The SCAD Savannah Film Festival is returning for its 29th year, bringing eight days of screenings, star-powered conversations and emerging creative talent to Savannah from Saturday, Oct. 24 through Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026.
Organized by the Savannah College of Art and Design, the festival has grown into one of the largest university-led film festivals in the Southeast, welcoming more than 74,000 attendees each year. It has also become an important stop on the road to the Academy Awards, where future contenders share the spotlight with the next generation of filmmakers.
The 2026 festival will feature competition titles, narrative features, documentaries, shorts and animated films, along with exclusive screenings, panel discussions and workshops. Events will take place across SCAD’s historic theaters and industry-leading studio spaces.
What makes the festival especially meaningful is the access it creates for SCAD students. Visiting filmmakers, actors, animators and other industry professionals connect directly with students from the university’s School of Film and Acting and School of Animation and Motion Media. Through master classes, coffee talks, portfolio reviews and other special engagements, established creatives share their knowledge with aspiring storytellers preparing to make their own mark on the industry.
Several signature programs will return this year. Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter will host the “Docs to Watch” series, spotlighting 10 of the year’s most notable documentaries. Variety will return with “Artisans to Watch,” hosted by Jazz Tangcay, and “Pixels and Pencils,” hosted by Clayton Davis. Entertainment Weekly will celebrate Hollywood’s rising stars with its “Breaking Big” panel, while Deadline will bring back “TV Sidebar,” highlighting some of television’s most exciting new series.
The festival’s awards-season influence was on full display in 2025. SCAD screened 26 films that later received Oscar nominations, including eight Best Picture contenders. Seventeen festival honorees and panelists earned nominations, with eight ultimately taking home Academy Awards.
Among the Oscar-nominated guests who attended were Best Actress nominee Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Best Supporting Actress nominee Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for Sentimental Value, Best Casting winner Cassandra Kulukundis for One Battle After Another and Best Cinematography winner Autumn Durald Arkapaw for Sinners. KPop Demon Hunters directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans also attended before their film won Best Animated Feature.
SCAD alumni made an equally impressive showing, with more than 200 graduates contributing to 21 Oscar-nominated films. Their work appeared across seven of the 10 Best Picture nominees, three Best Animated Feature contenders and every film nominated for Best Visual Effects.
The 2025 guest list also included Will Arnett, Craig Brewer, Miles Caton, Park Chan-wook, Jon M. Chu, Zoey Deutch, Joel Edgerton, Dakota Fanning, Brendan Fraser, Regina Hall, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Rian Johnson, Spike Lee, Dylan O’Brien, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Benny Safdie, Amanda Seyfried, Kristen Stewart, Sydney Sweeney, Miles Teller and Tessa Thompson.
Festival passes for the 2026 SCAD Savannah Film Festival are available now. Individual event tickets go on sale Oct. 2 at filmfest.scad.edu and in person at the SCAD Box Office, located at 216 E. Broughton St. in Savannah.
