A Sparrow’s Song
Inspired by a true story, a widowed air raid warden in the midst of World War II struggles to overcome grief and rediscover joy in her life—until she finds a dying sparrow she hopes to save. Student Film – Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.
Animated Shorts 2026: Program One
RiverRun is an Academy Award-qualifying festival in the category of Animated Shorts, meaning the winner in this category may submit for Academy Awards consideration.
Animated Shorts 2026: Program Two
RiverRun is an Academy Award-qualifying festival in the category of Animated Shorts, meaning the winner in this category may submit for Academy Awards consideration. Sponsored by Zaloo’s Canoes.
Disposable Humanity
A family investigates the history and memory of the Nazi Aktion T4 program that targeted over 300,000 disabled people and catalyzed the Holocaust. Through poignant discussions with memorial directors, advocates, and relatives of T4 victims, this film uncovers the haunting truth of a history that has long been obscured.
Do You Love Me
An immersive journey through 70 years of images and sounds from Lebanon. Exploring the collective psyche of Beirut, marked by beauty, trauma, joy, and forgetting.
Films With Class Shorts Program – Elementary School 2026
Teaching through film. RiverRun recognizes the unique and critical role arts education plays in reaching students both inside and outside the classroom. Through our free education program, Films With Class, we present free screenings of carefully curated films for area students at the Festival each spring.
Gaslit
As the world teeters on the brink of irreversible climate disaster, actor and activist Jane Fonda ventures deep into oil and gas country to confront the fossil fuel industry’s deceptions with the people and communities living on the frontlines of the crisis.
Line 12
Will a pedantic train conductor and a chaotic musician be able to save the train from disaster?
My Grandmother is a Skydiver
In 1960s Tajikistan, a skydiver gets a call from her granddaughter in 2022 Ukraine, sparking an intergenerational journey through trauma, memory and identity.
Ploo
As sine waves cycle endlessly, an aging vector tech store owner confronts mortality with help from a moth.
The Undying Pain of Existence
After being bit by a mosquito, a nude model is torn between the strict order to stand still and the overwhelming urge to scratch the itch.