19th River Film Festival

4 — 21 June 2025

River staircase of Porta Portello, Padua

Discover the Program

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 nineteen 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!

Program 2025

In 2025, the River Film Festival reaches its 19th 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.

Opening Ceremony – Special Event

Wednesday 4th June 10.00 pm – 12 am
EMILIO LUSSU, IL PROCESSO Gianluca Medas | Italia, 2024 | 75 min. Introduction by Emilio Della Chiesa

Cinema schools

Thursday 5th June, 10pm – 12am

TAIL SLATE Gefei Peng | Cina 2024 / 11 min.
GREEN PEARL Shuyu Quan | Cina 2024 / 12 min.
THE LAST Hsiao-I Huang – Guan-Ling Lai – Chu-Yun Hsueh – Hsiu-Fang Lin | Taiwan 2024 / 5 min.
JUSTICE BAO XueFei Chang | Cina 2024 / 13 min.
THE TIDE Haowen Geng | Cina 2024 / 25 min.
LABOUR DAY Beatrice Tabitha Wong | Singapore 2024 / 17 min.
GREEK APRICOTS Jan Krevatin | Croazia 2024 / 20 min.
STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT Vangelis Chatzopoulos | Islanda 2024 / 17 min.

Friday 6th June, 10pm – 12am

CHIMERA Daria Zekert | Germania 2024 / 12 min.
THE TRAP Vitalii Havura | Polonia 2024 / 9 min.
CORRIENTES Beltrán Pons | Argentina 2024 / 8 min.
CONIGLI AL CIMITERO Filippo Maria Pontiggia | Italia 2024 / 28 min.
THE GAME Inga Sunagatullina | Federazione Russa 2024 / 15 min.
SPIDERS IN MY HEART Céline Dondénaz | Svizzera 2024 / 19 min.
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DILAN Umut Silan Ogurlu | Turchia 2024 / 20 min.

Virtual Reality

Centro Culturale Altinate San Gaetano, Via Altinate 71

7th June, 2 — 7 pm
8th June, 10 am — 7 pm

IMMERSIVE VR
STEEL TOWN TALES Andrew Leeke | U.K. 2024 / 18 min.
SILVER CORD Tiyam Yabandeh | Iran 2024 / 10 min.
8 BILLION SELVES Tibor de Jong | Olanda 2024 / 22 min.
MERIDIAN TRANSMISSIONS Eric Patrick | USA 2024 / 13 min.
BACK TO THE PAST Dario Maciel | Brasile 2025 / 12 min.

INTERACTIVE VR
MAGIC YOU Tongze Guo | China 2024 / 12 min.
MAXQ Joel Benjamin | United States 2024 / 17 min.
INYAGO Demetrius L Dukes | USA 2024 / 5 min.

Venetian gazes

Saturday 7th June, 10pm – 12am

L’ACQUARIO Gianluca Zonta | Italia 2024 / 14 min.
LA ZIMA DEL SIGNOR Alessandro Padovani | Italia 2024 / 20 min.
VILLETTA CON PISCINA Karma Gava | Italia 2024 / 10 min.
MOSTO Vernante Pallotti | Italia 2024 / 15 min.
MILLE PONTI Nicolò Amedeo Novek | Italia 2024 / 24 min.
DIALOGHI NEL VETRO Carlo De Togni | Italia 2024 / 10 min.
ADDIO, BEN TROVATI Alfredo Arvalli | Italia 2025 / 14 min.
STUDIES FOR A CLOSE-UP Nicolò Bressan Degli Antoni | Italia 2024 / 15 min.

Veneto Festivals

Sunday 8th June, 10pm – 12am
TUTTO IL RESTO È NOIA Branimir Liguori | Italia 2024 / XX min.
THE SHEPHERD Ilya Plyusnin | Russia 2024 / XX min.
MONDO – DOMINO Suki | Francia 2021/ 6 min.
DELL’ALTRO MONDO Delia Simonetti | Italia 2023 / XX min.
I GOTTA CRY di Ciang (Francesca Colombara, Matteo Dang) | Italia 2023 / 2 min.
IRRATIONAL Nicola Lunardelli, Francesca Poglie | Italia 2021 / 4 min.

