Films with UNCSA ties to screen at 2026 RiverRun International Film Festival

Students, alumni, faculty and staff from the schools of Design and Production (D&P), Drama, Filmmaking and Music at UNCSA have multiple connections to films, panels and special events at the 28th RiverRun International Film Festival. The festival will take place April 17–25, in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and virtually. Films will screen at a variety of local venues, including on the UNCSA campus in the ACE Theatre Complex. Virtual screenings will be available for select films.

RiverRun will also host a variety of free panels that are open to the public, as well as the 15th annual Pitch Fest, giving student filmmakers the opportunity to pitch to jurors, receive feedback and win cash prizes. Films will screen at a variety of local venues, including on the UNCSA campus in the ACE Theatre Complex. Virtual screenings will be available for select films.

“This year’s RiverRun lineup reflects the depth of creativity, collaboration and artistic momentum within our School of Filmmaking community,” said Deborah LaVine, dean of the School of Filmmaking. “It is especially meaningful to see our students, alumni and faculty contributing to such a wide range of projects while also welcoming audiences to screenings and conversations on our campus. RiverRun creates an inspiring space for emerging and established filmmakers to connect, share work and celebrate the kind of storytelling that strengthens both our local arts scene and the broader film community.”

UNCSA connections include:

Opening Night Film

• “If I Go Will They Miss Me” includes Filmmaking alumnus Zach Seivers (B.F.A. ’06) as re-recording mixer and supervising sound editor. The story centers on a 12-year-old boy who transforms his working-class neighborhood into a personal mythology while navigating his relationship with his conflicted father and finding strength in his community.

Closing Night Film

• “Late Fame” stars Drama alumnus Jake Lacy (B.F.A. ’08), who plays a literary agent in the story of a long-overlooked poet whose work is rediscovered by a younger group of artists, forcing him to reconsider his legacy.

Narrative Features

• “Pescador” was written, directed, edited and produced by Filmmaking alumnus Harry Domenico Rossi (B.F.A. ’15), with fellow Filmmaking alumni Isaac Banks (B.F.A. ’15) as producer and cinematographer, Tori Lancaster (B.F.A. ’15) as production designer, Bryce Woods (B.F.A. ’13) as editor, Alex Nomick (B.F.A. ’15) as sound designer and Jack Caswell (B.F.A. ’15) as colorist; and Drama alumnus Spencer Bang (B.F.A. ’24) in the cast. The film follows two American siblings in Costa Rica, where one searches for a mythical sea creature while the other, shipwrecked, is taken in by a fisherman as his new son.
• “Lone Rider” was co-written, directed and produced by Filmmaking alumnus Adam Jumba (B.F.A. ’19), with fellow Filmmaking alumni Christian Flowers (B.F.A. ’19) as co-writer, Sean Breitkrutz (B.F.A. ’19) as assistant editor and Raunak Kapoor (B.F.A. ’20) as colorist; and Drama alumnus Jack Alcott (B.F.A. ’19) in the cast. The film follows a lonely millennial whose late-night drives in his father’s old Mustang pull him through fleeting reunions, fractured friendships and the life he is trying to escape. The film will screen on the UNCSA campus in Babcock Theatre.
• “Summer Lost” was written, directed, edited and produced by Filmmaking alumnus Timothy Hall (B.F.A. ’11), with fellow Filmmaking alumni Purvis Jordan (B.F.A. ’09) serving as executive producer; Ryan Austin (B.F.A. ’08), Daniel Hansen (B.F.A. ’11) and Clint Buckner (B.F.A. ’09) as producers; Walker Forshee (B.F.A. ’13) as cinematographer; and Jeff Yabrow (B.F.A. ’19) as sound mixer. Emeritus Filmmaking faculty member Ron Stacker Thompson received a special thanks credit. The film follows a man who tries to hide his terminal illness while attending a wedding, only for an unexpected romance to reshape his future and his past.

Documentary Features

• “Kikuyu Land” was co-directed by former Filmmaking faculty member Andrew H. Brown, who also served as producer and cinematographer. Associate producers include current Filmmaking students Jason Leeper, Paula Riofrio Merill, Rachel Owens, Ambar Tavarez and Rain Toney. The film follows a man fighting to reclaim his family’s stolen land in Kenya’s tea highlands, drawing a local news producer into a battle over buried histories, family secrets and the lasting grip of colonial power.

Documentary Shorts

• “Momentos,” directed by Filmmaking alumna Gabi Walden (B.F.A. ’19), follows a Cuban American artist and educator from 1950s Havana to present-day Miami through interviews, photographs, calls and family events.

