The Savannah College of Art and Design’s 29th annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival has announced its 2026 lineup and panel programming. SCAD is the nation’s largest university-led film festival and one of the largest in the Southeast, and this year’s edition will take place from October 24 to October 31.
The 2026 schedule includes Gala and Signature Screenings, Special Presentations, Professional and Student competition films, the Docs to Watch and Pixels and Pencils screening series, and the Behind Their Lens and Below the Line panel series. Over its history, the festival has screened more than 250 Academy Award-nominated films and honored nearly 225 legendary actors, directors, producers, writers, and filmmakers worldwide.
“This is one of those lineups where you look at the filmmakers and performers and realize just how much incredible work is happening across the industry right now,” said Christina Routhier, executive director of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. “We have films from some of the world’s most distinctive talents, alongside bold work from emerging voices. What I love most is that our students get to experience it all by being in the room with these artists, hearing how the work came together, asking questions and making connections that can shape their own careers. That combination of great cinema, access, and discovery is what makes SCAD and our festival such a meaningful place to experience the year in film.”
In addition to the robust screening schedule, SCAD boosts a large slate of panels with industry stars and insiders, including Behind Their Lens, presented in partnership with IndieWire, which celebrates cinematic powerhouses who defied the odds and obstacles to bring us some of the most influential and poignant films and television series in recent years. Artisans, directors, and producer panels are all still to be announced, but will include Beth de Araujo (“Josephine”), Sophy Romvari (“Blue Heron”), Ruth De Jong (“The Odyssey”), and Alison Owen (“Back to Black”).
In addition, the Below The Line panel series highlights the contributions of below-the-line talent to the art of cinema, with a focus on costume design and production design, and the SCAD Alumni Voices panel highlights graduates of the university’s film and television degree programs. Other panels include Critical Darlings — Awards Season Kick-off: LIVE! With hosts Alison Willmore (Vulture) and Richard Lawson (Premiere Party), A Look Inside Walt Disney Animation and Disney’s Hexed with Jared Bush, Variety’s 10 Artisans to Watch, and Entertainment Weekly’s Breaking Big Panel & Awards.
Read the full screening lineup below. Language comes courtesy of the festival.
Gala & Centerpiece Screenings
“A Talent for Murder”
“Behemoth!”
“Being Heumann”
“Clarissa”
“Club Kid”
“The Debut”
“Elsinore”
“I Play Rocky”
“Ink”
“Josephine”
“La Bola Negra”
“The Liberation”
“The Mosquito Bowl”
“Mouse”
“The Only Living Pickpocket in New York”
“Paper Tiger”
“Tender Loving Care”
“Wild Horse Nine”
Special Presentations
“All of a Sudden”
“Bedford Park”
“Bitter Christmas”
“Bunker”
“Coward”
“Everytime”
“Fatherland”
“Fjord”
“Gentle Monster”
“Iron Boy”
“La Gradiva”
“A Long Winter”
“Look Back”
“Minotaur”
“Possible Love”
“Rose”
Signature Screenings
“Backrooms”
“Blue Heron”
“The Invite”
“Long Day’s Journey Into Night”
“The Matrix”
“Misty Green”
“The Odyssey”
“Project Hail Mary”
“SCAD Presents: A Mosquito in the Ear”
“Sense and Sensibility”
“Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother”
After Dark Screenings
“Clayface”
“The Cycle”
“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma”
Docs To Watch
“American Doctor”
“Avedon”
“Cookie Queens”
“Everest: The Other Side”
“The Last First: Winter K2”
“My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile”
“Once Upon a Time In Harlem”
“One in a Million”
“The Trial of Alec Baldwin”
“You Can See Everything”
Pixels and Pencils: Top Animated Contenders
“Forgotten Island”
“Hoppers”
“Ray Gunn”
“Tangles”
“Wildwood”
Panels
The Behind Their Lens series, presented in partnership with IndieWire, celebrates cinematic powerhouses who defied the odds and obstacles to bring us some of the most influential and poignant films and television series in recent years.
The Below the Line series, highlighting the contributions of below-the-line talent to the art of cinema, with a focus on costume design and production design.
The SCAD Alumni Voices panel highlights graduates of the university’s top-ranked film and television degree programs. Panelists include Annie Taylor (M.A., sound design, 2019), Alchemy Post Sound, “The Bear,” “Widow’s Bay;” Benjamin Frisch (M.F.A., sequential art, 2011; B.F.A., sequential art, 2009), podcast producer and sound designer, “Making Gay History,” “Critical Darlings;” Eldar Isgandarov (B.F.A., performing arts, 2024), actor, “Club Kid,” “The Debut;” Wai Yan “Sunny” Chan (B.F.A., visual effects, 2008), facial animator, “Wildwood;” and Chloe Lipp (B.F.A., film and television, 2008), visual effects artist, “Stranger Things,” “The Mandalorian.”
