The next stop on the awards trail has been revealed.
The annual Savannah Film Festival from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) has released its lineup, bringing some of the buzziest titles from this year’s Oscars race to the university-run event.
More than 225 Academy Award nominees have been screened at the festival throughout its 27-year history — and several prospective awards players hope to join the ranks.
The 28th annual Savannah Film Festival’s lineup currently includes “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “It Was Just an Accident,” “Jay Kelly,” “No Other Choice,” “Sentimental Value,” “The Testament of Ann Lee” and many more Oscar hopefuls.
“Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” will also be shown at the festival amid their growing awards season buzz, despite already being released wide this year.
167 films will screen at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival in total. This is comprised of 56 narrative features, 16 documentary features and 96 short films across various sections and categories. The festival will additionally recognize a number of celebrities and host several filmmaker panels.
“Every October, SCAD transforms Savannah into a master class in moviemaking, with our 2025 SCAD Savannah Film Festival lineup featuring J.Lo, Mark Hamill (the original Skywalker!), ‘Wicked’s John M. Chu, and so many more who help SCAD Bees make the leap from classroom to call sheet,” said SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace in a statement. “Come for the Oscar-bound premieres and stay for the splendor of the South’s most cinematic city. Silver-screen dreams live here — lights, camera, SCAD!”
On top of the numerous new releases that will play at the Savannah Film Festival, screenings will also be dedicated to a handful of older films. The festival will screen “Breathless,” Jean-Luc Godard’s highly influential piece of French New Wave cinema that served as the inspiration for Richard Linklater’s new film “Nouvelle Vague.”
Additionally, Steven Spielberg’s family classic “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” will play at the SCAD event, with production designer Jim Bissell speaking on a panel with fellow craftspeople.
You can check out the full schedule for the 28th Savannah Film Festival below.
Feature Screenings
Gala Screenings
“Bugonia,” Yorgos Lanthimos
“Christy,” David Michôd
“The Chronology of Water,” Kristen Stewart
“Eternity,” David Freyne
“Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro
“Hamnet,” Chloé Zhao
“Is This Thing On?” Bradley Cooper
“Jay Kelly,” Noah Baumbach
“No Other Choice,” Park Chan-wook
“Nouvelle Vague,” Richard Linklater
“Nuremberg,” James Vanderbilt
“Rebuilding,” Max Walker-Silverman
“Rental Family,” HIKARI
“Sentimental Value,” Joachim Trier
“Song Sung Blue,” Craig Brewer
“The Testament of Ann Lee,” Mona Fastvold
“Train Dreams,” Clint Bentley
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” Rian Johnson
Special Presentations
“A Private Life,” Rebecca Zlotowski
“Belén,” Dolores Fonzi
“Breathless,” Jean-Luc Godard
“It Was Just an Accident,” Jafar Panahi
“Left-Handed Girl,” Shih-Ching Tsou
“Merrily We Roll Along,” Maria Friedman
“Peter Hujar’s Day,” Ira Sachs
“Sirât,” Oliver Laxe
“The Love That Remains,” Hlynur Palmason
“The President’s Cake,” Hasan Hadi
“The Secret Agent,” Kleber Mendonça Filho
“Urchin,” Harris Dickinson
Signature Screenings
“Blue Moon,” Richard Linklater
“Big Rock Burning,” David Goldblum
“Don Bluth: Somewhere Out There,” Dave LaMattina, Chad Walker
“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” Steven Spielberg
“Hedda,” Nia DaCosta
“Highest 2 Lowest,” Spike Lee
“Him,” Justin Tipping
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Mary Bronstein
“Kiss of the Spider Woman,” Bill Condon
“The Life of Chuck,” Mike Flanagan
“One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“Preparation for the Next Life,” Bing Liu
“SCAD Presents: André Leon Talley — Style is Forever,” Zach Stafford, Clay Haskell
“Sinners,” Ryan Coogler
“The Smashing Machine,” Benny Safdie
“Splitsville,” Michael Angelo Covino
“Twinless,” James Sweeney
Docs to Watch
“2000 Meters to Andriivka,” Mstyslav Chernov
“The Alabama Solution,” Andrew Jarecki, Charlotte Kaufman
“Apocalypse in the Tropics,” Petra Costa
“Come See Me in the Good Light,” Ryan White
“It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley,” Amy Berg
“My Mom Jayne,” Mariska Hargitay
“The Perfect Neighbor,” Geeta Gandbhir
“Riefenstahl,” Andres Veiel
“The Tale of Silyan,” Tamara Kotevska
Pixels and Pencils: Top Animated Contenders
“Arco,” Ugo Bienvenu
“Elio,” Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi
“In Your Dreams,” Alex Woo
“KPop Demon Hunters,” Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang
“Little Amélie or The Character of Rain,” Maïlys Vallade
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 — Lost in New Jersey,” Kent Seki
Panels
In Conversation
“Wicked: For Good” with Jon M. Chu
Behind Their Lens, presented in partnership with IndieWire
Behind Their Lens: Directors, with Mary Bronstein (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”), HIKARI (“Rental Family”), Leslye Headland (“The Acolyte”), Eva Victor (“Sorry, Baby”)
Behind Their Lens: Producers, with Debra Hayward (“Good Grief”), Riva Marker (“Reality”), Alison Owen (“Back to Black”)
Behind Their Lens: Artisans, with Kira Kelly (cinematographer, “Him”), Pam Martin (editor, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere”), Taylor Joy Mason (editor, “Him”), Shunika Terry (hair designer, “Sinners”)
Below the Line
Below the Line: The Power of Casting, with Kate Rhodes James (“Gladiator 2”), Bernard Telsey (“Wicked: For Good”)
Below the Line: The Art of Production Design, with Juliana Baretto (“Rebuilding”), Jim Bissell (“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”), Alexandra Schaller (“Train Dreams”)
Below the Line: Scoring for the Screen with the Alliance for Women Film Composers
Other panels
The SCAD Alumni Voices panel
Entertainment Weekly’s Breaking Big Panel and Awards
Variety’s 10 Artisans to Watch
The Art of Representation: Gersh Agents on Building Careers in Entertainment
The ABC’s of Entertainment Law
Writing Bond: Crafting the Legend of 007
Competition Films
Narrative Features
“Rains Over Babel,” Gala del Sol
“Rosemead,” Eric Lin
“She Dances,” Rick Gomez
“Charliebird,” Libby Ewing
Documentary Features
“Room to Move,” Alexander Hammer
“The Librarians,” Kim A. Snyder
“Natchez,” Suzannah Herbert
“Yanuni,” Richard Ladkani
Professional Shorts
“The Last Dance,” Hayden Mclean
“All the Empty Rooms,” Joshua Seftel
“Rise,” Jessica J. Rowlands
“The Singers,” Sam Davis
“Freeman Vines,” André Robert Lee, Tim Kirkman
“Beyond Silence,” Marnie Blok
“Synthesize Me,” Bear Damen
“OK/NOTOK,” Pardeep Sahota
Animated Shorts
“Snow Bear,” Aaron Blaise
“Saq Nikté and the Spirit of the Mask,” Ester Weiner
“Murmuration,” Janneke Swinkels, Tim Frijsinger
“Hullabaloo: The Curse of the Cheshire Cat,” James Lopez
“ReRooted,” Delphine Coudray
“Forevergreen,” Nathan Engelhardt, Jeremy Spears
“Éiru,” Giovanna Ferrari
“anyone lived in a pretty how town,” Daniel Kreizberg
“Cardboard,” Jean-Philippe Vine
“Wednesdays with Gramps,” Chris Copeland, Justin Copeland
Student Shorts
Student Animated Shorts
“How to make a friend,” Jinfei Ge, Bin He, Myrtille Huet, Julie Jarrier-Stettin, Yuqiang Zhang
“ÜMIT,” Amina Ömirjan
“The Story of Three Sisters (or How the World Came to Have Four Seasons Instead of One),” Raphaëlle Bourgon, Anchi Huang, Vega Lázaro, Son Tra Le, Priyam Parikh, Jianuo Wen, Di Wu
“Snubbed,” Jesse Braak, Kian Sherritt
“Catfish,” Aurélie Galibois, Aurélie Martin, Camille Naud, Cristina Ganusciac, Hee
Young Park, Vedushi Sinha
“The Day We Flew,” Ryan Wang
“Jour de vent (Windy Day),” Martin Chailloux, Al Kim Crespin, Elise Golfnse, Chloe Lab, Hugo Taillez, Camille Truding
“Wormwood,” Matthieu Dupille, Binlin Xie, Alexander Vanderplank, Ninon Quemener, Philémon Martin, Chenhe Liu
“Bugsick,” Venya Aggarwal
“Acrobats,” Eloïse Alluyn, Hugo Danet, Anna Despinoy, Antonin Guerci, Alexandre Marzin, Shali Reddy
“Lost Track,” Sam “Luna” McKee
“The Shyness of Trees,” Bingqing Shu, Maud Le Bras, Jiaxin Huang, Simin He, Lina Han, Loïck Du Plessis D’Argentré, Sofiia Chuikovska
“Dragfox,” Lisa Ott
“Forever,” Theo Djekon, Pierre Ferrari, Cyrine Jouini, Pauline Philippart, Anissa Ferrier
Student Narrative Shorts
“Take Two,” Colleen Ryan
“Wrestle-Off,” Sabatino Ciatti Jr.
