18th River Film Festival

29 May — 16 June 2024

River staircase of Porta Portello, Padua

Winners 2024
Catalogue

Each year, to an ever-increasing extent, River Film Festival projects hundreds of cinematographic works from around the world, which are viewed and voted by a qualified jury and audience.

The films selected will once again be shown on the floating screen in the middle of the 16th-century fluvial port used for trade between Padua and Venice at the city gate of Porta Portello. This enchanting setting is just one of the many features that attract people to RiFF year after year! During the 16 days of the Festival, all the directors with their crew members will be able to show their works and talk to the audience with a special Q&A after the screening.

The festival is totally free entrance.

In the seventeen editions realized so far, on the floating screen on the river Piovego, there have been projected

2558

Cinematographic works

132

Countries

The Festival is among the official partners of important international cinema events: first of all Berlin Film Festival where every year, in February, RiFF presents the programme in preview.

 

Prestigious are also the sponsors of national and international institutions: European Parliament, Universities, Embassies, Institutes of Culture, Film Schools and Associations. River Film Festival therefore helps to place the city of Padua, with its Municipality and its University, at the center of European cultural policies.

The Festival is organized by the Cultural Association Researching Movies and it is sponsored by the Padua City Council – Cultural Office and the University of Padua. Padua has now entered the UNESCO World Heritage List thanks to Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel and Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles so it is a special Art town which attracts many tourists and creative people from all over the world!

Programme 2024

In 2024, the River Film Festival reaches its 18th edition, with the awareness of a cultural event that spectators have come to appreciate for the originality and authority of its choices.

All screenings are free of charge.

Special Opening Events

Wednesday 29 May – Sunday 2 June 2024
Special evening dedicated to Medici Senza Frontiere / Tribute to Gian Maria Volonté / Preview presentation of the documentaries produced in the context of the 33rd edition of the Paduan DAMS video-writing workshop / Evenings dedicated to Veneto Film Festivals / Round tables.

Contest

Italian Gazes

Monday 3 June 22:00 – 24:00

IL COMPLEANNO DI ENRICO Francesco Sossai / Italy, Germaniy 2023 / 17 min.

PIETRE SOMMERSE Jordi Penner / Italy 2023 / 15 min.

TILIPIRCHE Francesco Piras / Italy 2023 / 18 min.

S’INDATTARAIU Matteo Pianezzi / Italy 2023 / 19 min.

L’ESTATE DI GUIDO Cesare Bisantis / Italy 2023 / 15 min.

FRAMMENTI Andrea Casadio / Italy 2023 / 12 min.

MIGNOLO Gianluca Granocchia / Italy 2023 / 15 min.

RASTI Paolo Bonfadini / Italy 2024 / 15 min.

International Horizons

Tuesday 4 June 22:00 – 24:00

TITS Eivind Landsvik / Norway 2023 / 12 min.

LEMON TREE Rachel Walden / USA 2023 / 17 min.

BONUS Reza Nejati / Iran 2023 / 18 min.

GIVE WAY TO THE RIGHT Mikhail Shklofsky / Russian Federation 2023 / 14 min.

PASTA AND TEST SCORE Stanley Xu / Taiwan 2023 / 6 min.

SMALL SELKIE Matilda Harding-Kemp / UK 2023 / 15 min.

FOUR-EYED Leonardo Gutiérrez, Anwar Hasmy / Venezuela 2024 / 12 min.

UNIBROW Nedda Sarshar / Canada 2023 / 14 min.

 

Wednesday 5 June 22:00 – 24:00

TWO · POLE Samuel Morris / Switzerland 2023 / 5 min.

SOUP IS GOOD FOOD Alexandre Thériault / Canada 2023 / 7 min.

NADA DE TODO ESTO Patricio Martínez and Francisco Cantón / Argentina 2023 / 17 min.

FÁR Gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter / Iceland 2023 / 5 min.

VAPOR Susana Abreu / Portugal 2023 / 6 min.

