Riverside International Film Festival

Event dates: April 9th - 12th, 2026

Annually since 2002, RIFF has brought the best in contemporary international and independent film to the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the fastest growing area in America. In our 24th year, RIFF seeks diverse and challenging films that explore social upheaval, human conflict, and the boldness of the human spirit. We also enjoy the best of comedy, mystery, science fiction, and horror. We particularly appreciate subtitled films, student films, and animation. A very high percentage of filmmakers and actors attend to present their films and to participate in workshops and forums.

Awards to the Audience Favorite in the categories of Feature Film, Documentary, Short Film, Student Film, and Animation.

Jury Awards in Feature Film, Documentary, Short Film, Student Film, and Animation.

Awards for films, from any category, selected for the Founder's Award and the President's Award.

All entries must be submitted online. If your film is selected, we will require an online press kit. We welcome postcards for festival display. RIFF does not provide housing or transportation costs to filmmakers attending the festival.

Overall Rating

Quality

Value

Communication

Hospitality

Networking

Sam Tung

Small festival but the staff was friendly and the venue was interesting. It would have been nice to have some Q&A time between the films. Still glad I was able to share KNIGHTS & RELATIONSHIPS and was happy to have attended in person.

April 2026

Helpful
hunter christy

Everyone at the RIFF was incredibly kind and helpful. I was very grateful to have my short "909" included in the 2026 Festival

April 2026

Helpful

Response from festival:

Thank you so much, Hunter! It was a privilege to work with you and screen your film.
AADI ANANTA

I was very excited that my film was selected for the festival and was sincerely looking forward to attending in person. However, I did not receive any response to my emails, and unfortunately, I was unable to attend. This lack of communication even made me question whether the selection was genuine. Therefore, I believe it would be inappropriate for me to provide a review or rating for an experience I did not have. I kindly request that please understand the voice of ART. I am quite disappointed by this experience, though I still hope to attend the festival in the future.

April 2026

Helpful

Response from festival:

Hi Aadi, we are very sorry to hear about your negative experience and lack of communication from our team. Unfortunately, we had some technical issues that contributed to this and hindered smoother communication with our filmmakers, and we sympathize with your frustration. We've taken your complaints seriously. We have addressed the initial technical communication issue, and we are working toward a solution to improve communication going forward. We hope you'll attend in the future, and we'll be able to rectify your previous negative experience. Best of luck to you and your film!
Brandon Rice

We had some communication snafus early on, but eventually had an amazing time to RIFF! The films were all excellent and you could tell the programmers really took time to curate some amazing films! We hope to be back in the future!

April 2026

Helpful

Response from festival:

We enjoyed having you, Brandon, and it was a pleasure to screen your film! We hope to have you back for future festivals!
David Wittkower

I was looking forward to attending this festival but had several issues. Mostly there was no communication. I had emailed several times without a response. Their website has posts and photos from last year festival and no updates. Maybe for the weekend films may have faired better. Perhaps I missed something.

April 2026

Helpful

Response from festival:

Hi David, we'd like to apologize for the lack of communication on our end. We ran into a few technical and logistical issues this year, which prevented us from providing the better quality experience we've had in years past. We're sorry to hear that your time was disappointing, and we hope to rectify your experience in the future.