SCAD Film Festival Brings Student and Elite Filmmakers Together
SCAD Savannah Film Festival returns Oct. 25-Nov. 1 with a lineup of exciting premieres, screenings, honorees and guests who will congregate at the largest university-run film festival in the world.
The festival, which is organized by and hosted at the Savannah College of Art and Design, showcases a combination of student and professional work. The fest brings together SCAD’s emergent artists and Hollywood’s most elite filmmakers through screenings, panels and discussions during the week.
“Our team’s goal when programming the SCAD Savannah Film Festival is to curate a lineup that brings the most compelling, innovative and culturally resonant films to our screens — not only to celebrate the art of cinema but to inspire the next generation of storytellers studying at SCAD,” says festival director Christina Routhier.
The festival opens with a screening of “Eternity,” A24’s romantic comedy starring Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Teller will receive the Distinguished Performance Award that same night, joined by his co-star, Oscar-winner Randolph.
“’Song Sung Blue’ serves as the festival’s Centerpiece Gala. Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson topline Focus Features’ comedy-drama about the Neil Diamond cover duo Thunder & Lightening. Director Craig Brewer will receive the festival’s Spotlight Director Award.
Finally, the festival closes with a screening of “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” the third installment of Rian Johnson’s whodunnit murder mystery series starring an ensemble cast led by Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, begins a limited theatrical run on Nov. 26 and releases globally on Netflix Dec. 12. Johnson will receive SCAD’s Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award at the screening.
Other honorees at SCAD this year include Jon Chu, recipient of the Vanguard Director Award, while Hannah Beachler will receive the Variety Creative Impact in Production Design Award. Actors, including Will Arnett, Rose Byrne, Miles Caton, Zoey Deutch, Joel Edgerton, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Dylan O’Brien, Tessa Thompson, Brendan Fraser, Amanda Seyfried and Jennifer Lopez, will each be honored with a specific prize tied to their films that will screened at the festival.
This year’s festival will also showcase expansions and additions at SCAD Film Studios in Savannah, Ga., the school’s film production campus. The studio’s 11 acres already feature over 40 facades and dressed interior spaces, a 17,000-square-foot production and costume space and an LED volume screen for virtual production. During the festival, SCAD will introduce new backlot facades as well as plans for two new soundstages and 11 new classrooms set to open in 2026.
Other events at this year’s festival include the animation roundtable Pixels and Pencils, a panel of cinematographers called Behind Their Lens, an Artisans series featuring casting directors, production designers and composers, the SCAD Alumni Voices Panel highlighting accomplished graduates of the school and Variety’s 10 Artisans to Watch panel.
Paula Wallace founded SCAD Savannah Film Festival in 1997 and continues to serve as the organization’s president. In anticipation of this year’s festival, she says, “Every October, SCAD transforms Savannah into a masterclass in moviemaking, with our 2025 SCAD Savannah Film Festival lineup featuring Jennifer Lopez, Mark Hamill (the original Skywalker!), ‘Wicked’s’ Jon M. Chu, and so many more who help SCAD Bees make the leap from classroom to call sheet. Come for the Oscar-bound premieres and stay for the splendor of the South’s most cinematic city.”
