Silver anniversary playbook: RiverRun on the rebound

First things first: The 26th annual RiverRun International Film Festival is scheduled for April 18-27, 2024.

As for this year’s 25th-anniversary festival, which took place April 13-24 and boasted 174 films from 34 di erent countries, RiverRun was not only a celebration of independent cinema but irrefutable evidence of the festival’s durability. Since the 2020 festival had to be canceled due to the COVID pandemic, many film festivals have toiled tirelessly to return to earlier attendance levels, including RiverRun. The silver-anniversary festival was certainly a step in the right direction, according to RiverRun executive director Rob Davis.

“Our attendance was 11,562 this year, which is 22% higher than last year, so we are very pleased with this year’s festival. Last year’s festival was a small step back toward our pre-pandemic level and this year was a larger step. Last year, our attendance was 52% of what it was in 2019 and this year it was 64% of 2019.”

The 2021 RiverRun International Festival marked the inauguration of online screenings, in which audiences could purchase tickets and watch the films in the comfort of their own homes. Despite initial concerns over potential mishaps — which did not transpire, by the way — the virtual component has proven most successful.

“We have heard from people who appreciate this option due to their personal schedules and sometimes due to mobility issues,” Davis said. “Virtual tickets accounted for 8.5% of all tickets sold this year — up from 6% in 2022. Additionally, this year several filmmakers noted it was a convenient way to invite their distant relatives and crewmembers to see the

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finished film. We had virtual ticket buyers from 34 states plus the District of Columbia this year: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington.”

Su ce it to say that the virtual component will continue at RiverRun, given its convenience.

Davis attributed the festival’s success not only to its audiences, visiting filmmakers, sponsors, and volunteers, but also the ingenuity and tenacity of its sta , many of whom have worked at RiverRun for years. The festival has a reputation for being both audience-friendly and filmmakerfriendly, and it is well deserved.

“We are a close-knit team which works very well together and we all have a great sense of humor, which helps,” he said. “We are all very enthusiastic about what we do, and I think our audiences and visiting filmmakers sense that. While it is great to have new talent, whether in the form of volunteers or sta , it is also great to have the experience factor which helps the festival run in seamless fashion.”

The festival saw “fantastic turnouts to many screenings,” said Zack Fox, general manager of Marketplace Cinemas, one of RiverRun’s preeminent screening venues.

This year’s Master of Cinema recipients, actress Karen Allen and Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Schulman were on hand for their Marketplace screenings

— Allen for the retrospective screening of Starman (1984) on April 16th and Schulman for his new film Double Down South (which he wrote on directed), also on April 16th.

“For Starman, we had 100 people — really true fans. Karen Allen decided to stay and watch the film with them, and I believe she said it was her first time seeing it in over 35 years. She did a lengthy Q&A, teased that she and Je Bridges have an idea for a sequel, plus she signed autographs and took pictures afterward. She was super! We loved the RiverRun experience,” Schulman said. “The festival sta was well organized and welcoming, and the movies we saw there — features, documentaries, and shorts — were exceptional and memorable. Our interactions with the audiences for our movie were open, friendly, and encouraging.”

“We’ve had excellent feedback from both audiences and filmmakers regarding this year’s festival,” Davis confirmed. “Our audiences, as usual, especially enjoyed the opportunity to interact with filmmakers and several of our filmmakers commented on the excellent audience discussions with thoughtful questions following their screenings.”

The o cial RiverRun International Film Festival is https://riverrunfilm.com/. !

See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies. © 2023, Mark Burger.