festival returns for 2022 in May for an exciting four days and more than 75 films, including an opening night world premiere of Deep In The Heart, a film by Ben Masters (The River and The Wall) on wildlife in Texas narrated by Matthew McConaughey.

The festival runs May 12-15 and for the first time will be held in the Dallas Arts District, providing easy accessibility to five theater venues. Each night will feature a musical act performing before a showcase screening.

With the theme "A Celebration of the Outdoors," the festival continues its mission to highlight films and emerging media that celebrate nature, outdoor adventure, environment, conservation, climate change, and science. The lineup includes 24 features, 54 shorts, plus music, art installations, and panel discussions.

They're also welcoming a new sponsor, says EarthX CEO Michael Fletcher in a statement: Curiosity, a media company whose streaming service, Curiosity Stream, delivers films, series, and shows on space, history, nature, tech, and lifestyle on demand. The film lineup will include Curiosity's original film Going Circular, exploring circularity.

"We're thrilled to present films this year that showcase our amazing planet and the people dedicated to making a difference," Fletcher says. "It's always been our vision to create a world-class event that celebrates the spirit of Texas and welcomes global citizens to experience the rich arts culture in Dallas."

For more information and tickets, go to earthxfilmfestival.org or download the app available on iOS and Android.

Opening screening
Opening night will be the world premiere of Ben Masters' film Deep In The Heart, narrated by Matthew McConaughey and the first feature-length wildlife film ever produced about Texas. Filmed over two years, it showcases Texas' species and wild places, the connectivity of water and wildlife, and recognizes Texas' conservation importance on a continental scale.

Masters calls it "a love letter to the diverse and vibrant state that we call home."

Festival favorites
Several festival darlings are also in the lineup, including Fire of Love by Sara Dosa; We Feed People by Ron Howard; The Territory, a Sundance Audience Award winner; Bring Your Own Brigade by Lucy Walker; and To The End by Rachel Lears.

A wide range of filmmakers including award winners Jeff Orlowsky (Chasing Ice), Raj Patel & Zak Piper (The Ants and The Grasshopper), young superstar Lindsey Hagen (California Natural), and several newcomers, including two second-grade brothers making their first film with their father called Life In The Slow Lane.

The films cover a variety of important topics, from the healing experience for veterans through nature (Eric and The Bees, Bastards' Road), to female big-wave surfing (Big vs Small), to tiger poaching (Tigre Gente).

Texas stories
This year's Texas films include Battle For The Heart of Texas about property rights in energy production; When It's Good, It's Good, about oil-drilling communities in West Texas; and REI's Slim Pickins about diversity in outdoor culture.

Short Films
Many of the shorts are associated with brands and film companies including Patagonia’s Raised From the Earth about living off the land, and The Monster In Our Closet, which focuses on plastic in our fashion. The Redford Center is presenting two short films on mass transit: Community Power Arizona: En Nuestrxs Manos (In Our Hands) and Community Power Nevada: Unidxs En Accion (United In Action).

The full list of feature films includes:

• Bastards’ Road, Director Brian Morrison
• Battle for the Heart of Texas, Director John Brown
• Before They Fall, Director Cam MacArthur
• Big vs Small, Director Minna Dufton
• Reel Rock: Black Ice, Director Peter Mortimer, Zachary Barr
• Bring Your Own Brigade, Director Lucy Walker
• Chasing Ice, Director Jeff Orlowski
• Coextinction, Director Gloria Pancrazi, Elena Jean
• Deep in the Heart, Director Ben Masters
• Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Director Bill Kroyer
• Fire of Love, Director Sara Dosa
• Godspeed, Los Polacos!, Director Adam Nawrot
• Going Circular, Director Ricard Dale, Nigel Walk
• Inhabitants, Director Costas Boutsikaris, Anna Palmer
• Learning to Drown, Director Ben Knight
• Mountain Revelations, Director Justin Fann
• Newtok, Director Michael Kirby, Andrew Burton
• Spirit of the Peaks, Director Connor Ryan, Tim Kressin
• The Ants and the Grasshopper, Director Raj Patel, Zak Piper
• The Territory, Director Alex Pritz
• Tigre Gente, Director Elizabeth Unger
• To the End, Director Rachel Lears
• We Feed People, Director Ron Howard
• Zero Gravity, Director Thomas Verrette

Short films are as follows:

• 80° North, Director Brandon Holmes
• All Bodies on Bikes, Director Zeppelin Zeerip
• American Scar, Director Daniel Lombroso
• An Eye for Detail, Director Matthew Harmer
• Bad Boy of Bonsai, Director Juan A. Moreno
• Breaking Trail, Director Jesse Roesler
• California Natural, Director Lindsey Hagen
• Camp Yoshi, Director Faith E. Briggs
• Chasing the Sublime, Director Amanda Bluglass
• Community Power Arizona: En Nuestrxs Manos (In Our Hands), Director Pita Juarez
• Community Power Nevada: Unidxs En Acción (United In Action), Director Nico Cadena
• Eric and the Bees, Director Erin Brethauer, Tim Hussin
• Finding Gulo, Director Colin Arisman
• From My Window, Director Frank Pickell
• Humanity Has Not Yet Failed, Director Norma V. Toraya, Jared P. Scott
• I am One of the People, Director Cameron Woodle
• If I Tell Them, Director Oliver Sutro
• Kāhuli, Director Chris Jones
• Life in the Slow Lane, Director Sol de Glanville, Ben de Glanville
• Like a River, Director Jim Aikman
• Listen to the Beat of our Images, Director Audrey Jean-Baptiste, Maxime Jean-Baptiste
• Loon, Director Jason Whalen, Chris Zuker
• Mission Mountain, Director Kody Kohlman, Andrew Bydlon
• Mother of the Sea, Director Nicholas Brown
• Mylo, Director Chris Bukard
• No Soy Oscar, Director Jon Ayon
• Nuisance Bear, Director Jack Weisman, Gabriela Osio Vanden
• One Star Reviews: National Parks, Director Alex Massey
• Patagonia Provisions: The Ocean Solution Film, Director Darcy Hennessey Turenne
• Raised from the Earth, Director Forest Woodard
• Rebirth of a Reef, Director Shaun Wolfe
• Return to Earth, Director Darcy Wittenburg, Darren McCoullough, Colin Jones
• Rockies Repeat, Director Caroline Hedin
• Slim Pickins, Director Justin Jeffers
• The Captain, Director Gregory Kohs
• The Diamond, Director Caitlyn Greene
• The Endless Wave, Director Tom Attwater
• The Interconnectedness of all Living Things, Director Jenn den Broeder
• The Land of Griffons, Director Riccardo Soriano
• The Last Last Hike, Director Celene Francois
• The Monster in Our Closet, Director Kathryn Bays, Nicole Gormley
• The Seeds We Keep, Director Gabriel E.W. Carter
• The Seeker, Director Lance Edmands
• The Wilderness Within, Director Jason van Bruggen
• They Carry Us With Them: Gabriel Frey, Director Jeremy Seifert
• Thomas Deininger. Trash Artist., Director Gnarly Bay
• To Live Here (sống ở đây), Director Melanie Dang Ho
• Wastewater: The Tale of Two Cities, Director Sarah Franke
• We Decided to Become Farmers, Director Rob Herring, Ryan Wirick
• What Remains, Director Paavo Hanninen
• When It Comes from the Earth, Director Katalin Egely
• When it's Good it's Good, Director Alejandra Vasquez