About
The RiverRun International Film Festival is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to the role of cinema as a conduit of powerful ideas and diverse viewpoints. Our mission is to foster a greater appreciation of cinema and a deeper understanding of the many people, cultures and perspectives of our world through regular interaction with great films and filmmakers.
Held annually each spring, RiverRun screens a wide variety of feature-length and short films from all genres, and also presents a broad range of special events, including high-profile regional premieres of significant films, celebrity tributes, family matinees and classic retrospectives as well as a mixture of panel discussions and parties. In 2010, the Festival presented 122 films from 34 countries, bringing more than 50 filmmakers and other industry professionals to Winston-Salem from around the world. Filmmakers and guests traveled from Germany, New Zealand, Mexico, Canada and across North America to share their films, passions and stories with our audiences.
Comparable in size and scope to the well-regarded film festivals in Nashville, Atlanta and Boston, RiverRun is a general audience festival that draws attendees from throughout the South and offers an eclectic program from film studios, independent distributors and first-time filmmakers. As the Festival has obtained national and international recognition, RiverRun has attracted substantial press and increased levels of attendance. RiverRun issued more than 13,500 tickets in 2010, marking an increase of 10% in admission.
One of RiverRun's greatest assets is the collection of industry guests we bring to Winston-Salem each year, to attend the Festival's events and share their passion with the filmgoers attending screenings. RiverRun has two awards that are given each year to honor filmmakers. The 2010 Master of Cinema Award went to Peter Bogdonavich who directed Paper Moon and The Last Picture Show, among many other films. The 2010 Emerging Master of Cinema Award that went to David Gordon Green, a young filmmaker who is making his mark in the film industry with films such as George Washington and Pineapple Express.
RiverRun also prides itself on bringing together a high-caliber pool of jurors to evaluate the films in competition. Their attendance and participation in the annual Festival has helped make it what it is today. In 2010 alone, for instance, RiverRun hosted 25 people on its juries, including actress Andie MacDowell; Trevor Groth — the head of programming for Sundance; filmmaker Craig Zobel; Hollywood Reporter critic Duane Byrge; and representatives from the Cleveland and Sarasota film festivals. Many of these industry guests and filmmakers mingled with RiverRun attendees by way of Q+A sessions and/or RiverRun events and informal gatherings.
In addition to our regular programming RiverRun presents free public screenings to students and participating schools during the run of the annual Festival. This Education Outreach initiative is part of our most active component of RiverRun’s year-round activities and is called “Films with Class.” Through these efforts, RiverRun helps thousands of students from Forsyth county understand the diversity of the human experience and become better global citizens.