The World of BRZRKR – Go inside the creation of the epic comic book series BRZRKR with creators and writers Keanu Reeves and Matt Kindt along with illustrator Ron Garney as they explore the acclaimed series’ mythology, characters, distinctive visual style, and the collaborative creative process that render its action-packed scenes in vivid color.
The Art of the Epic: Crafting The Odyssey highlights the contributions of artisans and behind the scenes talent like production designer Ruth De Jong, costume designer Ellen Mijornik, and casting director John Papsidera.
Building Arrakis and Beyond: In Conversation with Patrice Vermette peels back the curtain with Dune production designer and Variety Creative Impact in Production Design Award honoree Patrice Vermette,who will sit down with Variety’s Jazz Tangcay for a career conversation and look inside the upcoming, highly-anticipated Dune: Part Three.
A Look Inside Walt Disney Animation and Disney’s Hexed with Jared Bush – Get a special first look inside Walt Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming animated adventure Disney’s Hexed with chief creative officer, writer and Academy Award winner, Jared Bush.
Variety’s 10 Artisans to Watch, hosted by festival media partner Variety. Participants will be announced in mid-October.
Entertainment Weekly’s Breaking Big Panel & Awards. Breaking Big honorees to be announced separately.
Shudder Presents: The New Face of Horror spotlights rising filmmakers Alex Goyette (Breeder) and Jordan Downey (The Cycle), with moderator Angel Melanson (Shudder director of programming).
Critical Darlings — Awards Season Kick-off: LIVE! With hosts Alison Willmore (Vulture) and Richard Lawson (Premiere Party)
From Red Carpets to Reels: Entertainment Journalism in the Digital Age with film journalist and host Kevin McCarthy and Gersh agent Sydnie Rowland.
The Long Game: Gersh Agents on Building Careers in Entertainment welcomes a panel of agents from Gersh, one of the largest entertainment and sports agencies in the world.
Competition Films — Narrative
“The Huntress” (dir. Suzanne Andrews Correa)
“One of Us” (dir. Stefan van de Graaff)
“Summer of Three” (dir. Carlitos Ruiz-Ruiz)
“Test” (dir. Sam McConnell)
Competition Films — Documentary
“Dernise: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern” (dir. Mike Mendez)
“The Lorraine” (dir. Sam Pollard)
“The Secret Reading Club of Kabul” (dir. Shakiba Adil, Elina Hirvonen)
“Uncle Roy” (dir. Keri Pickett)
Student Shorts — Animated
“Stone Lions Don’t Roar” (dir. Le Hang Whalen)
“Cardboard Heart” (dir. Catalina Ferreira Martin)
“Au gré de l’iode” (dir. Léa Deprez, Pierre-Luis Bordes, Elliot Desmarets, Jeanne Finet)
“Sunburn” (dir. Esther Son)
“Me in a Nutshell” (dir. Joshua Higgs, Elena Krasteva)
“Our Fleeting Soul” (dir. Marin Caquez, Eva-Louise Moreau, Nour Kharraz)
“Kenopsia” (dir. Camille Redon, Sélène Le, Alice Hegymegi-Kiss, Gregoire Pezzulo, Fanny Belougne, Quentin Szczygiel, Adel Tebib)
“CHAI” (dir. Aryan Anand)
“The Memory Clocksmith” (dir. Jing Rickie Liu, Ellie Grace Colwill)
“The Moon Stole My Stripes” (dir. Sarah Buckley)
“Sundown” (dir. Jérémie Jayraj Itty, Inna Soroka, Julia Estrada Torres, Sammi Khuu)
“The Nest” (dir. Aurélien Coquery, Léa Kermanach, Soline Mauguin, Abel Tixador, Jean Baounon, Romane Selter-Fiette)
“Moticos” (dir. Paige Meakin)
Student Shorts — Live Action
“KATTI (Unfriend)” (dir. Kanishka Aggarwal)
“See Me (dir. Cormac Fingeret)
“Rio Negro” (dir. Luke Cooper Escobar)
“The View Was Everything” (dir. Blais Cameron)
“The Kalgan Horse” (dir. Zichen Zhao)
“Killer Of Men” (dir. Jordan Betine)
“Cadencia” (dir. Paulís Cofresí)
SCAD Student Documentary Series
“Cora Dale – A Rediscovered Harmony” (dir. Silas Immanuel, Isabel Massud Faria De Souza)
“Madame Marseille” (dir. Brennen Fletcher)
“With You” (dir. Rebecca Floto)
“Assemblé” (dir. Lena Faeskorn)
“From the Sound to the Sea” (dir. Olivia Jackson)
“Nanmoku” (dir. Will Franz)
“An Eternal Sound” (dir. Ryan Broussard, Andrew Meriwethe)