SAVANNAH, GEORGIA (Oct. 1, 2024) – The 2024 SCAD Savannah Film Festival announced that Zoe Saldaña will receive the Vanguard Award, recognizing her for her starring role in Netflix’s Emilia Pérez. Saldaña will receive the award at a screening of the film Friday, Nov. 1. She will also participate in a live recording of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast moderated by Scott Feinberg, THR’s executive editor of awards, in front of a festival audience. The live recording will be held at 5:15 p.m. Nov. 1 at the SCAD Museum of Art. The 2024 SCAD Savannah Film Festival is scheduled to take place Oct. 26–Nov. 2.
“The SCAD Savannah Film Festival could not be more delighted to continue its legacy of honoring outstanding talent by presenting this award to Zoe Saldaña,” said Christina Routhier, Executive Director of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. “Her exceptional body of work, including her masterful performance in Emilia Pérezis truly worth celebrating. We are so thrilled to celebrate her talent and esteemed career.”
Zoe Saldaña has steadily earned a reputation as one of the most versatile and respected powerhouses in the industry, with a remarkable career spanning more than 20 years as an actor and producer. She is the only actor in history to have starred in four films that have grossed over $2 billion dollars, including the top three highest grossing films of all time: Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame. Saldaña’s passionate commitment to seeking compelling, indelible roles has remained constant.
Most recently, Saldaña led and executive produced the independent film The Absence of Eden, directed by Marco Perego in his feature film debut. She currently stars in Taylor Sheridan’s undercover CIA drama series “Lioness” for Paramount+, which she also executive produces with her production company Cinestar Pictures. Saldaña can next be seen starring in the Spanish-language musical crime comedy from Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez, which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and took home the Jury Prize. Saldaña received the festival’s prestigious Best Actress Award alongside the female ensemble. Netflix will release the film in theaters this fall.
Saldaña joins previous honorees for this year’s festival, including Colleen Atwood (Creative Impact Award for Costume Design), Annette Bening (Lifetime Achievement Award), Jerry Bruckheimer (Legend of Entertainment Award), Colman Domingo (Spotlight Award), Karla Sofia Gascón (Distinguished Performance Award), Jharrel Jerome (Lumiere Award), Richard Linklater (Lifetime Achievement in Screenwriting Award), Mikey Madison (Breakthrough Award), Isabela Merced (Rising Star Award), Steve McQueen (Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award), Lupita Nyong’o (Virtuoso Award), Daisy Ridley (Lumiere Award), and Sebastian Stan (Maverick Award).
Presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival is filled with cinematic creativity from award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers. Each year, more than 63,000 people attend the eight-day festival. A distinguished stop on the road to the Academy Awards, the annual festival kicks off with a gala opening night screening, while the rest of the week features scheduled competition films, premiere screenings, workshops, lectures, and panels. Other programming highlights at the festival include The Hollywood Reporter’s Docs to Watch, Amazon MGM Studios’ LGBTQIA+ Shorts Competition and the Behind Her Lens series, which includes panels with influential female directors, producers, and artisans, who will discuss the importance of staying true to their vision and empowering the industry forward with profound stories. These events take place at SCAD’s historic theaters and industry-leading studio spaces throughout the historic city of Savannah.
Festival passes for 2024 are available now. Individual event tickets will go on sale Friday, Oct. 4, online at filmfest.scad.edu, by phone at 912.525.5050, or in person at the SCAD Box Office (scadboxoffice.com) at 216 E. Broughton St. in Savannah.
About the SCAD Savannah Film Festival
Presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), the SCAD Savannah Film Festival is filled with cinematic creativity from award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers. Each year, more than 60,000 people attend the eight-day festival. The festival has become a distinguished stop on the road to the Academy Awards, hosting exclusive screenings, competition films, feature films, documentaries, shorts, animated films, panel discussions, and workshops at SCAD’s historic theaters and industry-leading studio spaces. Presented in Savannah, a premier film hub in the Southeast, the festival promotes quality movies produced by independent and studio filmmakers.
Follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok @savfilmfest and @scaddotedu and use #SCAD and #SAVFF.
SCAD: The University for Creative Careers
SCAD is a private, nonprofit, accredited university, offering more than 100 graduate and undergraduate degree programs across locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Lacoste, France; and online via SCADnow. SCAD enrolls more than 18,500 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 110 countries. The future-minded SCAD curriculum engages professional-level technology and myriad advanced learning resources, affording students opportunities for internships, professional certifications, and real-world assignments with corporate partners through SCADpro, the university’s renowned research lab and prototype generator. SCAD has earned top rankings for degree programs in interior design, architecture, film, fashion, digital media, and more.
Career success is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni employment rate. A 2024 study found that 99% of recent SCAD graduates were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 12 months of graduation. SCAD provides students and alumni with ongoing career support through personal coaching, alumni programs, a professional presentation studio, and more. Visit scad.edu.
About the SCAD School of Film and Acting
With resources that rival Hollywood studios, award-winning professors, stunning locations, two professionally run casting offices, and stellar film and television festivals, the SCAD School of Film and Acting is the ideal place for students to launch into the multibillion film and television industry. The SCAD acting, cinematography, editing, film and television, production design, and sound design programs prepare students to command roles on stage, screen, and behind the scenes through instruction that includes real-world experience on productions for short films, live performances, TV sitcoms, dramatic series, music videos, commercials, and more.
Additionally, SCAD is making a significant investment in the futures of the university’s School of Film and Acting and School of Animation and Motion students with the completion of a Hollywood-style film backlot at Savannah Film Studios. The landmark 11-acre, three-phase expansion includes the backlot, a next-generation LED volume stage for virtual productions — one of two owned and operated by the university, along with a second at SCAD Atlanta’s Digital Media Center — and new soundstages, among other features. The expanded Savannah Film Studios is the largest and most comprehensive university film studio complex in the nation.
During the 2024 festival, SCAD will unveil a magnificent new 17,500 sq. ft. production and costume design building next to the Savannah Film Studios backlot. This state-of-the-art facility will include space for costume design sewing labs, a fabulous industrial garment conveyor, and massive production design scene shops for building, welding, painting, and much more. This facility further highlights the university’s commitment to collaborations across filmmaking disciplines.
