Skip to main content
The River film image; women in a circle around another woman with their hands framing her head

The River

The River is a poetic and beautiful short film that pays homage to culture and the experiences of girls and women as they relate to education, marriage, and the life-giving properties of water. Exploring these themes in the context of Ethiopia, this artfully crafted film draws inspiration from the director’s childhood home, Kebena.

Director
Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2024

Language

In Amharic with English subtitles

Film Contact
PG

Open to youth

18 min
Documentary Drama Shorts Women Directors

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Firehiwot Berhane

Producer

Firehiwot Berhane Germay

Screenwriter

Tigist Mezgebu Kifle

Cinematography

Tedos Teffera Tesfaye

Editor

Tedos Teffera Tesfaye, Amanuel Girma Ashenafi

Production Design

Rediet Haddis Yalew

Herrana Addisu headshot

Herrana Addisu

Herrana Addisu is a multi-disciplinary artist, film director, and social impact strategist passionate about community organizing and visual storytelling.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

The Kneeling Goddess
The Kneeling Goddess film image; young bride with a veil draped across her face

The Kneeling Goddess

Dir. Roberto Gavaldón
82 min

In which wealthy industrialist Arturo de Cordova purchases the titular nude sculpture of his lover (María Félix) as an anniversary gift for his innocent, adoring wife. Soon enough the wife is dead, though untangling just how and why is part of the fun.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
More info

Sold Out

The Blue Trail

Dir. Gabriel Mascaro
86 min

77-year-old Tereza makes a break for the Brazilian jungle in this trippy septuagenarian fantasy, the latest from Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro is a quirky picaresque, lushly photographed and filled with mordant humour.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Two Prosecutors

Dir. Sergei Loznitsa
119 min

In the midst of Stalin’s purges, a naïve prosecutor sets out to investigate a prisoner’s innocence, unaware of the labyrinthine bureaucracy awaiting him. A Kafkaesque procedural thriller about the pursuit of justice in the face of corruption.

Image: © SBS Productions

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Crepúsculo
Crepúsculo film image; man staring down at a cross head stone

Crepúsculo

Dir. Julio Bracho
108 min

A brain surgeon (Arturo de Córdova) begins to doubt his own sanity when the woman he's in love with (Gloria Marin) marries his brother — and he starts fantasizing about murder.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Stranger by the Lake

Dir. Alain Guiraudie
97 min

Stranger by the Lake unfolds like a slow-burning spell. Set around a secluded cruising beach, Alain Guiraudie's modern classic explores desire, danger, and the strange intimacy between strangers.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Victims of Sin

Dir. Emilio Fernández
84 min

This movie is a hot scramble of piety and passion, sentimentality and sleaze. Ninón Sevilla plays Violeta, a rumba sensation who oversteps when she rescues a newborn from the trash. This gets her fired and wins the enmity of the pimp who fathered the kid.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre