River Film Festival (20)

Inizio del Festival: 03 giugno 2026      Festival si chiude: 20 giugno 2026

The 20th River Film Festival is an international film festival that will take place in Padua, Italy, from 3 to 20 June 2026.

The Festival is organized by the Cultural Association Researching Movies and is supported by the Padua City Council, the Veneto Region, and the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Padua has recently been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List thanks to Giotto’s Scrovegni Chapel and the city’s 14th-century fresco cycles, making it a truly special art city that attracts tourists and creative minds from all over the world.

All screenings are free and open to the public — no ticket required.

The selected films will once again be screened on a floating screen placed in the middle of the 16th-century fluvial port at Porta Portello, the historic city gate once used for trade between Padua and Venice. This magical setting is just one of the many reasons why audiences return to RiFF year after year.

Over the course of the 18-day festival, directors and their crews will have the opportunity to present their films and engage in post-screening Q&A sessions with the audience.

Jury Laurels, certificates and GOLDEN RIVER (a Murano glass sculpture made by Venetian artists) will be given to the best film in the following categories:

MAIN COMPETITION
INTERNATIONAL HORIZONS (FICTION)
ITALIAN GAZES
ANIMATION SHORTS
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
FILM SCHOOLS SHORTS
QUEER/LGBTQIA+ SHORTS
ANTHROPOCENE: SHORTS ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
SCIENCE-FICTION and FANTASY SHORTS
AI SHORTS
LONG FEATURE FILM

How to Submit

A maximum of three entries per director).

Pay the entry fee:

FEATURE FILM

Early bird deadline: 31 October 2025 – €30.00
Regular deadline: 31 December 2025 – €45.00
Late deadline: 31 March 2026 – €60.00

SHORT FILMS

Early bird deadline: 31 October 2025 – €25.00
Regular deadline: 31 January 2026 – €35.00
Late deadline: 31 March 2026 – €45.00

The entry fee is waived for a single submission if the applicant resides in one of the Least Developed Countries.

Terms & Conditions

Films must have been completed after 1 January 2025.
Eligible formats include feature films and short films (documentary, student films, films from film schools, Virtual Reality, narrative, fiction, or animation).

The total running time for short films must be between 100 seconds and 30 minutes, including opening and closing credits.

Short films can be in any language and genre. All non-English films must include English subtitles in a separate .srt file (not embedded in the video file; .mov or .mp4 using H.265 codec is preferred, uncompressed if possible).

Submission to the Festival implies unconditional acceptance of the published regulations. In case of dispute, the festival organizers reserve the right of final decision on all matters not explicitly addressed in the regulations. Legal jurisdiction belongs to the Law Courts of Padova.

Selection

Films will be selected by a panel of judges appointed by the Festival. The decision of the selection committee is final.

No work or artist will be discriminated against or favored based on country of origin, language, age, race, education, gender, ideology, or economic status. All forms, contents, and techniques are welcome, with no censorship other than what is mandated by current Italian law.

Finalists will be notified via our website or by email by 15 May 2026. The River Film Festival will make every effort to announce the selected films and winners on time, but cannot be held responsible for any unforeseen delays.

The catalogue listing the selected films will be published after 15 May 2026.


Awarded Films

The rights holders of winning films must deposit a copy in .mov, .mp4, or a similar high-quality, low-compression format for archival purposes. This copy will be used exclusively for study and research. Any other use will require explicit permission from the rights holders.

Whenever shown, winning films must include a mention of the award received at the River Film Festival.

River South Bank 2026

Some of the selected films—particularly those focused on human rights, animation, climate change, science fiction, and fantasy—may also be screened during the 2026 edition of the River Film Festival’s spin-off event, *River South Bank*.