The 2015 Savannah Film Festival, which is presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design, has finished up for me. But it’s a festival experience that you never want to end, with a beautiful location and a relaxing schedule that makes it easy to see any film you want.
The festival is a mix of big Hollywood features that will likely wind up with Oscar nominations and smaller films angling for festival awards. During the day, you could catch unique foreign-language films, short film programs and fascinating documentaries.
The best section of the festival, which many attendees enjoyed, was “Docs to Watch,” which featured documentaries released throughout the year that are in the running for an Oscar nomination. Most of these films are followed by Q&As with directors. Or there’s Q&As like the one that followed Meet The Patels, where director Ravi V. Patel had her spotlight stolen by her delightful parents.
At the end of each night, festival organizers turn your attention to major films from well-known talent. SCAD does manage to get a few stars for their awards. Olivia Wilde was presented with the Spotlight Award before a screening of Meadowland. Game of Thrones’ Alfie Allen received the Rising Star award before Truth (which he wasn’t in) and Meg Ryan received the Lifetime Achievement Award before the second-ever screening of her directing debut, Ithaca.
But what’s most memorable about this festival is just how leisurely the schedule runs. After attending South By Southwest in March, where you are lucky enough to catch your breath before you have to run to the next screening, Savannah is much more relaxing. There are only three theater venues - the Lucas Theater, the Trustees Theater and the SCAD Museum Theater - so there aren’t that many films running at the same time. And there are often long periods of time with no screenings (Wednesday had a gap between 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.), so you won’t have to worry about not squeezing a full meal in.
Savannah itself is such a beautiful Southern city that it might be a good idea for film lovers to turn the festival into the centerpiece of a vacation. The venues are easy to get to (there’s a shuttle to the SCAD Museum, but if the weather is nice, you could easily walk there) and there’s some wonderful restaurants within walking distance of the theaters. (You must get ice cream from Leopold’s and a burger from B&D Burgers.)
The festival runs eight days in total, so it was sad to leave two days early. Still, I caught some of the films expected to be in play at the Oscars and I didn’t have to go to Toronto, Telluride or Venice to do so.
Also, there was one cinematic experience from the festival I will never forget: seeing Son of Saul on a big screen and in 35mm as director Laszlo Nemes intended. The film will likely never get a wide release if Nemes insists that it never be released in digital, so this was a very special screening and it felt like a privilege to see it.
Here’s a guide to all the coverage done at the festival:
Interviews:
- Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter
- Youth composer David Lang
- Suffragette director Sarah Gavron
Reviews:
- Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson
- Embers, Claire Carre
- Ithaca, Meg Ryan
- Son of Saul, Laszlo Nemes
- Truth, James Vanderbilt
- Amy, Asif Kapadia
- Spotlight, Tom McCarthy
- Youth, Paolo Sorrentino
- The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Marielle Heller
- Brooklyn, John Crowley
- Suffragette, Sarah Gavron
- Meadowland, Reed Morano
- Best of Enemies, Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville
- Alexander Skarsgard talks about Tarzan
- Saoirse Ronan talks about her career and Brooklyn