Savannah Film Festival Announces 2024 Juried Award WinnersThe Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) today announced the award winners for the 27th-annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival. A key stop on the festival circuit leading up to the Academy Awards, the 2024 SCAD Savannah Film Festival screened 162 films, including 123 narrative feature films, 31 documentary feature films, 69 short films, and ten world premieres and six U.S. premieres.

The Wild Robot was this year’s Audience Award Winner, as selected by festival attendees. In attendance for the sold-out screening were director and writer Chris Sanders, actor Lupita Nyong’o, and composer Kris Bowers. Sanders and Nyong’o were feted, respectively, with the Icon of Animation Award and Virtuoso Award at the event. Anora was the runner-up, with actor Mikey Madison in attendance and honored with the Breakthrough Award.

Out of over 2,335 submissions, nineteen awards were announced from the 105 films chosen to compete in competition categories, which included Narrative Features, Documentary Features, Professional Shorts, Animated Shorts, Documentary Shorts, Student Shorts, Shorts Spotlight, Global Shorts Forum and the SAVFF LGBTQIA+ Short Film Competition presented by Amazon MGM Studios.

Professional Competition

• Best Animated Short – The Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess, directed by Anna-Ester Volozh
  • Honorable Mention: Monsoon Blue, directed by Jay Hiukit Wong, and Ellis Kayin Chan
• Best Documentary Feature – Champions Of The Golden Valley, directed by Ben Sturgulewski
• Best Narrative Short – The Masterpiece, directed by Àlex Lora
• Best Narrative Feature – Los Frikis, directed by Michael Schwartz & Tyler Nilson
• Best Director – The Ride Ahead, directed by Samuel Habib & Dan Habib
• Special Jury Recognition for Cinematography –  After Annecy, directed by Rebecca Holstein
• Special Jury Recognition: Spotlight Performance: Amrit Kaur, The Queen Of My Dreams

International film and social media platform Letterboxd is sponsoring this year's Narrative Feature Prize at the 2024 SCAD Savannah Film Festival. As part of this sponsorship, Letterboxd will award the winner, Los Frikis, a substantial grant in the form of an extensive media campaign including targeted advertising and direct marketing to promote their film. Letterboxd’s mission is to help its worldwide community of film lovers discover great films. This grant is designed to highlight exceptional films and bring them to the attention of the widest possible audiences. Our involvement also signals Letterboxd's commitment to bring our audience of film lovers closer to the filmmakers operating at the forefront of the medium and we’re delighted to be involved in the 2024 SCAD Savannah Film Festival.

The 2024 festival's professional jury members included Kate Erbland (Editorial Director at IndieWire), Brian Formo (Head of Studio Relations & Video, Letterboxd), Zeberiah Newman (Filmmaker), and Richard Suckle (Producer).

SAVFF LGBTQIA+ Short Film Competition Presented by Amazon MGM Studios

Recognizing the need for more inclusive storytelling in the filmmaking industry, the 2024 SCAD Savannah Film Festival (SAVFF) and Amazon MGM Studios have created a dedicated SAVFF LGBTQIA+ Short Film Competition. Amazon MGM Studios will donate $10,000 for the jury-awarded Best Overall Film and $5,000 for an Audience Award. Films in the program are under 40 minutes in length and represent excellence in storytelling and execution in narrative or documentary formats, reflecting unique insight into LGBTQIA+ themes, issues, or ideas.

• Best LGBTQIA+ Short: RIPE!, directed by Tusk (Olivia Mitchell and Kerry Furrh)
• Audience Award Winner: Re-Entry, directed by Ariel Mahler

The SAVFF LGBTQIA+ Short Film Competition Presented by Amazon MGM Studios jury members included David Canfield (staff writer at Vanity Fair), Anthony Allen Ramos (vice president of communications and talent at GLAAD), Adam Keen (Co-Head, Global Film PR, Amazon) Rachel Shatto (editor in chief at Equal Pride) and Seth Fradkoff (Senior Vice President, Publicity, Amazon MGM Studios).

