The SCAD Savannah Film Festival: Thoughts and Aftermath

Header Image courtesy of the Savannah College of Art and Design

If you told me as I was applying to colleges, that in the far future I would be spending my Junior year sleeping on a city street to ensure tickets for a movie about a women’s brain getting replaced with a toddlers; I don’t even think I’d even be able to muster up a reaction to such a loaded statement. Nevertheless, the film “Poor Things” along with various other masterpieces that were shown early at SCAD’s Film Fest are finally starting to reach theaters. Now that they’ve hit the market there’s a lot to reflect on from beginning, middle, to end of my film experiences. 

Backtracking a little bit, I’m first going to share a bit of my experiences with Film Fest, and how I prepared for it. Admittedly I didn’t think I would be paying much attention to it, but my friend asked me if I wanted to stand in line for tickets from 10 pm to 10 am and I figured I wasn’t super busy at that time anyway. So for about 12 hours we shared stories, ate McDonalds, talked to other students in line for tickets and napped on the sidewalk of Broughton St. It certainly got uncomfortable- from around 4-6 am. I was so exhausted and yet didn’t think to bring any pillows or blankets so I found myself bending awkwardly in a camping chair to take a comfortable rest, only to be woken up by the street cleaner. By about 9 am the box office had opened early, and we were starting to finally reach the end of our tedious time in a 12 hour wait. As tired as I was, I walked out with two tickets to “Saltburn,” “Poor Things,” “The Boy and the Heron,” and “The Bikeriders;” all films that weren’t going to be released for at least another two months. Besides the films I paid for, I managed to get 28 free tickets to day shows such as “Oppenheimer,” “Trolls 3: Band Together,” “Beyond Utopia,” and “Spiderman: Across the Spider Verse.” So if you ever feel crazy enough to brave out a night on the streets for a couple of hard to snag screenings, I completely recommend it.

The days of the festival themselves were fantastic as well. Of the speakers I saw, I have to say that none stood out to me like “Saltburn’s” Emerald Fennell. I was pleasantly surprised to see that out of all the directors there, she went home with the Viewer’s Choice Award. Not only is the movie, “Saltburn,” one I could discuss throughout the ages, but Fennel’s post-film speech was the most memorable of all the ones I took notes on. 

Now, with the Oscar’s on their way it’s no surprise that the majority of pre-screened films are seeing this award ceremony as well. The only one that did surprise me was Fennell’s movie, solely because it wasn’t nominated for anything despite being the audience favorite at the Savannah festival. I can only assume it’s because of the graphic scenes the movie contained. Though I feel that the few and scattered grotesque moments don’t detract from the film’s larger themes. 

The other one that has stuck out to me was “The Bikeriders,” and less because it made a big impression at the Oscars but more so because it hasn’t made much of a view at all. While the film was originally set to release in December it’s now been postponed all the way to June. The lack of advertising or media around it as well is never a good sign. As someone who did get to see this film during its screening, I feel very fortunate to have gotten to witness such a spectacular film but will keep it at that for the sake of copyright. 

From start to end, the SCAD Film Festival is one where the only regret I have is not being more obsessed with it sooner. It has incredible opportunities for people of all majors to see cinematic masterpieces, as well as talks with highly distinguished directors in some of the masterclasses. Whether you plan on staying up all night on Broughton for the one ticket you really want, or look for a couple free ones to catch a cool mid-day film, I without a doubt would recommend involvement in the Film Fest for all students, as well as anyone visiting Savannah in October.