“Breastmilk,” Ifeyinwa Arinze
“If Birds Believed in God,” Samer Saifan
“You & Me (& Chaz & Rodney),” Lilly Lion
SCAD Student Documentary Shorts
“The Path of Puma-36,” Amelie Bluestone
“Real Fake War,” Tommy Dilger
“Get Your Gravel On: Gravel Racing in the Borderlands,” Pablo Echevarría
“The Last Lobsterman,” Jason Conforti
“Drag Me To Church,” Isabella Sullivan
“Cornellskop: Freedom from Fear,” Nathan Oliva
“Terpsichore,” Abigail Cunningham
Global Shorts Forum
For the Love of Sport
“We’ll Go Down in History,” Cameron Richards, Charlie Tidmas
“Forward is a Pace,” Robin Oroso
“Icebreakers,” Marlo Poras, Jocelyn Glatzer
“It’s Our Ball,” David Morrison
“Into the Chutes,” Jenna Rice
“Hoops, Hopes & Dreams,” Glenn Kaino
Portraits of Perseverance
“The Green Buffalo,” Joel Caldwell
“Ibuka, Justice,” Justice Rutikara
“The Return,” Jeremy S. Levine
“Inside, The Valley Sings,” Nathan Fagan
“Oh Whale,” Winslow Crane-Murdoch
A Place in This World
“A Color I Named Blue,” Sybilla Patrizia
“Art with Every Breath,” Caroline Josey Karoki
“Call to Serve,” Cole Sax, Phil Hessler
“PREVIEW,” Quinlan Orear
“Largo,” Salvatore Scarpa
“Susana,” Gerardo Coello Escalante, Amandine Thomas
“No Way Back,” Tom Turner
“Shanti Rides Shotgun,” Charles Frank
“Retirement Plan,” John Kelly
Shorts Spotlight
Dearest Daughter
“Curly Joe, Two Kittens, Four Boxes & Scent of Fire,” Apo W. Bazidi, Anna Benner
“Hatchlings,” Jahmil Eady
“Miriam,” Josie Andrews
“Koko Suzanne,” Zach Bandler
“Of All The Things,” Steff Lee
“KÜĪ,” Kahu Kaiha
“Who Are You, Nanu?” Anjini Taneja Azhar
“On a Sunday at Eleven,” Alicia K. Harris
Reality Askew in Black & White
“Two People Exchanging Saliva,” Alexandre Singh, Natalie Musteata
“Collectors,” Susan C. O’Brien
“Cineál Fiáin (WildKind),” John McDaid
“Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting,” Alexander Thompson
“Without Heaven (Cennetsiz),” Merve Bozcu
“Hurikán,” Jan Saska
Sweetness in the Bitter
“Dressed to the Nines,” Madeleine Shenai, Ivana Mazza-Coates
“Old Dykes,” Ezra Rose
“Witness,” Radha Mehta, Saif Jaan
“Everywhere I Look,” November Nolan
“The Second Time Around,” Jack Howard
“One Day This Kid,” Alexander Farah
“Automagic,” Ashok Vish
After Dark — The Horror Within
“Wait, Your Car?” Reece Feldman
“The Rebirth,” Connie Shi
“Playing God,” Matteo Burani
“The Lone Piper,” Matthew Kravchuk
“Chew,” Félix Dobaire
“Luz Diabla,” Gervasio Canda, Paula Boffo, Patricio Plaza
“The Pearl Comb,” Ali Cook
Awards Honorees
Will Arnett, Luminary Award.
Hannah Beachler, Variety Creative Impact in Production Design Award
Craig Brewer, Spotlight Director Award
Rose Byrne, Luminary Award
Miles Caton, Rising Star Award
Jon M. Chu, Vanguard Director Award
Zoey Deutch, Breakthrough Performance Award
Joel Edgerton, Vanguard Award
Mark Hamill, Lifetime Achievement Award
Oscar Isaac, Icon Award
Rian Johnson, Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award
Jennifer Lopez, Virtuoso Award
Dylan O’Brien, Lumiere Award
Benny Safdie, Maverick Director Award
Miles Teller, Distinguished Performance Award
Tessa Thompson, Distinguished Performance Award
