RiverRun Film Festival Highlights Inclusive Cinema in Its 28th Year
The 28th RiverRun International Film Festival is set to begin this week, bringing a diverse array of films to audiences. After sifting through nearly 2,000 entries, the selection committee has curated 178 films for the week-long celebration, featuring over twenty premieres of documentaries, dramas, comedies, and animated shorts aimed at children.
This year’s festival introduces a new segment titled “LIMITLESS: Stories Without Restraint,” which focuses on films that include characters or are created by filmmakers with disabilities. Michael Morin, the newly appointed executive director of RiverRun, highlights the need for greater representation of the disability community in the film industry.
“And I feel like we’re at a precipice now where there’s a giant influx of stories coming in from creators with disabilities that are just not being served the way they should,” he states. “And giving a platform for those voices, especially in the current climate that we’re in, is so powerful.”
Among the featured films, Under the Lights tells the story of a boy with epilepsy who dreams of attending prom despite the risk of seizures, while Back on Track captures the journey of a wheelchair basketball team in the Triad, focusing on a man’s path to rediscovering life post-paralysis. Both films will feature Q&A sessions with their respective filmmakers.
Additional programs include “Films With Class,” which aims to educate students through cinema, and “From The Archives,” which will screen classics like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and Raising Arizona. The festival will also host several panel discussions and the 15th annual Pitch Fest, where aspiring student filmmakers present their projects to industry experts for the chance to secure funding and receive valuable feedback.
The RiverRun Film Festival will take place from April 17 to 25 at multiple venues in Winston-Salem and the Carolina Theatre of Greensboro.
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