Vanity Fair special correspondent Matt Tyrnauer is in town to promote his first film Valentino: The Last Emperor . The riveting doc played at AFI Dallas last month, but sold out, leaving many of the disappointed fashion folk and design students who didn’t get in wondering if the film would ever get a Dallas release. Well, the enormous success of the film has prompted a huge rollout all across the country. During its opening weekend in New York and Chicago, theaters sold out every seat at every showing and beat Monsters vs. Aliens‘ per-theater average. A big push on Oprah didn’t hurt.

The documentary starts screening at Angelika Film Center in Dallas and Plano today, and Tyrnauer will be at EVERY showing on Saturday at the Mockingbird location for audience Q+A’s. The film explores the intense personal and professional relationship between Valentino Garavani and his partner (of 50 years!!!) Giancarlo Giametti as they navigate the choppy waters of the fashion industry. We get to see the inner workings of his atelier and of course there’s plenty of celeb/model gawking galore. Fun tidbit: The director divulged that both hated the film and “freaked out” when they first saw the final cut, and now love it because of the positive response from critics and audiences.

My favorite scenes: Glamazon models bouncing down the runway in slow motion to Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes,” seamstresses using their couture finishing techniques on stunning gowns that we’ll never be able to afford, and heart-warming scenes of the designer spending time with his five dutiful fat pugs that will make you saw AWWW!

Click here to read DMN’s Tom Maurstad’s movie review.

Click here to read my quickie interview with director Matt Tyrnauer.