RiverRun International Film Festival

 The Festival will feature 196 screenings—the most in its history—in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina. Based in Winston-Salem, RiverRun is an Academy Award-qualifying festival in two categories: Documentary Short and Animated Short.

“We are delighted to welcome our audiences back for another year of incredible screenings and inspiring conversations,” said RiverRun Executive Director Rob Davis. “This year’s festival includes a phenomenal slate of diverse and exciting films from across the globe. We are particularly excited about the RiverRun BIPOC Film Program, which this year will focus on contemporary Sudanese films. In addition, we will honor industry legends Kate Amend, Adrienne Barbeau and Constance Towers Gavin, all three of whom will attend the Festival, with receive Master of Cinema Awards.  In addition, Robert Schwartzman will join us to receive our Emerging Master of Cinema Award.”

Opening night’s narrative feature will be “Thelma,” a wonderful take on action films with a 93-year-old grandmother as an unlikely action hero in a clever comedy caper. “Mad About the Boy,” the opening night documentary, showcases the vast talent and genius of Noel Coward. The closing night film stars John Malkovich as a widowed British industrialist mistaken for the new butler at the French chateau where he met his late wife in “Mr. Blake at Your Service!” The popular free screenings for kids and families include Saturday morning cartoons, an outdoor screening of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” and “Puffin Rock and the New Friends,” a new animated film from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Other films include the moving “Bau: Artist at War,” which features Emile Hirsch as Joseph Bau, whose wedding to his wife, Rebecca, took place in the Plaszow concentration camp during World War II. “Wildcat,” from director Ethan Hawke stars his daughter, Maya, as writer Flannery O’Connor and Laura Linney as her mother. “Shari and Lamb Chop” is a fantastic documentary following the ups and downs of Shari Lewis, the trailblazing woman who forever changed the face of children’s television and “Willie and Me” has a German housewife on a road trip to Las Vegas for Willie Nelson’s last concert and features the legendary country singer as both himself and a character.

In addition to high-profile films, the festival also presents the best in international independent cinema including narratives, documentaries, and animated films showcasing a variety of diverse global viewpoints.