12th Annual Savannah Film Festival

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 03 November 2009 19:32

Written by Lynne E Shannon

The 12th Annual Savannah Film Festival runs October 31 through November 7, 2009, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. Some films will also be screened at the Trustees Theater, a 1946 cinema house, and the Lucas Theatre, a former vaudeville theater. In addition to the special screenings, the Gutstein Gallery will be host to informative panels on various aspects of filmmaking, including a session with Adobe's Final Cut Pro.

The Festival has also reinstated the surprise Director’s Choice screening on Thursday, November 5, featuring a major studio release that will be kept secret until the opening credits roll.

On opening night, the university’s president, Paula Wallace, presents the Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award to Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster for recognition of their work in the acclaimed drama, The Messenger. The film’s director and co-writer, Oren Moverman, will also be present.

In The Messenger, Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front.

Other honorees for the Festival's annual awards are:

Hugh Dancy and Jeremy Renner will receive Spotlight Awards—Dancy for his performance in this year’s release Adam, and Renner for his performance in The Hurt Locker, which will also screen at the festival.

Patricia Clarkson will receive an Achievement in Cinema Award at a screening of her new film, Woody Allen’s Whatever Works. Emmy Rossum will be honored with the Young Hollywood Award prior to a showing of her film, Dare.

Feature films showing are: Jean-Marc Vallée’s The Young Victoria, Grant Heslov’s The Men Who Stare at Goats, Pedro Almodovar’s Broken Embraces, Lone Sherfig’s An Education, James Ivory’s The City of Your Final Destination, the United States premiere of Nick Moran’s Telstar with Moran in attendance, Jodie Markell’s The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (from a screenplay by Tennessee Williams), Bette Gordon’s Handsome Harry, and Cannes Palme d’Or winner Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon. 

Films in competition include:

Short films: Horn Dog, written and directed by Bill Plympton, the fourth film in the famed Oscar®-nominated Dog series; and I Am So Proud of You, by director/writer Don Hertzfeldt, the second chapter to Everything Will Be OK.

Narrative features: Dear Lemon Lima, by director/writer Suzi Yoonessi, with Savanah Wiltfong, Shayne Topp, Zane Huett and Melissa Leo in the cast; Love Hurts, by director/writer Barra Grant, starring Richard E. Grant and Carrie-Anne Moss.

Documentary features include:

No. 4 Street of Our Lady, directed by Barbara Bird and Judy Maltz, the remarkable yet little-known story of Francisca Halamajowa, a Polish-Catholic woman who hid 16 of her Jewish neighbors during the Holocaust while cleverly passing herself off as a Nazi sympathizer;and An Unlikely Weapon, directed by Susan Morgan Cooper, about photographer Eddie Adams.

On closing night, the Festival is screening the highly acclaimed Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and the Audience Award at the Toronto Film Festival. Director Lee Daniels and star Gabourey Sidibe will be in attendance.

Adam and Miguel Arteta’s Youth in Revolt, starring Michael Cera, is included as a special screening.

Jurors for the 2009 Savannah Film Festival's are renowned for their work in the film and entertainment industries. This year’s jurors are:

Patti D’Arbanville, winner of the Best Actress Dramalogue Award, has enjoyed an outstanding career in film, television and on stage, with noteworthy roles in The Main Event, The Sopranos, Guiding Light and Third Watch.

Award-winning actress Rita Gam starred in more than 30 feature films before launching a second career as an author and documentary film producer. She has won numerous accolades for her documentaries and books, including the Literary Medal of Excellency from the United Nations Society of Writers for her contribution to better understanding between nations.

Ingrid Rockefeller has written, performed and produced original material off-Broadway and wrote and directed the award-winning short film Melting Ice. She recently started her own company, Light is Sweet Films, and is producing and co-directing a documentary on the life of photojournalist Lisl Steiner.

Michael Sucsy is the writer, director and producer of the Emmy Award-winning Grey Gardens, a made-for-TV movie starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore. The movie also won the 2009 Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Mini-Series, and Specials.

David Twohy, both a writer and director, was named by Entertainment Weekly as one of the most creative people in Hollywood for his work in films such as The Fugitive, Waterworld and The Chronicles of Riddick.

The Savannah Film Festival brings world-renowned filmmakers, producers, actors and journalists, as well as other film enthusiasts, to SCAD and Savannah for eight days of feature films, lectures, workshops, panels and competition films from a range of genres. The festival was started by SCAD President Paula Wallace to provide students with opportunities to network with, meet and learn from entertainment industry leaders and to showcase the university’s talented students and unique resources.

The Savannah Film Festival also plays a significant role in preparing talented students for creative careers. From dramatic writing and performing arts to animation and sound design, almost every department at SCAD-and every student-benefits from the multifaceted festival experience.

For more information, visit www.scad.edu/filmfest.

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design is the most comprehensive art and design university in the world, offering more degree programs and specializations than any other art and design university. SCAD is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution conferring bachelor’s and master’s degrees in distinctive locations and online to prepare talented students for professional careers. SCAD offers students a choice of degree programs in 46 majors and more than 50 minors at locations in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia, in Lacoste, France, online through SCAD eLearning, and soon in Hong Kong.

For more information, visit scad.edu.

Contact:

Jennifer Bins
Media Relations Manager
Savannah College of Art and Design
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
404.406.0270

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