Riviera International Film Festival Explained

Riviera International Film Festival
Number:	Official Competition: 10 Films by directors under 35 / 6 Feature Documentaries on the Environment
Location:	Sestri Levante, Liguria, Italy
Founded:	2016
Awards:	Best Movie, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Documentary, Grand Jury Prize, Career Award, Icon Award, Special Mention
Language:	International

The Riviera International Film Festival (RIFF) is an annual film festival held in Sestri Levante, Italy, which previews new films of various genres from around the world. The invitation-only festival is held annually at the end of April/beginning of May and was founded in 2016 by Los Angeles–based film producer Stefano Gallini-Durante.^[1] The festival's Official Competition is reserved for carefully selected works by directors under 35 and for feature documentaries on the Environment and Climate Change.^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5]

Jury

An international jury composed of a president and various film, culture, and art personalities, who determine the prizes for the feature films in the competition.^[6] ^[7]

Year	Jury president	Jury members	Testimonial
2019		Josephine De La Baume, Nils Hartmann, Cristina Donadio, Eddy Moretti, Yalitza Aparicio, Silvia Locatelli, Vincenzo Venuto	Stella Egitto
2018		Violante Placido, Ed Solomon, John Campisi, Paola Jacobbi, Dr. Nigel Tapper, Cote De Pablo, Gaia Trussardi	Marta Perego
2017		Marton Csokas, Gianni Quaranta, Valentina Lodovini, Marta Perego	Alessandra Mastronardi

Selection

2017

It's Only the End of the World (Dir. Xavier Dolan; Producers Xavier Dolan, Sylvain Corbell, Nancy Grant, Elisha Karmitz, Nathanael Karmitz, Michel Merkt; Cast Nathalie Baye, Marion Cotillard, Vincent Cassel, Léa Seydoux, Gaspard Ulliel)
Embrace of the Serpent(Dir. Ciro Guerra; Producer Cristina Gallego; Cast Nilbio Torres, Jan Bijvoet, Antonio Bolivar, Brionne Davis)
Autumn Lights (Dir. Angad Aulakh; Producers Guy Kent, Angad Aulakh, Ashley M. Kent, David Oskar Olafsson, Arni Filippusson; Cast Guy Kent, Marta Gastini)
Sami Blood (Dir. Amanda Kernell; Producer Lars G. Lindstrom; Cast Lene Cecilia Sparrok, Mia Sparrok, Maj Doris Rimpi, Olle Sarri)
Marija (Dir. Michael Koch; Producers Christoph Friedel, Claudia Steffen; Cast Margarita Breitkreiz, Georg Friedrich, Sahin Eryilmaz)
Baden Baden (Dir. Rachel Lang; Producers Valérie Bournonville, Pierre-Louis Cassou, Jeremy Forn, Joseph Rouschop; Cast Salome Richard, Claude Gensac, Lazare Gousseau)
I Was a Dreamer (Dir. Michele Vannucci; Producer Giovanni Pompilli; Cast Mirko Frezza, Alessandro Borghi, Vittorio Viviani)
As I Open My Eyes (Dir. Leyla Bouzid; Producers Sandra da Fonesca, Imed Marzouk; Cast Baya Medhaffer, Ghalia Benali, Montassar Ayari)
Our Last (Dir. Ludovico di Martino; Producers Alessandro Amato, Ludovico Di Martini, Gabriele Luppi; Cast Fabrizio Colica, Guglielmo Poggi, Giobbe Covatta)
Out of Love (Dir. Paloma Aguilera; Producers Arnold Heslenfeld, Laurette Schillings, Frans Van Gestel; Cast Naomi Velissariou, Daniil Vorobyev)