20. River Film Festival

Padua, 24.05 - 20.06.2026

River staircase of Porta Portello

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 27 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.
Download Programme

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!

Competition Film Programme 2026

In 2026, the River Film Festival reaches its twentieth edition, with the awareness of being a cultural event that audiences have come to appreciate for the originality and authority of its selections. All screenings are free of charge.

FEATURE FILMS – from May 25 to May 30

  • PALAZZO MORONI, SALA PALADIN – from 6pm to 8pm
  • SCALINATA DI PORTA PORTELLO – from 10pm to 12am

Monday 25 May
THE EXTINCTION OF THE HUMAN RACE Emanuele Aldrovandi / Italia 2025 / 85 min.

Tuesday 26 May
NEW BEGINNINGS Isabelle Ingold, Vivianne Perelmuter / Francia 2025 / 87 min.

Wednesday 27 May
SQUALI Daniele Barbiero / Italia 2025 / 94 min.

Thursday 28 May
COMPARSA Vickie Curtis, Doug Anderson / Guatemala 2025 / 79 min.

Friday 29 May
ZOE Emanuela Galliussi, Dean Ronalds / Italia 2025 / 101 min.

Saturday 30 May
COME ROMEO E GIULIETTA Giuseppe Alessio Nuzzo / Italia 2025 / 86 min.


FEATURE FILMS – from 31 May to 3 June

  • SCALINATA DI PORTA PORTELLO – from 10pm to 12am

Sunday 31 May
CATARTIS – CONSERVARE IL FUTURO Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani / Italia 2025 / 94 min.

Tuesday 2 June
INTERIOR APARTAMENTO DÍA Laura Amelia Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas / Repubblica Dominicana 2025 / 92 min.

Wednesday 3 June
BEYOND THE SKIN Alessandra Usai / Italia 2025 / 60 min.

VIRTUAL REALITY – Dal 25 al 30 May

  • PALAZZO MORONI, SALA ANZIANI – from 10am to 12:30pm and from 4pm to 8pm
IMMERSIVE VR

DREAMS OF BLINDNESS Li Jiang / Cina 2025 / 121 min.
HO SOGNATO DI SOGNARE UN SOGNO Lucio Laugelli / Italia 2025 / 18 min.
AN INDEFINITE LIFE Liam Branagan / Australia 2025 / 11 min.
TOWARD ENTROPY 360 Jaewook Lee / Stati Uniti 2025 / 15 min.

INTERACTIVE VR

MIRAGE Naima Karim / Bangladesh, Olanda e Arabia Saudita 2025 / 8 min.
THE THEATER AND I Susan Shuhsien WANG / Taiwan 2025 / 18 min.

CINEMA SCHOOLS

Thursday  4 June – from 10pm to 12am

THE HOLIDAYS Iseta Alekseyeva / Federazione Russa 2026 / 20 min.
JUST SAY HI Olga Smelova / Russia 2025 / 15 min.
POINT OF RETURN András Heszky / Ungheria 2025 / 24 min.
SONATA Tullio Edoardo Rocca / Italia / 16 min.
APNEA Emanuele Sicignano / Italia 2025 / 19 min.
FALLITI Pietro Macaione / Italia 2025 / 15 min.
LITTLE SOLDIER Roxan Karami / Kurdistan 2026 / 13 min.


Friday  5 June – from 10pm to 12am

NICE GUY Philip Schafferhans / Germania 2025 / 30 min.
MY GARAGE! Vladimir Sukhov / Federazione Russa 2025 / 22 min.
KICKBACK Dmitry Marin / Russia / 18 min.
A GARDEN OVER THE SEA Ziying Wu / Cina / 2025 / 22 min.