A DAY IN THE LIFE James Oates / UK 2023 / 15 min.

AT LAST Resmiye Emir / Turkey 2023 / 20 min.

DRIFTING AWAY Meredith Chen / China 2023 / 14 min.

 

Thursday 6 June 22:00 – 24:00

HOLE Amirali Masomi Far / Iran 2023 / 12 min.

DUVAR DUVAR Yusuf Ölmez / Turkey 2023 / 15 min.

GOODBYE, TOMORROW Przemek Węgrzyn / Poland 2023 / 17 min.

LIGHT 24 Denys Borysovsky / Ukraine 2023 / 13 min.

WOULD YOU RATHER BE ALONE? Victor Ridley / Belgium 2023 / 22 min.

COCOON Saeed Bojnordi / Iran 2023 / 15 min.

IN HIS FORTRESS Yasemin Demirci / Italy-Turkey 2023 / 20 min.

Queer Shorts

Friday 7 June 22:00 – 24:00

SEI MESI DOPO Chiara Sfregola / Italy 2023 / 18 min.

SAREBBE STATU Ella Rocca / Switzerland 2023 / 14 min.

PAMELA Daniel Muchiut, Marina Carrasco / Argentina 2023 / 18 min.

CATBOY Cristian Sitjas / Spain 2023 / 13 min.

PASSIFLORA Gabriel Souza Nunes / Canada 2023 / 14 min.

PIECHT Luka Lara Steffen / Germany 2023 / 30 min.

AND IF YOU HEAR ME Martin Rodolphe Villeneuve / Canada 2023 / 16 min.

Film Schools

Saturday 8 June 22:00 – 24:00

Out of contest: WELCOME DAY / Italy (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) 2023 / 8 min.

PASTORAL SPRING Antoine Dossin / Czech Republic (FAMU) 2023 / 18 min.

HO BALLATO DI TUTTO Sarah Narducci / Italy (CSC) 2023 / 15 min.

EVERYTHING WILL BE OK AGAIN Marek Čermák / Czech Republic (FAMU) 2023 / 23 min.

VIOLET Laura Engelhardt / German (Koln KHM) 2024 / 21 min.

LIFE OF THE PARTY Lorenzo Vitrone /Italy (Gian Maria Volonté) 2023 / 19 min.

FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS Mohamad W. Ali / India (Satyaijt Film Institute) 2023 / 28 min.

Animation

Sunday 9 June 22:00 – 24:00

UBER LEBEN Melanie Jilg / Germania 2023 / 15 min.

BLU Michela Anedda / Italia 2023 / 12 min.

THE GRAND BOOK Arjan Brentjes / Paesi Bassi 2023 / 20 min.

SPRING WALTZ Stefano Lorenzi, Clelia Catalano / Italia 2024 / 12 min.

74 Charalambos Margaritis / Cipro 2024 / 16 min.

TABAC FROID Arthur Jamain / Francia 2023 / 10 min.

MANO Toke Ringmann Madsen / Danimarca 2023 / 7 min.

BOG Éabha Bortolozzo, Jack Kirwan / Irlanda 2023 / 10 min.

 

Monday 10 June 22:00 – 24:00

RIOT DOLL Daria Skripka, Poornima Subramaniam, Mrunal Khairnar, Lwazi Msipha, Hassan Yola / Francia 2023 / 7 min.

CANARD Elie Chapuis / Svizzera 2023 / 9 min.

DEDE IS DEAD Philippe Kastner / Repubblica Ceca 2023 / 8 min.

IT’S JUST A WHOLE Bianca Scali / Germania 2023 / 11 min.

RISING ABOVE Natálie Durchánková / Repubblica Ceca 2024 / 4 min.

SPARK OF HOPE Yu-Rou Wun / Taiwan 2023 / 3 min.

LA VOIX DES SIRÈNES Gianluigi Toccafondo / Francia 2024 / 20 min.

MEDITATION AT DUSK Judit Erdélyi / Ungheria 2023 / 7 min.

