The Contending’s Megan McLachlan is in Savannah, Ga., for the 27th Annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival, the largest university-run film festival in the United States.
“It’s not usually like this,” said my driver from the Savannah airport to the hotel, a SCAD professor volunteering to shuttle guests. “You’re never stuck in traffic for two lights.”
That increased traffic and congestion is what happens when the SCAD Savannah Film Festival takes place, when thousands of people descend upon the city to catch the best in film (and some television!) for a week every October. You might spot celebrities walking by (or sit next to them on your flight — like I did with Demi Moore and her cutie dog Pilaf), as Savannah becomes a mini Southern Hollywood every fall.
Opening Night 27th Annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival: Blitz and The Piano Lesson
Last year was a more subdued festival since we were still in the throes of the acting and writing strikes. But this year, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival has come back with a vengeance, doubling up on honorees and even giving out its first-ever Ensemble Award to Malcolm Washington’s The Piano Lesson cast, represented by John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, and Skylar Aleece Smith.
“I’m so proud to be part of this rich company of actors,” said John David Washington on the red carpet. “Michael Potts, Corey Hawkins, Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, little Skylar. It’s amazing to be in this company. We all leaned on each other. Sam Jackson, the legend. I feel like I was better because of it.”
Washington reprised his role from the 2022 stage production, only this time with his brother Malcolm directing (and father Denzel producing).
“I thought it was going to be easier because I’ve done the play already, but I had to relearn it because it’s a different medium. I relied more on my instincts and naturalistic way of approaching it. We had a responsibility to uplift and amplify the words quite literally.”
Director Steve McQueen and actor Benjamin Clementine were also on the red carpet to celebrate Blitz, which screened on opening night as well.
“What’s great about [SCAD] is the students,” said McQueen. “I had a great Q&A this morning and I encouraged them to go for it and be a bit reckless, to be not careful. They’re a very inspiring bunch of kids.”
Opening night festivities culminated in a party at the Savannah Film Studios backlot, where SCAD showcased the latest phases of the project, including set pieces like a restaurant, a seedy back alley, and a gas station.
Brian Watkins’ Diviners/Michael Schwartz & Tyler Nilson’s Los Frikis
I kicked off the second day of the fest with Brian Watkins’ short film Diviners, a moody little trip starring Julia McDermott and Lewis Pullman. This two-hander does so much in so little time. Taking place mostly in a kitchen, McDermott and Pullman’s sister and brother characters discuss their late mother and her innate ability to discover pure water (being a diviner).
“We both, me and Lewis, came up with what we thought was happening,” said McDermott in the Q&A, “but we wanted to keep the magic there, so we built that arc and story for ourselves so we could always go back to it and ground it in every scene. We shot it as a play, but I think we started at 12 a.m. and ended at 4 a.m. The delirium played into their strange relationship.”
Following Diviners was Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson’s Los Frikis, a truly remarkable and tragic tale about a group of punk rockers who inject themselves with the HIV virus in order to seek relief from poverty in Cuba. Even though it takes place in the ’90s, Los Frikis feels so incredibly relevant. With so much political talk about keeping foreigners out of the United States, this film gives a glimpse of what they’re trying to escape and sometimes leaving behind.
Co-director Schwartz, who also wrote and directed The Peanut Butter Falcon, was on hand to answer questions following the screening and said he wanted the film to feel like a documentary.
“The benefit of having all Cuban actors is that we had 25 people to say, nope, it’s not those cigarettes. Even the instruments, we didn’t want a Fender guitar because a Fender guitar couldn’t make it through the embargo. So we got Japanese guitars from the ’80s that could have gone to Cuba.”
That authenticity extends to its cast, with fresh faces like Eros de la Puente as Gustavo.
“Eros had never seen a movie in a movie theater before,” said Schwartz,” and the first one he saw he acted in.”
Schwartz said it’s hard to get people to financially support movies without stars in it and encouraged people to seek out independent films. I agree!
The Substance is the Festival’s Hot Ticket, September 5 Delivers a Timely Retelling of an International Tragedy
Honest to god: The last time I saw the Lucas Theater as packed as it was for The Substance was in 2019 for Parasite. And I wouldn’t have known this had I not gone to the wrong theater (I thought Trustees was showing The Substance since Demi Moore’s Icon Award was emblazoned on the marquee).
I showed up at the Lucas thinking I was seeing September 5, shocked to see so many Gen Z people care about an adult thriller starring Peter Sarsgaard and John Magaro.
September 5 is great by the way! Everything about it blew me away, from the performances to the cinematography, but the sound design was most impressive, from the cranks in the old cars to the zaps in Magaro’s Jeff shutting off the screens at the end of the film. I can see why so many people like this movie. In a much heated and still timely conflict, it doesn’t take a side. Like the way news used to be, it simply presents the story as is. The Academy will respond positively to this movie, as it gives off Spotlight vibes.
Now back to The Substance. I sneaked into the Q&A and Elizabeth and Sue — Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, respectively — received standing ovations before they conversed with Vanity Fair‘s David Canfield.
“Wow, this could be so amazing, and it could also be a fucking disaster,” said Moore about reading the potential in the script. “And it’s true. We didn’t know until we were in Cannes seeing it for the first time, we kept looking at each other going, ‘It’s working!'”
Qualley described the stress the dancing took on her psyche, admitting that there were lots of tears, but ultimately she was excited to shoot those scenes. She also made everyone in the theater laugh when she talked about having to play Monstro Elisasue over Moore.
“You know the poster with her face on me,” said Qualley. “I’m still in there!”
Moore said she had that week off.
Look for more SCAD Savannah Film Festival coverage!
