PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island International Film Festival opened at the Providence Performing Arts Center on Aug. 5 with a crowd of 1,500, launching a week of Oscar-qualifying films being screened across the state.
Executive Director of the R.I. Film & Television Office Steven Feinberg said that the timing of this year's event couldn't come at a better time as Rhode Island rides a wave of Hollywood buzz – from HBO productions like "The Gilded Age" to films being
produced and filmed in the state by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese.
"I've been to Cannes, Sundance, and RIIFF is still one of the most prestigious film festivals on the circuit," Feinberg said. "I feel like Rhode Island is becoming the film capital of the world. That would have been crazy to think of when I started this job 23 years ago."
RIIFF is extremely competitive. Out of the 5,000 to 7,000 films submitted for this year's festival, only about 300 were chosen, Feinberg said.
As an Academy Award–qualifying festival since 2002, 14 films screened at RIIFF have gone on to win Oscars with approximately 90 total nominations, according to festival organizers.
Last year alone, six films from RIIFF received Oscar nominations, said Shawn Quirk, executive director of Flickers, the Rhode Island-based nonprofit which runs RIIFF.
Starting in 1997, the festival has screened feature and short-length films each year from more than 60 countries, Quirk said.
It's also hosted major world premieres in the past, including the Farrelly brothers’ "There’s Something About Mary" in 1998.
This year's festival, which runs through Aug. 10, will feature screenings at venues from Providence to Westerly: including PPAC, Avon Cinema, The Vets Cinematheque, Providence Place Cinemas 16 and IMAX, Donald J. Farish Auditorium, RISD Museum’s Metcalf Auditorium, Washington Place Cinema, Providence Innovation District Park and The United Theatre in Westerly.
Among this year’s RIIFF standouts is "The Killing Moon," a moody psychological thriller premiering Aug. 9 and directed by Rhode Island filmmaker Daniel Bogran about a wounded stranger upending a lakeside retreat, unraveling into a seductive power struggle.
On Friday, "Tomorrow’s Too Late" will offer festivalgoers a poignant look at transgender musician Dylan Holloway as he navigates identity, reinvention and the spotlight.
Also screening Friday, "Parting the Waters" follows former Olympian Michele Kuvin Kupfer’s return to elite swimming after four decades – an emotional journey of resilience and rediscovery.
Meanwhile, this year's film festival comes amid a handful of Hollywood productions currently filming in the Ocean State.
M. Night Shyamalan is filming his new supernatural romance Remain, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, in Rhode Island. Production has been spotted in scenic towns like Bristol and Little Compton, adding to the state’s growing appeal as a Hollywood filming destination.
And HBO’s "The Gilded Age" has returned for a third season with filming once again underway amid Newport’s historic mansions, Feinberg said. In May, Verdi Productions – a Rhode Island-based company – announced a five-year partnership with Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese to produce and film multiple projects in the state, beginning with "Carthage Must Be Destroyed" this October.
Matthew McNulty is a PBN staff writer. He can be reached at McNulty@PBN.com or on X at @MattMcNultyNYC.
