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.
USA
2024
In Amharic with English subtitles
Open to youth
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
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
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
Late Fame
Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler (Eyes Wide Shut) this is a sly, poignant comedy about vanity and art from director Kent Jones, starring Willem Dafoe as a mailman belatedly acclaimed for a book of poetry he wrote in his youth.
Memory of Princess Mumbi
In 2093, a filmmaker arrives in the African village of Umata, where he meets Princess Mumbi, a woman torn between love, legacy, and the future of storytelling. It's a fabulous genre-blending fable about memory, invention and cinematic resistance.
Lessons of Darkness
Werner Herzog's unforgettable documentary reveals the unfolding disaster of the Kuwaitian oil fields in flames in 1991 as a sweeping inferno of mesmerizing power.
Beau Travail
Inspired by Herman Melville's Billy Budd, Claire Denis' transfixing Beau Travail is set in East Africa. Sgt Galoup (Denis Lavant) reflects on his time in the French Foreign Legion, and the impact of the handsome Sentain (Gregoire Colin).
But I'm a Cheerleader
Megan (Natasha Lyonne) is the perfect All-American Girl, or so she thinks. That is until she’s shipped off to conversion therapy. This pitch black comedy is wrapped in a saccharine bow, featuring the icon herself, RuPaul, as a conversion counsellor.