The Rhode Island International Film Festival kicked off last night at the Providence Performing Arts Center. The festival takes place through August 11 at different venues across the state and features films from around the world.
Opening night included attendees from South Africa, Belgium, and Spain, with many guests visiting Rhode Island for the first time.
Speakers included Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, Programming Director for RIIFF Shawn Quirk, Executive Director of RI Film and Television Office Steven Feinberg, and Ericka Atwell-Cardona, Director of Community Outreach for the festival.
In his opening speech, Mayor Smiley said, “There are so many great venues, and for all of you who are visiting, I hope you take a walking tour to see some of our great public enjoy some of our world-class restaurants and enjoy everything that the creative capital has to offer.”
Venues for the festival include historic locations such as the Vets Cinematheque, Providence Public Library, RISD, Avon Cinema, and the United Theatre in Westerly.
Feinberg added to Mayor Smiley’s sentiment, saying, “We hope that this festival gives you guys opportunities to see our state. We have a tax incentive, and we hope that for you filmmakers, you’ll come back to Rhode Island and not only enjoy the festival but make some movies in Rhode Island.”
The RIIFF opening ceremony also featured Producer’s Circle awards. Maggie Anderson, Director of Arts and Development at Hope High School, received the first award. Anderson’s work includes creating a dashboard for more awareness around school art programs in Rhode Island, coordinating funding for a “Give Me 5” program that connects student filmmakers throughout the state, and giving Providence students the opportunity to visit movie sets like Hocus Pocus 2. She also started a film production program at Hope High School.
The second award winner was Brian Egan, an experienced Promotions Manager working for Providence’s ABC6.
Awards also went to Angela Peri and Lisa Lobel of Rhode Island Casting and Boston Casting. The duo has won multiple Artios Awards for excellence in casting, and they have been credited for discovering Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. They’ve cast films like Knives Out, Sound of Metal, and the 2025 film Ella McCay.
The opening short for the festival was the 3-minute animated Danish film “Freelance” by Luciano A. Muñoz Sessarego, Magnus I. Møller, and Peter Smith. A U.K. short film “Two Minutes” by Jamie Benyon, followed.
A comedy short from France titled “Gordie” by Jonathan Schupak opened the comedy segment and was followed by the Belgium short “Hearts of Stone” by Tom van Avermaet. “HOLD,” a short film by Brazilian-American filmmaker Josiah Junqueira Spencer, closed the comedy segment.
The sentimental 1956 short film “The Red Balloon” by Albert Lamorisse closed the festival, with musical accompaniment by renowned theatre organist Peter Krasinski.
RIIFF has a strong history, with films like the Farrelly brothers’ There’s Something About Mary premiering there in 1998. There’s Something About Mary shot a scene in the Ocean State outside of The Hot Club in Providence.
RIIFF is one of only 10 festivals worldwide that qualify films for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Short Oscars in Live Action, Animation, and Documentary.
To purchase tickets and learn more, visit Film-Festival.org. Updates on the events can be found on the Instagram page @flickers.riiff.