A brief preview from the Savannah Film Festival

The 12th annual Savannah Film Festival, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design, will take place from Saturday, October 31-Saturday, November 7.

Films to receive special gala screenings will include Jean-Marc Valles The Young Victoria; Oren Movermans The Messenger, with Moverman and stars Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster in attendance; Grant Heslovs The Men Who Stare at Goats; Pedro Almodovars Broken Embraces; Lone Sherfigs An Education; the United States premieres of James Ivorys The City of Your Final Destination, with Ivory in attendance, and Nick Morans Telstar, with Moran and star Con ONeill in attendance; Jodie Markells The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (from a screenplay by Tennessee Williams); Cannes Palme dOr winner Michael Hanekes The White Ribbon; and Lee Daniels 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. Daniels and star Gabourey Sidibe will be in attendance.

Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April, Vicki Cristina Barcelona) will receive an Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award after a screening of Woody Allens Whatever Works. Emmy and Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson (Cheers, The People vs. Larry Flynt) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma) will also receive Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Awards prior to their screening of The Messenger. Emmy Rossum (The Phantom of the Opera) will receive the Young Hollywood Award prior to a screening of her film Dare, and Jeremy Renner will receive the Spotlight Award for his performance in The Hurt Locker, which will also screen at the festival. Scott Caan(Oceans 11), the writer and star of Mercy, one of the festivals competition films, also will attend.

Past festival guests and honorees include Peter O'Toole, Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda, Sidney Lumet, Kathleen Turner, Norman Jewison, Tommy Lee Jones, John Waters, David Benioff, John Sayles, Brett Ratner, Charlie Rose, George Segal, James Franco, James Ivory, Jeff Daniels, Alec Baldwin, Peter Bart, Army Archerd, Roger Ebert, Terrence Malick, Sydney Pollack, the Redgrave siblingsVanessa, Lynn and CorinAlan and Marilyn Bergman, Malcolm McDowell and Milos Forman, among others.

In addition to the special screenings, the festival will showcase 22 professional films (features, documentaries, shorts and animation) and 12 student films in competition. The jurors for the competition are actress Patti DArbanville (Rescue Me), actress/producer Rita Gam, writer/director Ingrid Rockefeller, writer/director Michael Sucsy (Emmy-Award winning Grey Gardens) and writer/director David Twohy (Pitch Black).

For more information on the festival and a complete schedule of events, 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 bachelors and masters 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.

The diverse student body of more than 9,500 comes from all 50 United States and nearly 100 countries worldwide. The education and career preparation of each student is nurtured and cultivated by a faculty of more than 600 professors with extraordinary academic credentials and valuable professional experience. Through individual attention in an inspiring university environment, and with advanced, professional-level technology, equipment and learning resources, SCAD is uniquely qualified to provide an exceptional education and unparalleled career preparation. SCAD has garnered acclaim from respected organizations and publications, including the Los Angeles Times, American Institute of Architects, DesignIntelligence and U.S. News & World Report.

For more information, visit scad.edu.