Nuisance Bear
A polar bear is forced to navigate a human world of tourists, wildlife officers, and hunters as its ancient migration collides with modern life. When a sacred predator is branded a nuisance, it becomes unclear who truly belongs in this shared landscape.
Once Upon a Wetland
As restrictions tighten across the country, Durham, North Carolina preps for the annual Beaver Queen Pageant: a campy, un-beaver-lievable celebration of LGBTQIA activism, environmental conservation, and outrageous critter cosplay.
One in a Million
Filmed over 10 years, one girl’s epic journey from Syria to Germany and back again. She and her family navigate war, exile, and heartbreak in a foreign land, illuminating the complexities of the refugee experience.
Papertown
While this film is listed in our program guide, as of Monday, April 13, Papertown is no longer playing at RiverRun 2026.
Power to the People, Y’all
Power to the People, Y’all is a character-driven documentary that explores aging, legacy, and resistance through interviews with five founding members of the Winston-Salem Chapter of the Black Panther Party: Hazel Mack, Dr. Larry Little, Nelson Malloy, Cynthia Norwood, and Bradford Lilley.
Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts
After a volcanic eruption, Ramón walks the island of La Palma with his microphone, looking for ghosts.
School for Defectors
In an industrial area of Busan, South Korea sits the tiny Jangdaehyun School. It has just 20 students, all of whom are North Korean defectors. School for Defectors tells a joyful story of youth, inspiration, and our shared humanity.
Si la Isla Quiere
On Chile’s Robinson Crusoe Island—home to more endemic species per square kilometer than the Galápagos—the community defends its culture of stewardship against outside pressures, with the Island as setting and protagonist.
Sound & Color
Sound & Color is a 15-minute documentary about an artist with sound-to-color synesthesia as she collaborates with the film team to animate her visual experience of sound for the first time—a nuanced process that is both technically challenging and profoundly personal.
Sound Guardians
As Jakarta sinks and sea levels rise, Indonesia is moving its capital to Borneo, on the traditional land of the indigenous Balik people. Abidin, a Balik elder, is documenting his forest’s soundscape with the help of scientists to preserve ancestral knowledge, before it’s too late.
Stray Embers
After saving his home from a historic wildfire that destroyed his town, a California man opens his doors to displaced families and neighbors, determined to stay rooted in a place that could burn again. Filmed over five years, it captures the bonds, challenges, and tensions that emerge when dozens of people and their dogs live together in the aftermath of disaster.
Swim Sistas
Narrated by Academy Award® nominee Naomie Harris as Mami Wata, Swim Sistas follows four Black British women, from an Olympic trailblazer to a 54-year-old first-time swimmer, in a lyrical celebration of joy, sisterhood, and resilience.
The Big Cheese
The Big Cheese follows a team of eccentric, determined, and scrappy American cheesemongers as they battle cultural clashes, personal struggles, and melting cheese in pursuit of respect, redemption, and a historic victory at the Olympics of cheese.
The Book of George
George McKenzie Jr. traded the hard streets and violence of New York City for a life photographing some of the most elusive animals in North America for National Geographic. His next mission? Empower kids of color to access their own dreams and to protect the natural world.