Later this month, a veritable parade of A-list movie stars and filmmakers — many of whom are in serious contention for Oscars — will head south to attend screenings of their work and collect special honors at the 29th edition of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, the nation’s largest university-run film festival.
The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively report that they will include Josephine supporting actress/producer Gemma Chan (Lumiere Award); Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother supporting actor John Cho (Luminary Award); The Liberation lead actress Carrie Coon (Luminary Award); Misty Green lead actress Rosalind Eleazar (Breakthrough Award); Club Kid writer/director/lead actor Jordan Firstman (Rising Star Director Award); Paper Tiger writer/director/producer James Gray (Auteur Award); I Play Rocky lead actor Anthony Ippolito (Breakthrough Award); Backrooms director Kane Parsons (Next Gen Award); Elsinore supporting actress Billie Piper (Marquee Award); and The Invite supporting actor Seth Rogen (Spotlight Award).
Additionally, the four principal stars of Peter Berg’s WWII drama The Mosquito Bowl — Tom Francis, Nicholas Galitzine, Ray Nicholson and Bill Skarsgärd — will be presented with the fest’s Ensemble Award.
And beloved screen veteran Keanu Reeves will be presented with the Legend of Cinema Award at a screening of The Matrix, and will separately participate in a panel about BRZRKR, a comic book series that he co-wrote, alongside co-writer Matt Kindt and illustrator Ron Garney.
They all join several previously announced honorees: VisionQuest lead actor Paul Bettany (Virtuoso Award); The Good Daughter lead actress Meghann Fahy (Spotlight in Television Award); La Bola Negra lead actor/songwriter Guitarricadelafuente (Discovery Award); The Lowdown lead actor Ethan Hawke and creator/executive producer Sterlin Harjo (Outstanding Collaboration in Television Award); A Talent for Murder lead actress Helen Mirren (Legend of Entertainment Award); The Debut lead actress Julianne Moore (Icon Award); Furious lead actress Emmy Rossum (Outstanding Achievement in Television Award); and Dune: Part Three production designer Patrice Vermette (Creative Impact in Production Design Award).
Plus, for the 13th year in a row, the fest has invited 10 outstanding documentaries to be screened at the fest and represented by their directors on its ‘Docs to Watch’ panel, which will be moderated by yours truly on Wednesday, Oct. 28: American Doctor (Poh Si Teng), Avedon (Ron Howard), Cookie Queens (Alysa Nahmias), Everest: The Other Side (Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi), The Last First: Winter K2 (Amir Bar-Lev), My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile (Julia Loktev), Once Upon a Time in Harlem (David Greaves), One in a Million (Itab Azzam and Jack MacInnes), The Trial of Alec Baldwin (Rory Kennedy) and You Can See Everything (Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim).
Christina Routhier, the fest’s senior executive director, tells THR, “Every honoree represents a different path into this industry, and we are so excited to welcome these artists to Savannah for their range, expertise, and stories, which are defining this year in film. Our students don’t just watch these artists on screen — they study them. This October, they will sit across from them in an intimate master class, ask the questions they’ve always wanted to ask, and hear firsthand about the choices, challenges and experiences that shaped their careers. This kind of access is at the heart of what makes this festival, and a SCAD education, so distinct.”
The 29th SCAD Savannah Film Festival will take place Oct. 24–31.