Hosted by Clayton Davis of Variety, Sketch to Screen highlights the top animated films of the year. Showcasing a broad array of artistic avenues and animation styles, these films tell compelling stories as they contend for Oscar acclaim. Films include 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), and Trolls Band Together (Director Walt Dohrn).
The SCAD Savannah Film Festival’s home for late-night fun and genre fare, featuring classic horror and soon-to-be cult classics selected to thrill, scare, and entertain with The Phantom of the Opera (Director Rupert Julian) with live organ accompaniment and a Shorts Spotlight: Horrors in Plain Sight, featuring a selection of horror-themed short films.
The SCAD Savannah Film Festival for conversations and panels with industry stars and insiders includes the Behind the Lens series, which celebrates cinematic powerhouses who defy the odds and obstacles to bring us some of the most influential and poignant films and television series in recent years. Panels include Behind the Lens: Directors, with panelists Riley Keough (War Pony), Gina Gammell (War Pony), Ondi Timoner (The New Americans: A Gaming Revolution), Lulu Wang (Expats), and Kelly Fremon Craig (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret); Behind the Lens: Producers, with panelists Janine Nabers (writer, executive producer, and showrunner, Swarm), Carla Hacken (producer, Hell or High Water), Deborah Snyder (producer, Suicide Squad), Karen Rosenfelt (producer, Twilight), Elizabeth Raposo (producer, Creed III), and Robbie Brenner (producer, Barbie); Behind the Lens: Below the Line, with panelists Lauren Shapiro (costume designer, The Late Late Show with James Corden), Hilda Rasula (editor, American Fiction), Nathalie Kingston (cinematographer, Black Bird) and Sandra Adair (editor, Boyhood).
In addition, there is The Artisans series, highlighting the contributions of below-the-line talent to the art of cinema, with a focus on costume design and production design; a SCAD Alumni Voices Panel highlights graduates of the university’s top-ranked film and television degree programs; the exclusive Entertainment Weekly’s Breaking Big Panel and Awards, hosted by festival media partner Entertainment Weekly; and Variety’s 10 Artisans to Watch, hosted by festival media partner Variety. Participants will be announced at a later date.
For competition films, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival celebrates the work of established and emerging filmmakers, from feature-length films to two-minute shorts. The juried competition showcases the best of professional, animated, and student films selected from more than 2,100 entries annually. Jurors include Seth Fradkoff (Executive Vice President, MGM), Migizi Pensoneau (Writer and Producer), Jeanie Pyun (Deputy Editorial Director, The Hollywood Reporter), and Rishi Rajani (CEO, Hillman Grad).
Narrative feature films selected represent diversity in storytelling, excellence in acting and directing, and exemplary cinematography and editing, include At the Gates (Director Augustus Meleo Bernstein), Breakwater (Director James Rowe), Hard Miles (Director R.J. Daniel Hanna), Intermedium (Director Erik Bloomquist), and Smoking Tigers (Director So Young Shelly Yo).
Documentary features present compelling stories that illuminate and educate audiences in a thought-provoking and timely manner, which include 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), and Story & Pictures By (Director Joanna Rudnick).
