WINSTON-SALEMn The RiverRun International Film Festival, one of the country’s fastest-growing regional film festivals, will screen 31 feature films and 64 short films from 26 countries at its 10th annual festival, taking place April 23-28.
The full lineup includes a broad mix of both emerging and established filmmakers from around the world and will feature two U.S. premieres (“The Baker” and “Erik Nietzsche: The Early Years, Part I”).
In celebration of the festival’s 10th anniversary, RiverRun will also present Master of Cinema Awards to actors Pam Grier and Bill Pullman.
“Because of our focus on giving audiences a broad collection of international voices and perspectives, we’ve seen the interest in our programs grow tremendously over the past few years,” said Andrew Rodgers, executive director of RiverRun. “As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we are thrilled that audiences continue to look to us to provide exciting alternatives to the status quo found at local multiplexes. We feel that this year’s lineup, our best ever, once again raises the bar. ”
This year’s festival will kick off with the opening night screening of “Phoebe in Wonderland” on April 23 at the Stevens Center (405 W. Fourth St.). Director Daniel Barnz and Master of Cinema honoree Bill Pullman will both attend to introduce the film. Following the screening, RiverRun invites the public to the Sawtooth Building (226 N. Marshall St.) for the festival’s Tenth Anniversary Gala, a stylish event that promises to be the hottest ticket in town. Helen Hunt’s directorial debut “Then She Found Me” will screen as the centerpiece premiere on April 26, and the festival’s closing night will feature a screening of Rupert Julian’s 1925 classic silent film “The Phantom of the Opera,” accompanied by the Alloy Orchestra.
Another exciting component of the 10th anniversary festival is a lineup of public conversations with veteran actors and directors, including Master of Cinema honorees Bill Pullman (April 24), Pam Grier (April 25) and directors Les Blank (April 25) and John Dahl (April 26).
Narrative competition
In this year’s narrative competition, the heart of our annual festival, RiverRun once again showcases a prestigious collection of feature films from around the globe. The 10 films in this competition are eligible for the BB&T Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.
Documentary competitionWhile the documentary competition this year is full of American independent films, the stories traverse the globe. These films help create an indelible portrait of the world as a small place where we can all connect and learn from one another. The ten films in this competition are eligible for the BB&T Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature. Topics of the films include everything from competitive jump rope teams to the Hungarian rebellion against the Soviet Union.
Sunday sidebar
In the Sunday sidebar, RiverRun presents a diverse collection of contemporary perspectives and archive classic screenings, including the 1933 version of “Alice in Wonderland” and the newest film by Winston-Salem filmmaker Ramin Bahrrani (“Chop Shop”).
Of local interest will be “The Siamese Connection.” Directed by North Carolina filmmaker Josh Gibbson, this film is a fascinating biography of the 19th-century conjoined twins, Eng and Chang Bunker. Through passionate interviews and artful black and white dramatic scenes, audiences see how, despite their physical state, both twins lived long, productive and active lives.
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This year marks the 10th anniversary of the annual RiverRun International Film Festival. The festival is a competitive event that strives to present diverse cinematic voices and showcase strong new works by both established and emerging filmmakers. Each spring, RiverRun screens new narrative, documentary, short, student and animated films, offering both audience and jury prizes in competition categories.
The festival also presents a broad range of special events each year, including high-profile regional premieres of significant films, family matinees and classic retrospectives as well as a full complement of panel discussions and parties.
Tickets
Tickets and all-access passes are now on sale at the Stevens Center box office, or at riverrun.com.
Call 336-721-1945.