Awards Season Went Down to Georgia: Previewing the 2026 SCAD Savannah Film Festival

Today, I’m headed down to Savannah to continue festival season. While once upon a time, the devil famously went down to Georgia, now I am too. The occasion? The beginning of the 29th SCAD Savannah Film Festival. This point in festival season is where the regional fests kick into high gear, and while there’s not really movies making world premieres anymore, this truly is when Oscar hopeful flicks can make some hay with audiences, and in turn, voters.

SCAD Savannah Film Festival is, quite simply, the largest university-run film festival in the world. That creates a unique environment where students get to see the awards contenders, specifically art and film students, which is a far different crowd than we see at Telluride or TIFF, for example. On their end, it’s a special opportunity to see these works and interact with the people who made them. On my end, it’s a way to observe how these contenders do in a more relaxed sort of situation. Plus, if we’re being honest, as it gets colder in New York, who wouldn’t want to head South for a few days?

Here is how SCAD itself describes the festival:

Set against the fall backdrop of the South’s most beautiful city, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival welcomes more than 70,000 guests for an eight-day celebration of cinematic excellence and creativity. Each October, SCAD transforms historic Savannah into a film lover’s paradise, presenting competition film screenings, gala premieres, special screenings, workshops, and panels with lauded industry guests, award-winning professionals, and emerging student filmmakers.

Films and series

The SCAD Savannah Film Festival has become a distinguished stop on the road to the Academy Awards, hosting exclusive screenings, competition films, feature films, documentaries, shorts, animated films, panel discussions, and workshops at SCAD’s historic theaters and industry-leading studio spaces.

Guests

Previous festival honorees have included actors Kevin Costner, Colman Domingo, Amy Adams, and Jenna Ortega; directors Richard Linklater, Ava DuVernay, and Sir Steve McQueen; producer Jerry Bruckheimer; animators Chris Sanders, Glen Keane, and Henry Selick; composer Alan Silvestri; cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema; and costume designer Sandy Powell. Each festival welcomes a new cast of A-list honorees.

Competitions

Each year, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival shines the spotlight on the best in independent filmmaking, from compelling feature-length films to innovative live-action and animated shorts. More than 100 films are selected annually for their excellence in filmmaking, offering an unparalleled experience for students, film enthusiasts, and professionals.

SCAD Savannah

The SCAD Savannah Film Festival is hosted by SCAD at university venues across Savannah’s National Historic Landmark district, the largest of its kind in the U.S. The university’s flagship location, SCAD Savannah is home to more than 17,500 students pursuing degrees in more than 40 majors. Across its locations in Savannah and Atlanta, SCAD has more than 1 million square feet of space dedicated to the study of entertainment, film, and television production. Festivalgoers experience several of these spaces each year.

What’s screening at SCAD Savannah this year? Well, there’s host of potential future Academy Award nominated titles in the mix. A small sampling of them is as follows:

All of a Sudden

Bedford Park

Behemoth!

Being Heumann

Bunker

Club Kid

Coward

The Debut

Dernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern

Elsinore

Fatherland

Fjord

Hoppers

I Play Rocky

Ink

The Invite

Iron Boy

Josephine

La bola negra

The Liberation

Minotaur

The Mosquito Bowl

Mouse

The Odyssey

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

Paper Tiger

Possible Love

Project Hail Mary

Ray Gunn

Rose

A Talent for Murder

Tangles

Tender Loving Care

Wild Horse Nine

Wildwood

You Can See Everything

What am I going to be down down there, you might ask? Well, I’ll file some reviews of titles playing SCAD Savannah, interview some talent from said films, and I’ll also be moderating a few post movie screen Q&A events. So, if you’re attending the festival and see me, don’t be shy about saying hello! Trust me, I’m very approachable!

It should be a wonderful week down in Georgia. I won’t be there for the whole fest, but I’ll be there for plenty, so look out for various items coming from my time in SCAD. Most days for the rest of the month will feature content from the festival, so be excited…

Stay tuned for my reports from the 2026 SCAD Savannah Film Festival!