VENETIAN GAZES

Saturday 6 June – from 10pm to 12am

CIELI ROSSI Karma Gava / 2025 / 13 min.
L’OSPITE Alberto De Grandis / 2025 / 20 min.
ULTIMA SPIAGGIA Cesare Bisantis / 2025 / 20 min.
MEDEA PROJECT Iago Riet / 2025 / 24 min.
LE PAROLE SONO PIETRE Anastasia Zarbo / 2025 / 20 min.
IL TACCO BULGARO Federico Gionco / 2025 / 9 min.

ITALIAN GAZES

Sunday 7 June – from 10pm to 12am

LA MACCHINA DI RENATO Andrea Orsenigo / 2025 / 18 min.
CARAMELLA Valerio Narcisi / 2025 / 16 min.
BAGARRE Sarah Narducci / 2025 / 15 min.
GOODBYE BAGHDAD Simone Manetti / 2025 / 20 min.
REWIND AGENCY Antonella Spatti / 2025 / 20 min.
SOLO IL TUO VISO Tommaso Banti / 2025 / 16 min.
I FIORI NON HANNO LE SCARPE Matteo Vicentini Orgnani / 12 min.


Monday 8 June – from 10pm to 12am

CRUMBS Marco Scannicchio / 2025 / 14 min.
L’ARTE DELLA BANDIERA BIANCA Riccardo Pittaluga / 2025 / 6 min.
NON PUOI CAPIRMI Christian Dei / 2025 / 10 min.
HEAVEN OR NOT Esmeralda Spadea / 2025 / 12 min.
FRATTURE Mattia Trezza-Stefano Mattacchione / 2025 / 14 min.
TERESINA Irene Belluzzi / 2025 / 20 min.
NA NOTTE ANCORA Carmelo Segreto / 2025 / 20 min.
ASTRONAUTA Giorgio Giampà / 2025 / 16 min.

INTERNATIONAL HORIZONS

Tuesday 9 June – from 10pm to 12am

LEV BERGER Jan Fabris / Slovenia 2025 / 25 min.
EASTER DAY Mykola Zasieiev / Francia-Ucraina 2025 / 17 min.
AI AI AI Jörn Linnenbröker-Neda Rahmanian / Germania 2025 / 13 min.
INTO THE DARK George Negrila / Romania 2025 / 27 min.
AM WASSER Claudius von Stolzmann / Austria-Germania 2025 / 20 min.
THE SHIFT Xenia Beloglazova / Federazione Russa 2025 / 14 min.


Wednesday 10 June – from 10pm to 12am

IRREVOCABLE SENTENCE Theodoros Tziatzios / Grecia 2025 / 18 min.
THIRTY SEVEN DOLLARS Ashish Sharma / Singapore 2025 / 10 min.
A LIE Tong Wang / Cina 2026 18 min.
CLÍODHNA Aaron Ryan / Irlanda-Germania 2025 / 10 min.
PIT Egor Koreshkov / Federazione Russa 2025 / 24 min.
LINDA, LINDA! Kiyan Agadjani / Lussemburgo 2025 / 18 min.
VOICELESS Thomas Schubert / UK 2025 / 20 min.
DIRTY CLOTHES María Barragán / Spagna 2025 / 3 min.

Thursday 11 June – from 10pm to 12am

SCHMIQUARDS Charlotte Cayeux / Francia 2025 / 9 min.
YOGA GIRL Kaitlyn Furey / Stati Uniti 2025 / 9 min.
THE PIANIST Jan Wang / Stati Uniti 2026 / 14 min.
NEMESIS Zin Ataş / Turchia 2025 / 28 min.
MILKY GIRL Olga Dobromyslova / Federazione Russa 2025 / 15 min.
THE RIDE Slava Denisov / Stati Uniti 2025 / 15 min.
ONE WAY TICKET TO TBILISI Paul Ploberger / Austria-Georgia 2025 / 30 min.


