From Indie To Glitz: Panel Picks For The 25th SCAD Savannah Film Festival

One of my producer friends has a saying: The world needs another film festival like it needs another strip mall. It’s a pretty spot-on nod to the fact that far too many organizations have a habit of programming from the same (Sundance/Tribeca/Toronto, et al.-inspired) playbook. If you’ve been to one local fest you’ve been to them all. Unless you’ve been to the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. For the largest university-run film festival in the US has a number of distinctive things going for it, most notably its above-all commitment to the next generation of filmmakers. While the Savannah College of Art and Design never shies away from bringing in the Hollywood glitz – Ron Howard is this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Directing recipient – it balances that glam with so many truly informative panels (and thus networking opportunities) that attending feels almost like being back in school. (That is, a really cool school with a curriculum that includes 22 Gala Screenings, 10 Signature Screenings, and 10 in-competition narrative and doc features, along with a slew of shorts.) And this year’s 25th edition (October 22-29) continues the noble educational tradition – even adding a few new “courses.” Which means I’ll likely be raving about the following handful of panels, along with many more. (While keeping a guilty eye out for the dozen-plus A-listers, of course – especially Opie, Eddie Redmayne and Janelle Monáe.)

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