Movie lovers who have the dates of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival circled on their calendars have come to expect top-notch programming from the October cinematic celebration. Studios have learned to use the annual film festival as a showcase for top Oscar qualifiers, while also bringing talent to Georgia to interact with Savannah College of Art and Design students and pass along invaluable knowledge about careers in the industry. And even though the SAG-AFTRA strike continues to slow the industry down, SCAD Savannah Film Festival has programmed a slate for the ages, and one that’s undoubtedly going to be luring movie lovers to Georgia beginning on Saturday, October 21.
The SCAD Savannah Film Festival revealed its programming for the 2023 celebration, and it’s loaded with leading Academy Award contenders. We already knew that the fest was bringing Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece, Oppenheimer, as part of this year’s programming, which will include a special awards presentation to the movie’s cinematographer, Hoyte Van Hoytema. But that’s just the top of the iceberg. SCAD Savannah Film Festival will open with the anticipated drama Nyad, starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster. And it will close with Ava DuVernay’s Origin, which left our own Corey Chichizola in tears when he saw it at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Speaking ahead of this year’s slate announcement, SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace said:
The future of film lives at SCAD, where audiences can see next year’s Oscar winners at our SCAD Savannah Film Festival later this month, and where guests are treated to a BTS tour of the latest and greatest SCAD triumph: the new backlot at Savannah Film Studios, the largest at any university in the world. From Savannah cityscapes to a courthouse square and suburbs, the backlot is a paradise for our Bees and other area filmmakers. Come see everything for yourself!
This year’s SCAD Savannah Film Festival will showcase a number of anticipated upcoming 2023 movies that filmed in Savannah and the coastal Georgia area. The biggest one has to be Blitz Bazawule’s bold new take on the beloved classic, The Color Purple. The musical boasts a team of all-star producers, including Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones. And it features an award-winning cast that includes Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Halle Bailey, H.E.R., Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, and Fantasia Barrino in her major motion picture debut.
In addition, I’ve circled the following movies for my SCAD Savannah Film Festival calendar this year, because I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about Emma Stone’s Poor Things, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Sophia Copolla’s Priscilla, Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, Michel Franco’s Memory, Todd Haynes’s May December, and so many more. I can already tell you that Dream Scenario with Nicolas Cage is a can’t miss, so make sure you grab tickets to that one.
Speaking of tickets, they are available right now, so head on over, grab as many as you can, and scan the site for the rest of this year’s incredible programming.