Friday 12 June – from 10pm to 12am (Iran Focus)

WARDEN Sabah Mohammadi / Iran 2025 / 15 min.
THE THIRD DREAM Mohammadhossein Nikzad / Iran 2025 / 19 min.
HAEMO_PHILIA Kiarash Salehi / Iran 2025 / 20 min.
HEADACHE Paria Shojaeian / Iran 2025 / 15 min.
TOO FAR, TOO LATE Reza Daghagh / Iran 2025 / 15 min.
PREHISTORIC Armin Etemadi / Iran 2025 / 20 min.
FULL FAT Amir Honarmand / Iran 2025 / 20 min.

DOCUMENTARIES

Saturday 13 June – from 10pm to 12am

BEYOND THE PYRAMIDS Kenzy Tarek Samir / Egitto 2025 / 16 min.
NUR SULTAN Xoan Escudero / Spagna 2025 / 14 min.
SOLO LINA Filippo Da Ross Italia 2025 / 17 min.
SUNDAY Giulio Tonincelli / Italia 2025 / 15 min.
AFTER THE WATER Davide Marchesi / Italia 2025 / 23 min.
SWEET SWEAT Michele Formica / Italia 2025 / 20 min.
PRIMA DELL’AURORA Chiara Zoja / Italia 2025 / 15 min.


Sunday 14 June – from 10pm to 12am

SPARTITI MANCANTI Eleonora Valentino / Italia 2025 / 20 min.
MARE INFINITU Alexandra BREZNAY / Francia 2025 / 26 min.
THE LAST PUESTERO Belle Casares / Stati Uniti 2025 / 28 min.
BEIRUT ADDIO Jean-Claude Chincheré / Italia 2025 / 20 min.
HODOUD Hamdi Khalil Elhusseini, Samar Taher Lulu / 13 min.

ANTHROPOCENE

Monday 15 June – from 10pm to 12am

UN’AMICIZIA OLTRE IL CONFINE Antonio Collesei / Italia 2026 / 2 min.
COME L’ACQUA DEL FIUME BRENTA Francesco Leitner / 2025 / 30 min.
OKAPI Andrea Rinaldi / Congo/Italia 2025 / 15 min.
TRANSCRISIS: AWARENESS SPARKS AS SPIDER SILK Jansword Zhu / Cina 2025 / 3 min.
IL CUSTODE DELLA NATURA Leonardo Medesani / Italia 2025 / 14 min.
ARS ANIMALIS FOR TROUBLED TIMES Anne Ciecko / Stati Uniti 2025 / 4 min.
AL WADIAA Hedy Krissane / Tunisia 2025 / 11 min.
THE PASSION OF ARGHAVAN Pouria Bagheri / Iran 2025 / 19 min.
ICE ICE BYE BYE Sebastien Abdelhamid Godelu / Francia 2026 / 10 min.

ANIMATION

Tuesday 16 June – from 10pm to 12am

THE ROPE Saba Javar / Iran 2025 / 17 min.
CHAWK / Hazhir As’adi / Iran 2025 / 13 min.
AT NIGHT Pooya Afzali / Iran 2025 / 5 min.
FILKOOL Maral Forouzesh, Naser Rezaeiyan / Iran 2025 / 7 min.
MAMIMIMUMEMO Tamaki Ngoc Tran / Finlandia 2025 / 7 min.
LOST & FOUND Yu-Chiao Lin / Taiwan 2025 / 6 min.
THE SNOWY NIGHT Chiao-Yun Cheng / Taiwan 2025 / 12 min.
STORY OF A SAD BOY Carlos Blázquez Rámila / Spagna 2025 / 5 min.
PAPER FLOWERS Carlo De Togni / / Italia 2025 / 2 min.
DOBRINA Hannes Rall / Germania 2025 / 5 min.
KAPŌ MA’I LELE Laura Margulies-Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu / Stati Uniti 2025 / 12 min.
RUKELI Alessandro Rak / Italia-Svezia 2025 / 6 min.
SPLASHBACK Sören Meinke / Germania 2025 / 3 min.
MOUNTAIN OF SILENCE Sami Ali Kaka / Iraq 2025 / 3 min.
LA VIE AVEC UN IDIOT Theodore Ushev/ France 2025 / 18 min.
MON NOM È LILITH LEOLUNA Robert-Tourneur / France 2025 / 14 min.

