DIFF WANTS YOU: We’ve still got about nine months before the 2013 Dallas International Film Festival gets up and running. But it’s not too early if you’re a filmmaker to think about getting your entry together. A couple of $10,000 prizes are up for grabs after all. Early deadline for submissions is Oct. 26, regular deadline is Dec. 7 and late deadline is Dec. 14. All the details are on the festival’s website.

BRITAIN BOUND: Dallas Black Dance Theatre is the only Texas arts organization invited to perform at the Olympics. A big deal, for sure, but one that comes with about a $200,000 price tag. The company has been raising money for the last several weeks. And while it didn’t quite make the goal, dallasnews.com reports that enough money has been raised to consider it close enough. DBDT leaves Aug. 12 for Great Britain.

THE LUCKY VIOLINIST: Much has been made about the Fort Worth Symphony acquiring a second Stradivari violin. Only about 600 instruments made by the Italian master are still around. So with that in mind, imagine how relieved the owner of one was when someone turned his in to the lost and found after it was left on a train in Switzerland.