<h6><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/eventive-static/c9bd3538c7be9af8f2c814595d266c48.jpg" width="279"></h6><h6>Congratulations 2026 DBFF Best Texas Short Narrative Winner and Best Narrative Short <strong>Honorable Mention:</strong> "The Ohio, Texas Remix" by Ya'Ke Smith</h6>

<p>A woman's dissociative episode triggers a chain of events, leading to a deadly secret.</p>

KAOS

A woman's dissociative episode triggers a chain of events, leading to a deadly secret.

<p><em>Mother Knows Best</em> is a sharp, emotional cautionary tale about loneliness, control, and the cost of unhealed wounds. Liza, an aging Italian widow living with buried secrets and racial scars, is dangerously dependent on her only son, Donnie. When he becomes engaged to Emma—a kind, accomplished Jewish doctor—Liza launches a calculated campaign to sabotage the relationship, enlisting manipulation, cruelty, and even Donnie’s Italian ex-girlfriend to reclaim her grip on him.</p><p>But Liza underestimates Emma’s strength and integrity, as well as Donnie’s desire to escape a toxic bond and build a healthier future. As tensions escalate and truths unravel, a near-death experience forces Liza to confront her past and rediscover the person she once was. The film explores whether love can survive manipulation—and whether self-acceptance and redemption are possible at any age.</p><p><br></p>

Mother Knows Best

Mother Knows Best. Karma Knows Better. An overbearing Italian widow wages psychological war against her son’s Jewish fiancée, forcing all three to confront love, loyalty, and long-buried secrets that threaten to destroy—or redefine—their lives.

<p>A teen girl encounters an unlikely connection to a mysterious stranger. As the conversation unfolds, the truth behind their meeting begins to surface.</p>

Rever

A teen girl encounters an unlikely connection to a mysterious stranger. As the conversation unfolds, the truth behind their meeting begins to surface.

<p>A woman travels from Ohio to Texas to kidnap her son from her estranged ex-husband. Based on a true story. </p>

Suggested PG-13-  Strong Language/Violence

The Ohio, Texas Remix

A woman travels from Ohio to Texas to kidnap her son from her estranged ex-husband. Based on a true story.

Crossroads of Identity: KAOS, Mother Knows Best, Rever and The Ohio, Texas Remix

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<p>2026 Denton Black Film Festival Institute</p>

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2026 Denton Black Film Festival

Crossroads of Identity: KAOS, Mother Knows Best, Rever and The Ohio, Texas Remix

Congratulations 2026 DBFF Best Texas Short Narrative Winner and Best Narrative Short Honorable Mention: "The Ohio, Texas Remix" by Ya'Ke Smith

Congratulations 2026 DBFF Best Texas Short Narrative Winner and Best Narrative Short Honorable Mention: "The Ohio, Texas Remix" by Ya'Ke Smith