QUEER/LGBTQIA+

Wednesday 17 June – from 10pm to 12am

SANTE Valeria Gaudieri / Italia 2025 / 20 min.
DANI & BILLY Egoitz Carpenter / Spagna 2025 / 13 min.
FIRST TIME IN DRAG Pietro Macaione / Italia 2025 / 15 min.
WETBOY Yentl Vlachos / Olanda 2025 / 10 min.
GLITTER Farideh Shafiei / Iran 2025 / 13 min.
THE DRUG OF BEING LOVED Àlex Arroyo / Spagna 2025 / 16 min.
UNIFORMED (FARDADO) Dan Biurrum / Brazile 2025 / 25 min.
WHY WE PRIDE Natalie Scarsbrook / U.K 2025 / 8 min.

SCIENCE FICTION

Thursday 18 June – from 10pm to 12am

TANTI AUGURI Samuel di Marzo / Italia 2025 / 15 min.
THE BLESSED ONE César Manzano / Venezuela 2025 / 20 min.
CANDIDO Giorgio Clementelli / Italia 2025 / 14 min.
THE 8 GATES Miguel R. Berride / Spagna 2025 / 20 min.
PHONONAUTA Stefano De Felici / Italia 2025 / 13 min.
SMALL TALK Zana Selimi, Justus Briese / Svizzera 2025 / 17 min.
THE AWAKENING OF THE LAND Massimiliano L. Delfino / Italia 2025 / 16 min.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Friday 19 June – from 10pm to 12am

FUNNY THINGS Francesco D’Isa / Italia 2025 / 2 min.
SILENT ECHOES Carlo De Togni / Italia 2025 / 20 min.
RAILBOUND Jonathan Perry / Stati Uniti 2025 / 2 min.
A DREAM MY SISTER HAD Fabio Thieme / Germania / 7 min.
HORIZON Analog Mirage / Francia 2025 / 4 min.
THE SEA Davide Vichi / Italia 2025 / 10 min.
NINE AWAKEN Bun Kwai-Amos Why / Hong Kong 2025 / 17 min.
MATRIX OF CYCLES Yossi Galanti / Israel 2026 / 6 min.
ECHOED IN WATER Yossi Galanti / Israel 2025 / 2 min.
MARKED FOR SNUFF Pavel Karusev / Kazakhstan 2026 / 15 min.
ALL SHE WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOU Jeremy Ouisse / Francia 2025 / 4 min.
I DON’T TRUST ARTISTS Salvatore Frisina / Italia 2025 / 8 min.
MAKE A WISH Hakan Kemixiz / Turchia 2026 / 5 min.

Guidelines 2026

Submission

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

Pay for your entry fee:

  • 1 July 2025 // Opening Date
  • 31 October 2025 // Early bird deadline
  • 31 January 2026 // Regular deadline
  • 31 March 2026 // Late deadline

The entry fee is waived for single entries if the applicant resides in one of the List Developed Countries. For prices, see on FilmFreeway

Terms

Films must have been completed after 1st January 2025.
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 2026. 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 2026.

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:

  • Best “Feature Film”
  • Best Short Film “Italian Perspectives”
  • Best Short Film “International Horizons”
  • Best Short Film “Queer / LGBTQIA+”
  • Best Short Film “Film Schools”
  • Best Short Film “Animation”
  • Best Short Film “Science Fiction”
  • Best Short Film “Documentaries”
  • Best Short Film “Anthropocene”
  • Best Short Film “Artificial Intelligence”

Audience Award:

  • Best Short Film “Venetian Perspectives”
  • Best Short Film “Virtual Reality”

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, 7Gold, Radio Cooperativa, Sehstern Kommunication – Berlin.