Narrative Shorts

• “Braid Crowns” is a student film by recent Filmmaking alumni, directed by Sanath Hegde (B.F.A. ’25) and written by Cameryn Chestnut (B.F.A. ’25), with Syd X. Porter (B.F.A. ’25) and Inayah Washington-Jackson (B.F.A. ’25) as producers; Miles Tiller (B.F.A. ’25) as cinematographer; Sierra Jallad (B.F.A. ’25) as production designer; Veronica Van Dorn (B.F.A. ’25) as editor; Guenevere Hughes (B.F.A. ’25) as sound designer; and Daniel G. Stocker (M.F.A. ’25) as composer; with D&P alumni Alastair Silas Blackwood (B.F.A. ’25) as costume designer and Khepra Hetep (B.F.A. ’25) as hair and makeup designer. The film follows two teens from rival family businesses who must find a way to do each other’s hair before prom.
• “Shallow” was written, directed and produced by Luca Huff (B.F.A. ’25), with Sophie Montgomery (B.F.A. ’25) also serving as writer and producer; Yongjoon Kim (M.F.A. ’25) as composer; and current Filmmaking students Luke Penny as casting director, Karim Fatkhutdinov as production designer and costume designer, and Robbie Cook as editor. The student film follows two teenage boys whose masculinity and pride divide them at a turning point in their lives.
• “Stationed” is a student film written and directed by Filmmaking student Martin Collo Sastoque, with fellow Filmmaking students Brady Malone as producer, Margaret Flood as cinematographer and Hanna Le as editor; D&P student Isabella Barr as production designer; and Music student Victoria King as composer. The film follows a migrant woman whose past trauma resurfaces when a young girl arrives at her home without her mother.
• “We Are, Because We Were” was produced by Filmmaking alumnus Joshua Robinson (B.F.A. ’24), with fellow alumni Ben Wanko (B.F.A. ’24) as cinematographer, Gavin Smith (B.F.A. ’24) as editor and Alexia Forsyth (B.F.A. ’24) as associate producer; and current Filmmaking student Jason Leeper as sound mixer. Additional UNCSA connections to the project include Dean LaVine; Media + Emerging Technology Lab (METL) Creative Director and Filmmaking faculty member Robert Keen; and METL Producing Director Stacy Payne. The film follows two archivists working to preserve nearly two centuries of Black history in Winston-Salem and reconnect the community with overlooked stories and will screen April 25 in Main Theatre on the UNCSA campus.
• “Haint” includes Filmmaking alumni Muhammad Moaz Mubeen (M.F.A. ’22) as production manager, Julia Lofton Walpole (B.F.A. ’21) as first assistant director, Ellie Pobis (B.F.A. ’24) as second assistant camera, and Wesley Broome (B.F.A. ’15, M.F.A. ’24) and High School Academic Programs faculty member and Filmmaking alumna Lauryn Massenburg (M.F.A. ’24) as production assistants. The film follows a Gullah Geechee handywoman who, after losing her home, must decide whether to help the newcomers when gentrifiers begin to die under mysterious circumstances.

Animated Shorts

• “33rd & Clover,” was written, animated and directed by Filmmaking student Cloey Davis, with fellow Filmmaking students Rachel Owens as producer and Xavier Marez, Grace Smith, Sarah Johnston, Taber Haynes and Rubee Carter as animators; Filmmaking alumni Erza Satici (B.F.A. ’25) as editor and Lauren Grinde (B.F.A. ’25) as animator; current staff member, Community Coordinator for Residence Halls and alumna Ashley Luckadoo (B.F.A. ’25) as sound designer; and High School Music alumnus and current undergraduate student Quinn Albinus (High School ’21) as composer. The student film follows a stray kitten cast out from his colony who sets off through unfamiliar city streets after a mysterious cat offers him visions of sanctuary.

Panels, presentations and more: 

Filmmaking faculty member Michael R. Miller, A.C.E., a veteran editor whose credits include “Raging Bull,” “Raising Arizona,” “Miller’s Crossing,” “Ghost World” and “Armageddon,” will receive RiverRun’s 2026 Master of Cinema Award. RiverRun will celebrate Miller with a screening of “Raising Arizona,” followed by a book signing and an extended Q&A with Miller and Former Filmmaking Dean and Faculty Emeritus Dale Pollock. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter as a childless couple whose lives spiral into chaos after they kidnap one of another family’s quintuplets. The film will screen April 19 in Main Theatre on the UNCSA campus.

Filmmaking faculty emerita and former assistant dean of academic affairs Renata Jackson, a film historian, will provide a special introduction to the Film Noir Friday screening of “Niagara” in Babcock Theatre on the UNCSA campus. The film stars Marilyn Monroe as a femme fatale plotting to kill her jealous husband during a trip to Niagara Falls, drawing another couple into the pair’s dangerous relationship. The film will screen April 24 in Babcock Theatre on the UNCSA campus.

UNCSA animation faculty member Nathan Connelly will participate in “Animation on Screen: A Conversation with UNCSA Animation Faculty Member Nathan Connelly and Forsyth Tech Digital Effects and Animation Technology.” The panel explores contemporary animation and digital effects, with discussion on training, emerging tools and career opportunities in the field.

D&P Director of Wig and Makeup Holland Berson will join “The Art of Makeup and Wig Design: A Conversation with Dean and Starr Jones and UNCSA Design & Production Director of Wig & Makeup Holland Berson.” The panel explores the artistry and technical skill behind makeup and wig design for film and television. The festival also will present a special display in the First Citizens Bank Filmmaker Lounge featuring masks and prosthetics from the UNCSA Makeup and Wig Department and the Jones brothers, highlighting their work on “Star Trek,” “Planet of the Apes” and other productions.

UNCSA students will participate in the 15th annual Pitch Fest student film competition. Current Filmmaking graduate students M-Alain Bertoni, Rev Rowe, Abigail Rees and Olivia Stallworth will represent the school in the narrative category, while Filmmaking undergraduate students Howard Affandi and Hollyn Gambill will compete in the documentary category.

The RiverRun International Film Festival Board of Directors includes UNCSA Chancellor Brian Cole, Filmmaking Dean Deborah LaVine, former Filmmaking Dean and Faculty Emeritus Dale Pollock and Design & Production faculty member Wade Wilson. The festival’s Advisory Board includes former Filmmaking faculty member Ramin Bahrani along with Filmmaking alumni David Gordon Green (B.F.A. ’98) and Paul Schneider (B.F.A. ’07), and Drama alumni Angus MacLachlan (H.S. Visual Arts '76, B.F.A. Drama '80) and Celia Weston.

Information in this release reflects what could be obtained by press time. If we missed a connection, please contact us and updates will be made as they are brought to our attention.

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