RICHMOND, Va. -- The Richmond International Film Festival is on the second day of its week-long run.
One of the films featured is about a local crew and their adventure on the James River.
Justin Black reminisces about being on the James River with Dietrich Teschner and three of their friends. As regulars on the James, the friends decided to produce a documentary on one of their trips on the river.
Funding the trip and filming themselves, the crew set off with three boats, two canoes and a single person kayak.
“It was a 13-day expedition in our own backyard,” says Justin Black, one of the filmmakers.
The result was the film Headwaters Down. The production won the 2022 Virginia Environmental Film Contest and is now a feature film in the Richmond International Film Festival.
“The name comes from the river starting in Botetourt County, right near West Virginia and the Blue Ridge Mountains and it travels southeast all the way to Richmond and through to the Chesapeake Bay,” says Dietrich Teschner, one of the filmmakers.
During their journey, the crew was met with issues of their own while covering issues of the river, like pollution. The film is both an adventure film and a documentary about the issues that are on the James.
“I think the biggest message is that is we want people to get out and experience the river because we believe that if people get out and experience this space, it'll give them a purpose and a reason to care about it says," Justin Black.
You can see Headwaters Down Wednesday at the Byrd Theater.
There are more than 170 film premiers, 21 bands, special panels, and parties, with showings and events at the Byrd Theater and other venues around town through Sunday. For a complete schedule, click here.
