With over 130 films from 26 foreign countries, The Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF) is bringing people from all over the world to RVA.
With over 130 films from 26 foreign countries, The Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF) is bringing people from all over the world to RVA. The festival offers a range from shorts to feature length films, Q&A’s with the directors after the showing of their work and even a musical showcase.
Richmond International Film Festival Highlight Video
The Richmond International Film Festival Highlight Video Shot by Profound Productions March 3-6, 2016 Advance Tickets now on sale at www.RVAFILMFESTIVALcom
Posted by The Richmond International Film Festival on Sunday, February 7, 2016
Though you might expect that a film festival is an institution that only promotes controversial, edgy films (which of course there still will be some) something different about RIFF this year is the exposition of faith based, inspirational films.
“I usually lean towards edgier films and often it is difficult for inspirational films to get into festivals so the fact that we have three surprised me,” said Heather Waters, the founder of the festival and head of the Virginia Production Alliance.
The faith based film Hoovey, directed by Sean McNamara who is known for his 2011 feature Soul Surfer, will make its world premiere Sunday at the Byrd theatre.
But don’t shy away from the inspirational films just because you were expecting to see foreign art films; these movies were put through the same vetting process as all previous festivals via various rounds of judging on a numerical ratings system.
They belong in the line up as much as the naked French women.
Among the other pieces being showcased at RIFF are some beautifully raw documentaries such as Madina’s Dream directed by Andrew Berends and aesthetically pleasing art films like THERE ARE NO STRANGERS HERE via the creative mind of Eugen Bräunig.
To see a full list of all the released trailers for the films in RIFF you can look at that here.
Aside from films there is also a musical showcase at the Broadberry on Friday night. The exposition will feature a vast range of musical talent from the melodic Grammy award winning ANOUSHEH to the raspy vocals and hip hop sounds of Black Liquid.
To be able to attend the musical showcase you must purchase a ticket to the music video showcase. Those can be purchased here.
According to Waters, the musician showcase is a way for out-of-towners to experience what Richmond has to offer and for filmmakers to possibly find new artists to feature in upcoming films.
The entire festival itself has the ulterior motive of exposing the arts side of Richmond to the rest of the country and the world.
“Richmond is on the cusp of becoming better known as an arts city like Austin,” Waters said. “I created this festival because Richmond didn’t have a competitive international festival and as a way to promote tourism and our art.”
To see the wide arrangement of films and musicians that RIFF has to offer you can look here and purchase tickets here.
The festival kicks off tomorrow at 11 AM at the Byrd Theatre and extends through Sunday.
For all other information on the festival you can look around on their website.
