This year, the Savannah College of Art and Design’s 26th annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival, the largest university-run film festival in the country, is bringing the heat with several gala and signature screenings of the biggest films from Black Hollywood.
During the film festival, which will start Oct. 21 and last through Oct. 28 in Savannah, GA, some of the most buzzed-about films will be screened to audiences, including Raven Jackson‘s All Roads Taste of Salt, Ava DuVernay’s Origin, Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, George C. Wolfe’s Rustin, Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe’s BS High, D. Smith‘s Kokomo City, Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and a first look at Blitz Bazawule’s adaptation of The Color Purple.
Many more screenings are set for the week-long festival, as well as panels with directors, shorts exhibitions and more. Visit the film festival’s website for full details, but keep scrolling below for the full listing of screenings.
Gala Screenings:
● All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Director Raven Jackson)
● All of Us Strangers (Director Andrew Haigh)
● American Fiction (Writer and Director Cord Jefferson)
● The Bikeriders (Director Jeff Nichols)
● The Boy and the Heron (Director Hayao Miyazaki)
● Eileen (Director William Oldroyd)
● Day of the Fight (Director Jack Huston)
● Dream Scenario (Director Kristoffer Borgli)
● Finestkind (Director Brian Helgeland)
● Foe (Director Garth Davis)
● The Holdovers (Director Alexander Payne)
● La Chimera (Director Alice Rohrwacher)
● A Little Prayer (Director Angus MacLachalan)
● May December (Director Todd Haynes)
● Maestro (Director Bradley Cooper)
● Memory (Director Michel Franco)
● NYAD (Directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin)
● Origin (Director Ava DuVernay)
● Perfect Days (Director Wim Wenders)
● The Persian Version (Director Maryam Keshavarz)
● Priscilla (Director Sofia Coppola)
● Poor Things (Director Yorgos Lanthimos)
● Robot Dreams (Director Pablo Berger)
● Rustin (Director George C. Wolfe)
● Saltburn (Director Emerald Fennell)
● The Taste of Things (Director Tran Anh Hung)
● The Teachers’ Lounge (Director Ilker Çatak)
● The Zone of Interest (Director Jonathan Glazer)
Signature Screenings:
● Barbie (Director Greta Gerwig)
● BS High (Directors Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe)
● Expats (Director Lulu Wang)
● Isle of Hope (Director Damian Romay)
● First Look: The Color Purple (Director Blitz Bazawule)
● La La Land (Director Damien Chazelle)
● Oppenheimer (Director Christopher Nolan)
● Past Lives (Director Celine Song)
● Shadow Men: Inside Russia’s Secret War Company (Director Candace Rondeaux)
● War Pony (Directors Gina Gammell and Riley Keough)
First Look: Warner Bros. Pictures and Domain Entertainment’s The Color Purple
An inside look at director Blitz Bazawule’s bold new take on the beloved classic The Color Purple, which was filmed in Savannah and throughout coastal Georgia. The film, from all-star producers Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones, features an award-winning cast that includes Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey, H.E.R., Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Fantasia Barrino in her major motion picture debut. The screenplay is by acclaimed playwright Marcus Gardley, who won a WGA Award for Maid. His script is based on the novel by Alice Walker and based on the musical stage play, book (of the musical stage play) by Marsha Norman, music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray.
SAVFF LGBTQIA+ Short Film Competition Presented by Amazon MGM Studios
● All I Know (Director Obinna Robert Onyeri)
● Breakup Text (Director Elizabeth Baudouin)
● Fanatic (Director Taran Killam)
● I Thought the Earth Remembered Me (Director Prem Santana)
● Relighting Candles: The Tim Sullivan Story (Directors Zeberiah Newman and Michiel Thomas)
● 100% USDA Certified Organic Homemade Tofu (Director Gbenga Komolafe)
Docs to Watch
● American Symphony (Director Matthew Heineman)
● Beyond Utopia (Director Madeleine Gavin)
● Kokomo City (Director D. Smith)
● Silver Dollar Road (Director Raoul Peck)
● Stamped from the Beginning (Director Roger Ross Williams)
● Still (Director Davis Guggenheim)
● The Eternal Memory (Director Maite Alberdi)
● The Deepest Breath (Director Laura McGann)
● The Mission (Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss)
● 20 Days in Mariupol (Director Mstyslav Chernov)
Sketch to Screen: Top Animated Contenders:
● Elemental (Director Peter Sohn)
● Nimona (Directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane)
● Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Justin K. Thompson, and Kemp Powers)
● Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Director Jeff Rowe)
