RiverRun 2025: Celebrating the magic of movies

Movie mania is set to grip Winston-Salem and the Piedmont Triad when the 27th annual RiverRun International Film Festival opens April 11. Boasting some 174 films (features and shorts) from 34 counties, the festival runs through April 19 at venues in Winston-Salem and Greensboro. Advance tickets are now on sale at https://riverrunfilm.com/tickets-now-on-sale/, and to access this year’s schedule, visit https://riverrunfilm.com/2025-calendar/.

“I am always astounded by the fact that RiverRun has become a cultural institution in Winston-Salem, and around and beyond North Carolina,” said former UNCSA School of Filmmaking dean and faculty member Dale Pollock, who successfully engineered the eastward move of RiverRun to Winston-Salem from Asheville and Brevard in 2002, and is both an emeritus member of the festival’s board of directors and one of the festival’s figureheads. “The reason it’s endured is that the community supports it, which is why we get money from the city and the county, and all the major corporations.”

With the retirement of Rob Davis in December, program director Mary Dossinger and development director Tiffany Jones have assumed the duties of interim co-executive directors. Given their combined experience with RiverRun, they were already well acquainted with what makes RiverRun run (no pun intended). Dossinger and Jones chose to answer some questions individually and others together. “We’re in agreement with all the answers,” Jones said.

“While it was a busy and difficult time of year for us to assume the executive-director duties, we did so with very little disruption to the overall flow of RiverRun,” they said. “The board (of directors) has decided to take their time to create a plan of an executive search after the festival concludes. We will be staying in our roles until at least the end of May but possibly longer until a new executive director is chosen for the organization.

“The hardest element was just making sure we took care of all the organizational elements of running the organization along with our full-time positions as well. It meant a lot of late nights, but it was something we were fully aware of when we said yes to the job. We have worked very hard to overcome a budget shortfall from last year and our second-highest number of submissions to be able to put on a great 2025 festival.”

“I’m so pleased by how smoothly the transition has gone from Rob Davis exiting and Mary and Tiffany sharing the duties,” said Pollock. “It has played to each of their strengths, and to the public has seemed seamless. I’m always excited to see what Mary and her programming team have come up with for RiverRun.”

Advance tickets went on sale immediately after the festival’s launch parties in Winston-Salem and Greensboro. “So far the ticket sales are going well,” Jones said. “We already had a sell-out in the first five days, which I think is a record. We have such a great slate of films this year so hopefully that will keep up and will make sure audiences know to get their tickets as early as possible.”

The 2025 RiverRun lineup includes a significant number of films with ties to the Tarheel State, although as befits the festival’s international status it features a wide variety of films with a wide — and sometimes wild — range of topics, each carefully curated to appeal to audiences of all ages and cultural interests.

“While I don’t do an exact count each year of the North Carolina films, it does certainly feel like we have a larger number of North Carolina connections this year,” Dossinger said. “From a film shot right here in Winston-Salem to a local actress coming home to screen her new starring role, and even a film shot in Scotland but by a Winston-Salem native, the North Carolina ties abound and have found their way into almost every section of our festival this year — once again highlighting the breadth of talent coming out of North Carolina.”

Rebecca Clark, the executive director of the Piedmont Triad Film Commission (PTFC), concurs. “It certainly feels like there are more North Carolina films in this year’s festival than ever before — and that doesn’t surprise me! Our state is rich with compelling stories and is home to an incredibly talented community of filmmakers, skilled crewmembers, and passionate graduates from our state’s film schools. It’s exciting to see their work recognized and celebrated on such a grand scale!”

As Clark sees it, the festival and the film commission have a long-standing symbiotic connection. “Building a thriving film community takes several key ingredients — a skilled crew base, diverse and stunning locations, out-of-town productions bringing in fresh investment, and local filmmakers committed to creating right here in North Carolina. The proverbial cherry on top? A world-class festival like RiverRun, showcasing award-winning films and bringing the industry’s spotlight to our region. Long story short: We have it all!”

Of all the films with North Carolina ties being presented this year, few are more anticipated than A Little Prayer, the latest film by writer/producer/director Angus MacLachlan, an intimate domestic drama starring David Strathairn as a father who attempts to intercede when he discovers his son (Will Pullen) is cheating on his wife (Jane Levy), whom Strathairn and wife Celia Weston have come to love as their own daughter. The film will be screened at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 18, at UNCSA — Gold Theatre, with Strathairn scheduled to attend. 

“I am so pleased that the film will finally be shown here,” MacLachlan said. “There are many people who were involved in the production of it who have never gotten a chance to see it, and that it’s going to be in the 300-seat Main Theater at UNCSA is wonderful.”

A Little Prayer marks the third feature MacLachlan has written and directed, following Goodbye to All That (2014) and Abundant Acreage Available (2017), all of which were likewise filmed in Winston-Salem, and his first collaboration with the versatile Strathairn, an Oscar nominee for Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) and an Emmy winner for Temple Grandin (2010).

“When we cast David, it was a dream come true,” MacLachlan said, “and he is exactly as one would imagine him to be: A man of real integrity, down to earth, and he describes it, a ‘journeyman actor.’”