Italian gazes

Monday 9th June, 10pm – 12am

T.I.N.A. Marco Mazzone | Italia 2024 / 14 min.
LUCKY LOSERS Filippo Tamburini, Vincenzo Sgaramella | Italia 2024 / 20 min.
HARDCORE Francesco Barozzi | Italia 2024 / 19 min.
IL RE DEL PANINO Giordano Toreti | Italia 2024 / 17 min.
MS. ROSSI MEETS THE MOB Pat Battistini | USA 2024 / 20 min.
FREE SPIRITS Fabius de Vivo | Italia 2025 / 6 min.
LUCCIOLE Pietro Pedrazzoli | Italia 2024 / 20 min.

International horizons

Tuesday 10th June, 10pm – 12am

MORÎ Yakup Tekintangaç | Kurdistan 2024 / 19 min.
UPLIFT David García Díaz & Rut García Díaz / Spagna 2024 / 15 min.
US-HER David Salgado Marcote / Spagna 2024 / 22 min.
ELECTRON Mehran Ranjbar | Iran 2024 / 20 min.
THE MUSKETEER’S DAUGHTER Nikita Trantseev | Federazione Russa 2024 / 16 min.
SAUNA DAY Anna Hints | Estonia 2024 / 13 min.
FILTER James Oates | U.K. 2024 / 10 min.

Wednesday 11th June, 10pm – 12am

EDRIS Behrad Ezzati | Iran 2024 / 15 min.
OXYGEN Nima Tayebi | Iran 2024 / 14 min.
LUNGE Negar Hassanzadeh | Iran 2024 / 15 min.
ZAXME Soore Vahe | Iran 2024 / 14 min.
WHAT IF Ziyu Wang | China 2025 / 19 min.
STIMULANTS & EMPATHOGENS Mateusz Pacewicz | Polonia 2024 / 25 min.
FIVE PAST TWELVE Kevin Van Doorslaer / Belgio 2025 / 7 min.

Thursday 12th June, 10pm – 12am

HOT ELEPHANT Jordi Calvet San José | Spagna 2025 / 13 min.
HOME Sara Mokhavat | Iran 2024 / 10 min.
PREDATOR Javier Fesser | Spagna 2024 / 10 min.
THE MANE Payam Shadnia | Iran 2024 / 15 min
VOYEUR Maryam Hashempour | Iran 2024 / 6 min.
THE LAST SUNDAY IN MAY Alejandro Bordier | Luxembourg 2024 / 18 min.
NECESSITY Mandula | Singapore 2024 / 8 min.
QUEEN ANT Michał Mróz | Polonia 2024 / 8 min.
CHICKEN BROTH SOUP Deniz Büyükkırlı | Turchia 2024 / 18 min.

Queer/LGBTQIA+

Friday 13th June, 10pm – 12am

BURNING AWAY Romane Lepage | Canada 2024 / 15 min.
LUMINOUS MATTER Bianca Arnold & Moss Berke Italia 2024 | 15 min.
BUTTERFLY DREAM Elham Farashah | Iran 2024 / 12 min.
APNEA Fabio Patrassi | Italia 2024 / 12 min.
DEMONS PARTY ALONE Celeste Zanzi | Italia 2024 / 17 min.
THE SITUATION Davood Vandadeh | Iran 2024 / 15 min.
LA FEMMINA Nuanda Sheridan | Italia 2024 / 15 min.
PRINCIPESSA Alessandra Francesca Coratella | Italia 2024 / 6 min.
4LOVE Greta Agresti / Italia 2025 / 20 min.

Animation

Saturday 14th June, 10pm – 12am
SPECIAL EVENT FLEISCHER STUDIO’S NIGHT

Sunday 15th June, 10pm – 12am

THE LITTLE ANCESTOR Alexa Tremblay-Francoeur | Canada 2024 / 11 min.
GIZAKI Xanti Rodriguez | Spagna 2024 / 8 min.
THERE WILL BE NO OTHER END Piotr Milczarek | Polonia 2024 / 8 min.
LAWRENCE OF MORAVIA Jan Cechi | Repubblica Ceca 2024 / 14 min.
SAUDADE, PERHAPS… José-Manuel Xavier | Portogallo 2024 / 13 min.
ON HOLD Delia Hess | Svizzera 2024 / 7 min.
DROP Claudio Quattrone | Italia 2024 / 4 min.
PARTY MONSTER Emeryn Sinclair | USA 2024 / 4 min.
DAVID Kai Xue, Jiexi Hong | Cina 2024 / 8 min.
ALONE IN THE CORNER Dovi Keich | Israele 2024 / 3 min.
THE CAGE Hamideh Motavali Zadeh | Iran 2024 / 4 min.
THE SPLINT Mehdi Sedighi | Iran 2024 / 5 min.
M. L’ESPÉRANCE Chantale Boulianne | Canada 2024 / 9 min.
TOMORROW NEVER DIE Behnam Bahadori | Iran 2024 / 4 min.
CORE Yu-Hsiang Chen | Taiwan 2024 / 7 min.
DRAGFOX Lisa Ott | U.K. 2024 / 8 min.
BY THE SHORE Rojin Aslan Vesek / Turchia 2025 / 4 min.