● Trolls Band Together (Director Walt Dohrn)
After Dark:
● The Phantom of the Opera (Director Rupert Julian) with live organ accompaniment
● Shorts Spotlight: Horrors in Plain Sight, featuring a selection of horror-themed short films
Competition Films – Narrative Features
● At the Gates (Director Augustus Meleo Bernstein)
● Breakwater (Director James Rowe)
● Hard Miles (Director R.J. Daniel Hanna)
● Intermedium (Director Erik Bloomquist)
● Smoking Tigers (Director So Young Shelly Yo)
Competition Films – Documentary Features
● Art for Everybody (Director Miranda Yousef)
● Bad Press (Directors Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler)
● Nathan-ism (Director Elan Golod)
● The Only Doctor (Director Matthew Hashiguchi)
● Story & Pictures By (Director Joanna Rudnick)
Competition Films – Professional Shorts
● Ambassadors of Hope (Directors Cassidy Friedman and Amber Allen-Peirson)
● Don’t Touch My Hair (Director Matthew Law)
● I Bet You’re Wondering How I Got Here (Director Ryan Polly)
● If Dreams were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis (Director Ramin Bahrani)
● Lucas Needs an Agent (Director Lucas Grabeel)
● The ABCs of Book Banning (Directors Nazenet Habtezghi and Trish Adlesic)
● The Anne Frank Gift Shop (Director Mickey Rapkin)
● The Old Young Crow (Director Liam LoPinto)
● Panda (Director Sasha Briggs)
● Young Hot Bloods (Director Jade Ang-Jackman)
Competition Films – Documentary Shorts:
● God’s Love Split (Director Paloma Holub)
● Good Boy (Director Russell Chadwick)
● Mayan Softball Revolution (Director Michael Zimbalist)
● Seeds of Change (Director Maximilian Armstrong)
● Strong Grandma (Directors Cecilia Brown and Winslow Crane-Murdoch)
● The Volunteer (Director David Brodie)
● The Reconnaissance Painter (Director Matthew Corolis)
● Trenton: To The Moon & Back (Director Josh Leong)
● Unexpected (Director Zeberiah Newman)
Competition Films – Animated Shorts:
● A Grain of Sand in the Universe (Director Suki)
● Astoria (Director Franck Dion)
● Feather (Director Sadegh Javadi)
● Four Chambers to the Heart (Directors Kostas Ioannidis and Johan Grimonprez)
● Holy Men (Director David Lovric)
● Menagerie (Director Jack Gray)
● Slow Light (Directors Katarzyna Kijek and Przemysław Adamski)
Competition Films – Student Shorts:
● A Snake Called Perseus (Director Yara Elfouly)
● Afterimage (Directors Robyn MacIntosh and Serin Chun)
● Blood Drive (Director Gurinder Jeet Singh)
● Blue Hour (Director J.D. Shields)
● Close Your Eyes (Directors Manon Bérardengo, Audrey Defonte, Léo Depoix, Denis Koessler, Clémentine Laurent, Pierre Guislain, and Chloé Boursier)
● Expressions (Director Mackenzie Rosario)
● Flipping Off (Director Kylie Fishman)
● Freeze Frame (Director Katie Smith)
● Galibot (Directors Thomas Vandenbussche, Elise Petit, Ambre Grangereau, Emily Cousin, WanJing Yang, and Laure Vernier)
● Goro Goro (Directors Ryotaro Sawada and Agatha Tiara Christa)
● Hellscape (Directors Alixe Devaux, Camille Leroux, Félicia Poggi, Clémence Lacoume, Lara Brière, and Valentine Wilke)
● I Am More Dangerous Dead (Director Majiye Uchibeke)
● Just Jacob. (Director Halle Lynn Losordo)
● Midnight Hotel (Directors Vincent Albert, Malo Doucet, Neïl Dieu, May Taraud, and Marie Toury)
● On the Ground (Directors Lucie Dupeyrat, Nathan Ygouf, Marine Sauvageot, Chirag Paul, Claire Savoye, and Jade Astoux)
● Pink Flamingos Everywhere (Director Jordan Vescio)
● Primogeniture (Director Savanna Nicole Menzel)
● Raising Hell (Director Michelle Bult)
● Reunion Dinner (Director Zheng Ren)
● Samara Op.4 (Directors Maxime Wattrelos, Jérémy Trochet, Louis Cocquet, Marie Heribel, and François Mainguet)
● Sunless (Director Boris Vesselinov)
● Tempo (Director Raphaël Chiapparin)
● The Fuse (Director Kevin Haefelin)
● Those Who Guide Us (Director Mitchell Hemmer)
● When We Sleep (Director Alanna Johnson)
● Radio Silence (Director Colleen Busch)
● The Last Dungeon (Director Alexandra Young)
● The Sun is Bad (Director Rachel Mow)
● We All Fall (Director Robert Walls IV)
Global Shorts Forum
● Beyond Identity: A nuanced selection of short films exploring the heights and depths of personal and collective identity.
● Rocking the Cradle of Civilization: A modern collection of short films highlighting the unique challenges people of Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian origin face.
Shorts Spotlight
● A Kaleidoscope of Connections: A curious collection of sweet, quirky, and sometimes heartbreaking shorts encompassing the highs and lows of interpersonal relationships.
● Family Fun: A delightful collection of short films and animation for film lovers of all ages.
● Horrors in Plain Sight: Part of the festival’s After Dark series, revel in this collection of darker shorts begging the question: What exactly are you afraid of?