Student Competition

• Best Narrative Student Short – El Alma de la Sed, directed by Colleen Ryan, Savannah College of Art and Design
  • Honorable Mention: Desync, directed by Minerva Marie Navasca, Sheridan College
• Best Student Animated Short – High Diver, directed by Oscar Bittner, Filmakademie Baden Württemberg
  • Special Jury Honorable Mention: The Nectar Instead for Excellence in Craftsmanship, directed by Yoo Lee, University of Southern California
• Best Student Documentary Short – Failure to Fail, directed by Haley Breese, Savannah College of Art and Design

The 2024 festival's Student / Animation jury members included Henry Selick (Director), Daniel Casey (Netflix Animation), Madison Egan (Tribeca Film), Andy Cohen (Grade A Entertainment), Kyle Bell (Animator) and Mandy Tankerson (SVP, Head of Production, Sony Imageworks).

The 2024 festival's Doc Shorts jury members included Doug Blush (Mad Pix), Rivea Ruff (Entertainment editor), Liselle Feingold, Juliet Blake (Producer) and Myra Scheer (PR Consultant/Sirius XM Co-Host).

The Inaugural Katie Spikes Legacy Award Scholarship

Katie Spikes was a senior story editor for CBS 60 Minutes and a beloved friend of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival for many years after her passing in 2023 the Katie Spikes Legacy Scholarship was created to honor excellence in filmmaking by a SCAD student.

• Award Winner – Failure to Fail, directed by Haley Breese, Savannah College of Art and Design

This inaugural winner will receive a $7,000 cash prize. The 2024 festival's Katie Spikes Legacy jury members include Alison Owen (Producer), Lynn Hirshfield, Myra Scheer, June Dowad, Andy Cohen (Grade A Entertainment), Juiet Blake, and Amy Gray.

Global Shorts Forum

• Best Latin Lens: ¡salsa!, directed by Antonina Kerguelen Roman
• Best Visions de France: Yuck!, directed by Loïc Espuche
  • Honorable Mention for Social Impact: Monochrome, directed by Cedric Prevost
• Best Global Short: Little Queen, directed by Julien Guetta

The 2024 festival's Global Shorts jury members included Ben Thompson (Tribeca Festival Shorts Programmer), Chris Lane, Stevie Wong (Journalist), Lynn Hirshfield (Producer) and June Dowad.

Shorts Spotlight

• Best Comic Distortions: Idiomatic, directed by Phil Dunster
• Best After Dark Horror Short: Wake, directed by Sean Carter
• Best Femme Forward: Vlog, directed by Yvonne Strahovski
• Best Shorts Spotlight: A Family Portrait, Queens, directed by Billy Silva
• Best Professional Documentary Short: Good Enough Ancestor, Directed by Cynthia Wade
  • Honorable Mention: I'm Still Here: A Life on Dynamite Hill, directed by Stephen Stinson and Sam Miller
  • Jury Award Honorable Mention: Les Bêtes for Craftsmanship in Animation

The 2024 festival's Short Spotlight jury members included Greg Sorvig (Heartland Film), Kaila York (Director/Producer), Katherine Tulich (Journalist, HFPA/Australia) and Sibella Dowad (Producer).

