Guest blogger Greg Brown is the managing director of AFI Dallas International Film Festival.

I love documentary films. They can inspire, teach and entertain. Often, they are the gems to discover at a film festival. I had the opportunity to attend the Toronto International Film Festival a couple of weeks ago and got to see a couple of great ones. With topics ranging from Broadway to the justice system, there are a couple that we’re looking to try and bring to AFI DALLAS next spring. More on that later.

So, for me, a film festival dedicated to documentaries is an embarrassment of riches. And the Thin Line Film Festival—the only festival in Texas of its kind—opened last night in Denton. Those of us in the audience were treated to two well-done films about life (and a tough life at that) outside of the United States. The first was What I See When I Close My Eyes, a look at how street kids in Cambodia find some semblance of refuge in art. It was followed by La Corona—about a beauty pageant in a most unusual location…a women’s prison in Colombia.

And that’s just the beginning. Through Sunday, Thin Line will be screening films from around the world, including More Shoes and Nerdcore Rising, two films that played to enthusiastic audiences at the 2008 edition of AFI DALLAS. An added bonus is the Between the Lines Industry Conference at UNT on Friday and Saturday. It’s packed full of sessions on documentary filmmaking—from inception to distribution and beyond. It’s presented by the Dallas Producers Association and features many local filmmakers and professionals.

Hope to see some of you other film buffs there this weekend. For more information, visit Thin Line’s site.