DEMI-GODDESSES Martin Gerigk / Germany / 2023 / 7 min.

PAPA BOUTEILLE Clément Bretou, Lalita Bruguiere, Lucie Carraz, Éléonore Deprun, Fred Marcassoli, Pierre Etienne Mazet / France 2023 / 8 min.

THE TASK Francesco Elia Stomboli / Italia 2024 / 8 min.

SHORTS FROM THE BOX/MODERN TIMES Géza M. Tóth / Ungheria 2024 / 11 min.

Documentaries

Tuesday 11 June 22:00 – 24:00

SHEEP, MARRIAGE AND SMUGGLING Andrés Salaberri Pueyo / Spain 2023 / 15 min.

CORNBEAT Eduardo Liron, Renata Mattar / Brazil 2023 / 16 min.

CARPENTER Xelîl Sehragerd / Iran 2023 / 13 min.

THE FATHER’S PLACE Francesco D’Ascenzo / Italy 2023 / 20 min.

ROMEO Sara G. Cortijo / Spain 2023 / 11 min.

40°N, 73°W Sandy Williams IV / USA 2023 / 18 min.

TO THE DANCERS Susie Davies / UK 2023 / 25 min.

Anthropocene

Climate

Wednesday 12 June 22:00 – 24:00

ABBA Fabiana Lupo / Italy 2023 / 15 min.

BANKS David Sanchez, Billie-Jazz Marcuzzo-Roy, Jérôme Léwa Cadet / Canada 2023 / 27 min.

BAIGAL NUUR – LAKE BAIKAL / Alisi Telengut / Germania, Canada 2023 / 9 min.

WATERMARK Alexander Georgiev / Bulgaria 2023 / 12 min.

ARTEMIS Martijn Veldhoen / Netherlands 2023 / 17 min.

S’OZZASTRU Carolina Melis / Italy 2023 / 9 min.

THE CURRENCY Gregor Kasper, Elom 20ce, Musquiqui Chihying / Germania, Taiwan, Togo 2023 / 15 min.

THE WAITING Volker Schlecht / Germania 2023 / 16 min.

 

Human Rights

Thursday 13 June 22:00 – 24:00

LUGGAGE Rebecca Victoria Romanoff / Russian Federation 2023 / 18 min.

ELDORADO Mathieu Volpe / Italy 2023 / 19 min.

LA VALISE Chloè Mazlo / France 2023 / 6 min.

KEEP Lewis Rose / France, UK 2023 / 21 min.

D’ORAN À ALMERÍA Lina Saidani / France 2023 / 6 min.

WEREE Tal Amiran / UK 2023 / 15 min.

NON PIANGERE Niccolò Corti / Italy 2024 / 17 min.

PITAGE Ali Khaledi / Iran 2023 / 10 min.

World in Focus: Palestine

Friday 14 June 22:00 – 24:00
Event organised in collaboration with Nazra – Palestine Short Film Festival

 

BONBONÉ Rakam Mayasi / Palestine, Lebanon 2017 / 15 min.

TOUR DE GAZA Flavia Cappellini / Gaza, UK 2019 / 19 min.

ENTR’ACTE Seyed Mohammad Reza Kheradmandan / Palestine 2016 / 7 min.

ONE DAY IN JULY Hermes Mangialardo /Italy 2015 / 3 min.

COFFEE POT Thaer Al Azzah / Palestine 2018 / 10 min.

AND AN IMAGE WAS BORN (WILADAT SURA) Firas Khoury / Palestine 2017 / 9 min.

Theme in Focus: Travels and Borders

Saturday 15 June 22:00 – 24:00

LA LINEA DEL TERMINATORE Gabriele Biasi / Italy 2023 / 15 min.

THE DAWN OF CREATION Carlo De Togni / Italy 2023 / 8 min.

LA PICCOLA ESTATE (SUMMERTIME) Sara Scalera / Italy 2023 / 15 min.

THE CAR THAT CAME BACK FROM THE SEA Jadwiga Kowalska / Switzerland 2023 / 11 min.