Documentaries

Monday 16th June, 10pm – 12am

DOLLORS Marta Arjona & Maite Blasco | Spagna 2024 / 15 min.
CONTINUATIONS Satoru Okabe | Giappone 2024 / 16 min.
SMIRNOV FEDOT Misha Ketov | Federazione Russa 2024 / 4 min.
WHERE THE MEMORIES LIVE Ivan Maria Friedman | Svizzera 2024 / 13 min.
FAGHAN Emanuela Zuccalà | Italia 2024 / 23 min.
THE IMAGINATION OF A CHILD Cesare Catania | Italia 2024 / 14 min.
GIRL SCREAMING Shamal Husen | Iraq 2024 / 8 min.
ČORNAJA POLIŬKA Tania Licheuskaya / Bielorussia 2024 / 21 min.

Antropocene

Tuesday 17th June, 10pm – 12am

CLIMATE
SOMBER TIDES Chantal Caron | Canada 2024 / 12 min.
DAMJI Nazanin Chitsaz | Iran 2024 / 2 min.
CHICKEN BONES Abby Waters | USA 2024 / 15 min.
MOON CRAB Leah Clare Michaels | USA 2024 / 10 min.
KAY PACHA INITIATIVE: THE AMAZON PHASE 3 Brian Sachson | USA 2024 / 20 min.

HUMAN RIGHTS
THE FLIGHT Cristian Marambio | Chile 2024 / 12 min.
MACBETH CUORE NERO Paola Beatrice Ortolani | Italia 2024 / 26 min.
THE SOUND OF CLOUDS Mohammad Lotfali | Iran 2024 / 4 min.
THE MEN’S LAND Mariam Khatchvani / Georgia 2025 / 15 min.

Science fiction

Wednesday 18th June, 10pm – 12am
Trieste Science+Fiction Festival

S/N:05 Hans Jakob Harms | Germania 2023 / 9 min.
CONCRETE Eli Vidis Newman | USA 2023 / 16 min.
OÙ VA LE MONDE Mickaël Dupré | France 2024 / 23 min.
154 Andrea Sbarbaro | Riccardo Copreni Italia 2023 / 20 min.
DAGON Paolo Gaudio | Italia 2024 / 6 min.
ELEVATION Matteo Macaluso | Italia 2023 / 15 min.
DO BANGLADROIDS DREAM (…) Aleem Hossain | USA 2024 / 3 min.
PESUDO Miquel Díaz | Pont Spain 2023 / 20 min.
MEAT PUPPET Eros Vlahos | Uk 2024 / 12 min.

Thursday 19th June, 10pm – 12am

VELOCITA DI FUGA Andrea Belcastro | Italia 2024 / 8 min.
HUNTING THE SPIRIT OF TIME Melanie Ekholdt | Norvegia 2024 / 20 min.
COME BRUTI Nicola Mondin, Filippo Giovanni Mondin | Italia 2024 / 17 min
EVELIN E LA CITTÀ DELLE VALIGIE Aurora Ovan | Italia 2024 /10 min.
SERVITORI DI STORIE Valerio Marcozzi | Italia 2024 / 20 min.
THE ILLUSIONIST DILEMMA Carlo De Togni | Italia 2024 / 4 min.
LE SINGE BLEU Jennifer Miville | Canada 2024 / 12 min.
CHOON Antonia Kim / Korea 2025 / 30 min.

MASTERCLASS BENJAMIN SEIDE

Centro Culturale Altinate San Gaetano, Via Altinate 71
Friday 20th June, 4:30pm – 7:30pm

Closing special event

Friday 20th June, 10pm – 12am
ZHENG YI SAO
First full-process feature length AIGC movie in the world

Award Ceremony

Saturday 21th June, 10pm – 12am

Guidelines 2025

Submission

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

Pay for your entry fee:

  • Early bird deadline, 31st October 2024 – Euro 20,00
  • Regular deadline, 31st December 2024 – Euro 25,00
  • Late deadline, 31st March 2025 – 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 2024.
  • 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 2025. 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 2025.
  • 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.