On the other hand, Weston — a graduate of Salem College and the UNCSA School of Drama (and the recipient of a RiverRun Master of Cinema award in 2017) — has appeared in all three of MacLachlan’s directorial efforts, as well as the MacLachlan-scripted Junebug (2005). “Way back when Phil Morrison, who directed Junebug, and I were discussing casting that film, the first person we thought of was Celia Weston,” MacLachlan said. “And when she said yes, we were thrilled. She has this unique quality of emotional veracity, and also always understands the humor in my scripts.

“The process of making independent films, in my experience, only gets harder and harder,” he said, but “I’m very pleased with the way A Little Prayer turned out. We were fortunate to have a number of students and alumni from the UNCSA School of Filmmaking work on the film, and one of the most touching things I observed was watching our seasoned camera operator become a teacher to these young women who were his assistants.”

“I’m incredibly grateful to have a filmmaker as talented as Angus MacLachlan living and working in Winston-Salem,” said Clark. “His dedication to telling authentic stories set in our region is something I, along with our local crew and film community, deeply appreciate. I also love celebrating his work, and A Little Prayer is no exception. It’s a beautifully touching love story with outstanding performances by Jane Levy and David Strathairn. The film also features fantastic performances by Anna Camp and Celia Weston, both of whom have ties to Winston-Salem. I was fortunate to see its premiere at Sundance — seated beside Celia Weston! — but I’m even more excited that our local community and festivalgoers now have the chance to experience this incredible film first-hand.”

The talented trio of this year’s award recipients have direct ties either to RiverRun and/or Winston-Salem.

“All three of our honorees this year are well respected within the industry and have all been highlighted on panels and talks at film festivals around the country,” Dossinger and Jones noted. “Rosemary Rotondi [Master of Cinema] has attended RiverRun in the past and we have been following her career for years, so we are thrilled to finally honor her. While Eric Johnson [Emerging Master] has yet to attend RiverRun, he is from Winston-Salem and his colleagues and his company, Trailblazer Studios, have been highlighted at the festival in the past. Lastly, Monica Berra [Spark Award] attended the Wake Forest Documentary Film Program and while there had films played at RiverRun, was a juror, and attended in many ways over the years. We are thrilled to bring her back and now honor her work.”

“One thing I love about RiverRun is their prestige and reputation brings many, many filmmakers to our great town,” said Zack Fox, general manager of Marketplace Cinemas (2095 Peters Creek Parkway, Winston-Salem), which is again partnering with the festival as one of its principal screening venues. “RiverRun doesn’t just bring out local residents, it brings in new outside faces yearly.”

As an award-winning independent filmmaker, to say nothing of a die-hard film fan, “I am thrilled with the increase of North Carolina filmmakers’ films being showcased in this year’s festival,” he said. “North Carolina film continues to take leaps forward and this year’s festival will help highlight that. From Angus MacLachlan’s new film A Little Prayer to the North Carolina shorts program highlighting wonderful short films, many made right here in the Triad.”

In addition, “I am very honored that Mary and Tiffany asked me to host the ‘Film Opportunities in North Carolina’ panel (7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15), a conversation with Susi Hamilton, president of the North Carolina Film Partnership; Rebecca Clark; and Eric Johnson of Trailblazer Studios. With the launch of our successful ‘Filmed in Winston-Salem’ screening series here, this is a great addition to our cinema.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the 2020 festival, RiverRun began utilizing the option of a virtual component, where audiences could watch the films safely at home. It didn’t offset the loss of revenue from in-person screenings and events but did expand the festival’s geographic range, with people from around the country purchasing tickets for RiverRun offerings. In recent years, distributors — and, indeed, film festivals — were understandably eager to return to in-person screenings, where audiences could collectively share the movie going experience. 

Nevertheless, “we do again have a virtual component to the festival as a way for people to see some of the films they might miss at the festival,” Dossinger and Jones said. “The virtual component will run April 21-27 after the festival. We have about 30 features and almost all the short films available to watch virtually. Some might be geo-blocked to screen only in North Carolina, but most are available to screen across the country.”

“Over the years, I’ve fielded calls from people looking to purchase RiverRun tickets, which always makes me laugh,” Clark said. “It just goes to show how closely connected the festival and the film commission are in people’s minds — and also UNCSA’s School of Filmmaking. While we all play different roles, we’re all working toward the same goal: Making this region a hub for great cinema and business. It’s a fantastic partnership … even if I have to redirect a few ticket inquiries along the way!

“The RiverRun International Film Festival has definitely brought more attention to our region and increased interest in filming here,” Clark said. “Over the years, I’ve hosted several visiting filmmakers on scouts of the area, and I always want to leave them with a lasting impression — not just of RiverRun as a filmmaker-friendly festival, but of the Piedmont Triad as a prime location for their next production.”

As always, Dossinger and Jones express their appreciation for the festival’s tireless staff and hard-working volunteers, as well as its sponsors both old and new. “Securing sponsorships always has challenges,” they said, “(but) we were able to increase our sponsorships this year in addition to the core group of sponsors and donor base that continue to generously support us. Our audience numbers and ticket sales are strong post-pandemic, which we are grateful for. We continue to introduce new people to RiverRun each year, which supports our sustainability. We definitely feel the love and support from Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and all of the Piedmont Triad!”

For more information, call 336-724-1502 or visit the official website: https://riverrunfilm.com/.