Shanna Carrick, executive director of Film Pittsburgh, has big goals for the 2026 Three Rivers Film Festival.
The 2026 Three Rivers Film Festival Screens Shorts and Movies From Pittsburgh and Around the World
“We just want to keep growing from here — because we are Pittsburgh’s largest international film festival since 1982, but we don’t have the brand awareness of a festival that’s been running since 1982,” she says. “I keep [calling the festival] ‘the Cannes of Appalachia.’”
This year’s festival, running from November 4-15, showcases 28 feature films and more than 120 short films presented in person and online. The lineup includes world premieres and the 6th annual Filmmaker Conference, which provides filmmakers with educational resources to lower the barrier of entry to movie making and to provide networking opportunities for their next hit.
“You cannot make a film alone,” Carrick says. “A lot of people probably don’t realize how many people it takes to make a film. We want to be a resource for [the independent film industry] locally and nationally.”
It takes multiple theaters to make the Three Rivers Film Festival happen, too. Films will screen at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Harris Theater, The Lindsay Theater in Sewickley, and Row House Hollywood in Dormont.
What’s Happening at This Year’s Festival?
On opening night, November 4, Three Rivers Film Festival will present the world premiere of Louder Than the Odds: The Mr. Smalls Story, a local documentary on the survival and cultural impact of the family-owned independent music venue founded by Rusted Root’s Liz Berlin and pro skater Mike Speranzo in 2002. The screening will be held at the Mr. Smalls Theatre and will be followed by an after-party at neighboring venue The Sanctuary.
Other local and locally-minded films include Gentle by Birth, local documentarian Doree Simon Hatfield’s investigation into addiction stigma and her own family connection to opioid overdose that features local nonprofit Prevention Point, and The Gymnast, a sports drama by New York director Charlotte Glynn set in 90s-era Pittsburgh.
“We are so excited that three of our feature films, two documentaries and one narrative, are made by local crew and cast,” Carrick says.
Films that have been picked up for distribution ahead of award season include the highly anticipated Sylvester Stallone biopic I Play Rocky (Amazon MGM Studios), directed by Peter Farrelly and starring Anthony Ippolito, which opens the festival; Clarissa (Neon), a modern-day reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s 1925 modernist masterpiece Mrs. Dalloway, set in Nigeria; and historical drama Killing Castro (Lionsgate), directed by music video director Eif Rivera in his feature film debut and featuring Al Pacino.
“As an international film festival, we are really proud every time we can present a local Pittsburgh filmmaker alongside an international major filmmaker,” Carrick says.
Don’t Miss the Shorts Circut
The second half of the festival will feature short films, including the return of the Chiller Theater program (Editor’s note: Chiller Theater is hosted by Sean Collier, arts and culture editor at TABLE Magazine whose movie reviews you can read weekly).
Named in honor of Pittsburgh television and radio icon Chilly Billy Cardille, the spooky showcase features new independent horror shorts at the Hollywood Theater. As a fan of horror comedy, it’s a block of programming Carrick looks forward to every year.
“I’m always really excited for our annual Chiller Theater shorts block of short horror,” Carrick says. “We’ve been programming very feminist horror, I will say.”
In partnership with WQED, the festival will also spotlight short documentaries made by Pittsburgh filmmakers, called Shorts N’At, at The Lindsay Theater in Sewickley, hosted by WQED’s Ryan Rust.
“The filmmakers will be there for a Q&A hosted by WQED because they are very supportive of locally-made documentar[ies],” according to Carrick.
In addition to film screenings, the festival will have a free immersive film exhibit in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University’s SONA Festival on Friday, November 13 and Saturday, November 14.
SONA explores how virtual reality, augmented reality, 360 video and interactive media expand the ways stories are told and experienced. Carrick, formerly the operations director at local creative technology agency Deeplocal, was interested in exploring immersive film further; she connected with Stephan Caspar, who runs SONA, to form a partnership to “keep familiarizing people with immersive storytelling.”
“I went to the festival that is doing it the best already,” she says.
New Accessibility Features for the Three Rivers Film Festival
Starting this year, all features in the Three Rivers Film Festival will be presented with open captions, breaking industry norms to normalize disability representation and lead accessibility in the arts.
“We know that a lot of people, when they’re watching streaming at home, they have open captions on, too,” Carrick says. “We want to be pioneers in … immersive storytelling and access [and] making everything accessible.”
The Three Rivers Film Festival also provides opportunities for filmmakers through its annual Script Competition and Filmmaker Conference, which sets the festival apart from other film festivals of similar sizes, according to Carrick.
In a time of industry shake-ups and breakout successes out of other film festivals, including summer blockbuster Obsession, independent filmmaking has a “golden opportunity,” according to Carrick.
“That model can be replicated,” she says. “There are enough indie films to buy. I want to see our festival turn into a marketplace and a tourist destination, serving both the filmmakers and … the cinephiles who want to go on an adventure.”
In-person and virtual passes and single tickets are on sale at Film Pittsburgh’s website.
For more happenings, check out our Pittsburgh events calendar. Or, find things to do in Pittsburgh year-round.
About the Author
Amanda Reed has written for Popular Science, Pittsburgh Magazine, Pittsburgh City Paper, Very Local Pittsburgh, GearPatrol and TheStreet. Amanda earned the 2021 Ray Sprigle Best of Show Award from the Western Pennsylvania Press Club for a story on stressed-out college counseling centers. She lives in Bloomfield with JunkJunk, a handsome, sad-looking tuxedo cat who wants only wet food and attention.
Photos Courtesy of Film Pittsburgh
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