This year, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival honored Amy Adams (Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award), Marisa Abela (Next Gen Award), Pamela Anderson (Marquee Award), Jerry Bruckheimer (Legend of Entertainment Award), Jodie Comer (Etoile Award), Kevin Costner (Legend of Cinema Award), Kieran Culkin (Virtuoso Award), Colman Domingo (Spotlight Award), Karla Sofía Gascón (Distinguished Performance Award), Kathryn Hahn (Spotlight in Television Award), Jharrel Jerome (Lumiere Award), Felicity Jones (Spotlight Award), Pablo Larraín (Auteur Award), Richard Linklater (Lifetime Achievement in Screenwriting Award), Natasha Lyonne (Maverick Award), Mikey Madison (Breakthrough Award), Isabela Merced (Rising Star Award), Steve McQueen (Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award), Demi Moore (Icon Award), Lupita Nyong´o (Virtuosos Award), Margaret Qualley (Luminary Award), Jason Reitman (Vanguard Director Award), Daisy Ridley (Lumiere Award), RaMell Ross (Breakthrough Director Award), Zoe Saldaña (Vanguard Award), Chris Sanders (Icon of Animation Award), and Sebastian Stan (Maverick Award). The Piano Lesson was honored with the Ensemble Award, with attendees at the Festival including Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, Skylar Aleece Smith, John David Washington and  Malcom Washington. Variety in partnership with the SCAD Savannah Film Festival feted Colleen Atwood with the Variety Creative Impact Award in Costume Design Award at a screening of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Entertainment Weekly also announced their Breaking Big honorees for 2024, which include Austin Abrams, Monica Barbaro, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Ethan Herisse, Ebony Obsidian and Savannah Lee Smith. This panel took place Friday, Nov. 1 at the festival.

About the SCAD Savannah Film Festival

Presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), the SCAD Savannah Film Festival is filled with cinematic creativity from award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers. Each year, more than 60,000 people attend the eight-day festival. The festival has become a distinguished stop on the road to the Academy Awards, hosting exclusive screenings, competition films, feature films,

documentaries, shorts, animated films, panel discussions, and workshops at SCAD's historic theaters and industry-leading studio spaces. Presented in Savannah, a premier film hub in the Southeast, the festival promotes quality movies produced by independent and studio filmmakers.

Follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok @savfilmfest and@scaddotedu and use #SCAD and #SAVFF.

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

SCAD is a private, nonprofit, accredited university, offering more than 100 graduate and undergraduate degree programs across locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Lacoste, France; and online via SCADnow. SCAD enrolls more than 18,500 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 110 countries. The future-minded SCAD curriculum engages professional-level technology and myriad advanced learning resources, affording students opportunities for internships, professional certifications, and real-world assignments with corporate partners through SCADpro, the university’s renowned research lab and prototype generator. SCAD has earned top rankings for degree programs in interior design, architecture, film, fashion, digital media, and more.

Career success is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni employment rate. A 2024 study found that 99% of recent SCAD graduates were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 12 months of graduation. SCAD provides students and alumni with ongoing career support through personal coaching, alumni programs, a professional presentation studio, and more. Visit scad.edu.

About the SCAD School of Film and Acting

With resources that rival Hollywood studios, award-winning professors, stunning locations, two professionally run casting offices, and stellar film and television festivals, the SCAD School of Film and Acting is the ideal place for students to launch into the multibillion film and television industry. The SCAD acting, cinematography, editing, film and television, production design, and sound design programs prepare students to command roles on stage, screen, and behind the scenes through instruction that includes real-world experience on productions for short films, live performances, TV sitcoms, dramatic series, music videos, commercials, and more.

Additionally, SCAD is making a significant investment in the futures of the university's School of Film and Acting and School of Animation and Motion students with the completion of a Hollywood-style film backlot at Savannah Film Studios. The landmark 11-acre, three-phase expansion includes the backlot, a next-generation LED volume stage for virtual productions — one of two owned and operated by the university, along with a second at SCAD Atlanta's Digital Media Center — and new soundstages, among other features. The expanded Savannah Film Studios is the largest and most comprehensive university film studio complex in the nation.

During the 2024 festival, SCAD will unveil a magnificent new 17,500 sq. ft. production and costume design building next to the Savannah Film Studios backlot. This state-of-the-art facility will include space

for costume design sewing labs, a fabulous industrial garment conveyor, and massive production design scene shops for building, welding, painting, and much more. This facility further highlights the university’s commitment to collaborations across filmmaking disciplines.