AFTER ANNECY Rebecca Holstein / USA 2023 / 12 min.

HOW TO (NOT) LIVE A LEGACY? Jane Hwang / Korea 2023 / 27 min.

MIXTAPE OF A YOUNG MAN Edmond NG / China 2023 / 7 min.

BEYOND THE BORDER Dominik Zbořil / Czech Republic 2023 / 27 min.

Virtual Reality

Thursday 6 – Sunday 9 June 18:00 – 22:00

HICKORY HORNED DEVIL Phoebe Titus / Canada 2023 / 18 min.

DIMENSIONS Kathy Smith / USA  2023 / 8 min.

OPHELIA Diana Dell’Erba / Italy 2023 / 8 min.

ONEIRO – 360 VR MOVIE Milos Tasic / Serbia 2023 / 7 min.

PITCHED TOGETHER Diego Bonilla / USA 2024 / 7 min.

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? Konstantinos Koukoudis / Greece 2023 / 15 min.

WHAT LIES BEYOND THE WOODS Emil Spiewok / Germaniy 2023 / 24 min.

 

 

Out of contest, special guest from Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes 2024: ONE ARM Shutaro Oku / Japan 2024 / 30 min.

Closing Ceremony

Sunday 16 June 21:30 – 24:00

Guidelines 2024

Submission

Via FilmFreeway (a maximum of three entries per director).

Pay for your entry fee:

  • Early bird deadline, 31st October 2023 – Euro 20,00
  • Regular deadline, 31st December 2023 – Euro 25,00
  • Late deadline, 31st March 2024 – Euro 30,00

The entry fee is waived for single entries if the applicant resides in one of the List Developed Countries.

Terms

  • Films must have been completed after 1st January 2023.
  • Films can be documentary, student films schools, Virtual Reality, narrative, fiction or animation.
  • Total running time must be from 100 sec. to 30 minutes in length, including front and back credits.
  • The short film can be in any language or any genre. All non-English films must have English subtitles .srt file (Not embedded in .mp4 H264 file).
  • Entry for the Festival implies unconditional acceptance of the published regulations. Should any dispute arise, the festival organizers will have the right of final decision on all that is not specified in the Regulations. Should there be controversy, the Padova Law Courts are competent to deal with any litigation.

Selection

  • The Films will be selected by a panel of judges nominated by the Festival. The decision of the selection committee is final.
  • No work or artist will be either discriminated or favoured by their country of origin, language, age, race, education, gender, ideology, or by their economic resources. Every content, every form, every technique will be admitted with no censorship of any kind except that enshrined in current Italian Law.
  • Finalists will be notified on our website or by email the 1st May 2024. The River Film Festival will do its best to announce the selected films and winners at the designated time, but will not be held liable for any unforeseen delays.
  • The catalogue listing the films selected will be published after the 15th May 2024.
  • The owners of the winning films must deposit a ProRes H.264, .mp4 or similarly low compression/high-quality file format/codec copy of the film in the Archives of the Festival. This will only be used for study purposes. Permission will be requested from those who hold the rights to the film should it be required for any other usage.
  • Winning films must mention the prize awarded whenever shown

Award Ceremony

A Jury Laurels, certificates and GOLDEN RIVER (Murano glass sculpture made by Venetian artists) will be given to the best film short in the following category:

  • International horizons (fiction)
  • Italian gazes
  • Animation shorts
  • Documentary shorts
  • Film schools shorts
  • Queer/LGBTQIA+ shorts
  • Virtual Reality
  • Anthropocene: shorts about human rights and climate change
  • Theme in focus: shorts about travels and borders

RiFF is supported by

Municipality of Padua – Department of Culture,  Veneto Region and  Ministry of Culture

Supported by an important partnership network

University of Padua, Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, Mattino di Padova, 7Gold, Radio Cooperativa, Sehstern Kommunication – Berlin, Associazione Progetto Portello and Comitato Mura di Padova.