The 19th River Film Festival is an international short film festival that will be held in Padova (Italy) from the 4th to the 21st June 2025.

The Festival is organized by the Cultural Association Researching Movies and it is suporter by the Padua City Council - Regione del Veneto and Ministero della Cultura. Padua has now entered the UNESCO World Heritage List thanks to Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel and Padua's fourteenth-century fresco cycles so it is a special Art town which attracts many tourists and creative people from all over the world!

The festival is totally free entrance.

The films selected will once again be shown on the floating screen in the middle of the 16th-century fluvial port used for trade between Padua and Venice at the city gate of Porta Portello. This enchanting setting is just one of the many features that attract people to RiFF year after year! During the 16 days of the Festival, all the directors with their crew members will be able to show their works and talk to the audience with a special Q&A after the screening.

Awards & Prizes

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

INTERNATIONAL HORIZONS (FICTION)
ITALIAN GAZES
REGIONAL GAZES
ANIMATION SHORTS
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
FILM SCHOOLS SHORTS
QUEER/LGBTQIA+ SHORTS
VIRTUAL REALITY
ANTHROPOCENE: SHORTS ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
SCIENCE-FICTION and FANTASY

Rules & Terms

How To Submit
Via FilmFreeway (a maximum of three entries per director).
Pay for your entry fee:
Early bird deadline, 31st October 2024 – Euro 20,00
Regular deadline, 31st December 2025 – Euro 25,00
Late deadline, 31st March 2025 – Euro 30,00

The entry fee is waived for single entries if the applicant resides in one of the List Developed Countries.

Terms & Conditions
Films must have been completed after 1st January 2024.
Films can be documentary, student films schools, Virtual Reality, narrative, fiction or animation.
Total running time must be from 100 sec. to 30 minutes in length, including front and back credits.
The short film can be in any language or any genre. All non-English films must have English subtitles .srt file (Not embedded in .mp4 H265 file preferable not compressed).
Entry for the Festival implies unconditional acceptance of the published regulations. Should any dispute arise, the festival organizers will have the right of final decision on all that is not specified in the Regulations. Should there be controversy, the Padova Law Courts are competent to deal with any litigation.
Selection
The Films will be selected by a panel of judges nominated by the Festival. The decision of the selection committee is final.
No work or artist will be either discriminated or favoured by their country of origin, language, age, race, education, gender, ideology, or by their economic resources. Every content, every form, every technique will be admitted with no censorship of any kind except that enshrined in current Italian Law.
Finalists will be notified on our website or by email the 1st of May 2025. The River Film Festival will do its best to announce the selected films and winners at the designated time, but will not be held liable for any unforeseen delays.
The catalogue listing the films selected will be published after the 15th of May 2025.

The owners of the winning films must deposit a ProRes H.264, .mp4 or similarly low compression/high-quality file format/codec copy of the film in the Archives of the Festival. This will only be used for study purposes. Permission will be requested from those who hold the rights to the film should it be required for any other usage.
Winning films must mention the prize awarded whenever shown.

Some of the films selected and focused on the theme of human rights, animation, climate change, sciene-fiction and fantasi will also be screened during the spin-off of the festival "River South Bank 2025".

29 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • James Oates

    Wow what an experience! Watching our short flim A Day in Life on a river in the beautiful city of Padova was unforgettable. The standard of films from around the world in our international category was incredibly high and we were proud to be selected along side them. Romina was so helpful with her communication and there was nothing like grabbing a wine and sitting on the river with her and other filmmakers. Highly recommend it!

    August 2024
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  • Milos Tasic

    I am greatly honored to have been a part of this wonderful festival. Thank you very much for everything, and I'm looking forward to next year's event!

    June 2024
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  • Phoebe Titus

    The River Film Festival is a wonderful film festival. It's a beautiful location and a thoughtful group of films and VR experiences. I am so pleased to have been part of it this year. Unfortunately I was unable to attend in person.

    June 2024
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  • Francesco D'Ascenzo

    Un piccolo gioiello nel centro di Padova. Location suggestiva, giuria composta da professionisti di caratura internazionale. Organizzatori con tanta passione e amore per il cinema.

    June 2024
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  • Charalambos Margaritis

    Excellent festival! Wish I could be there in person!

    June 2024
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