2026 SCAD Savannah Film Festival Reveals This Year’s Honorees

Here is the press release with the announcement:

The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) proudly announces 11 additional honorees for the 29th annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival, taking place Oct. 24–31. The nation’s largest university-led film festival and one of the largest of any kind in the Southeast, SCAD celebrates this dynamic lineup of acclaimed filmmakers, actors, and producers whose work has shaped the year in cinema. The festival is an extension of SCAD’s top-ranked School of Film and Acting, where students in acting, film and television, production design, sound design, and the new vocal performance program learn from and work alongside leading professionals across the entertainment industry.

Newly announced festival honorees in 2026 include:

• Keanu Reeves will receive the Legend of Cinema Award at a screening of The Matrix. He will also participate in a panel about the creation of BRZRKR with co-writer Matt Kindt, and illustrator Ron Garney as they explore the acclaimed comic book series’ epic mythology, characters, distinctive visual style, and the collaborative creative process behind bringing its world to life.
• Gemma Chan will receive the Lumiere Award at a screening of Josephine.
• John Cho will receive the Luminary Award at a screening of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.
• Carrie Coon will receive the Luminary Award at a screening of The Liberation.
• Rosalind Eleazar will receive the Breakthrough Award at a screening of Misty Green.
• Jordan Firstman will receive the Rising Star Director Award at a screening of Club Kid.
• James Gray will receive the Auteur Award at a screening of Paper Tiger.
• Anthony Ippolito will receive the Breakthrough Award at a screening of I Play Rocky.
• Kane Parsons will receive the Next Gen Award at a screening of Backrooms.
• Billie Piper will receive the Marquee Award at a screening of Elsinore.
• Seth Rogen will receive the Spotlight Award at a screening of The Invite.
• The Mosquito Bowl will receive the Ensemble Award presented to cast members Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgärd, Ray Nicholson, and Tom Francis.

They join previously announced honorees Paul Bettany (Virtuoso Award), Meghann Fahy (Spotlight in Television Award), Ethan Hawke and Sterlin Harjo (Outstanding Collaboration in Television Award), Guitarricadelafuente (Discovery Award), Helen Mirren (Legend of Entertainment Award), Julianne Moore (Icon Award), Emmy Rossum (Outstanding Achievement in Television Award), and production designer Patrice Vermette (Variety Creative Impact in Production Design Award). This year’s honorees step directly into what makes the SCAD Savannah Film Festival unlike any other, headlining awards presentations and moderated conversations by night while sharing their insights and career experiences at master classes with SCAD School of Film and Acting students by day. Long a hallmark of the festival, it is an only-at-SCAD experience: where today’s leading actors, directors, and storytellers share their craft and career experience directly with a new generation who will soon join them in the film and television industry.

“Every honoree represents a different path into this industry, and we are so excited to welcome these artists to Savannah for their range, expertise, and stories, which are defining this year in film,” said Christina Routhier, senior executive director of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. “Our students don’t just watch these artists on screen — they study them. This October, they will sit across from them in an intimate master class, ask the questions they’ve always wanted to ask, and hear firsthand about the choices, challenges, and experiences that shaped their careers. This kind of access is at the heart of what makes this festival, and a SCAD education, so distinct.”