The SCAD Savannah Film Festival will open its 29th edition with the Anton Corbijn thriller “A Talent for Murder” and will honor Helen Mirren with its Legend of Entertainment Award. The nation’s largest university-led film festival and one of the biggest of any kind in the Southeast will kick off Saturday, Oct. 24, with the opening-night screening followed by a moderated Q&A with Mirren, who will accept the honor in person. More than 74,000 people attend the eight-day festival each year, which packs SCAD’s historic theaters and studio spaces with competition titles, features, documentaries, shorts, animation, panels and workshops.
Variety will once again be partnering with the festival for its annual Pixels and Pencils panel, which honors directors of animated feature films, and 10 Artisans to Watch, recognizing up and coming craftspeople in the industry. For Mirren, the tribute lands as one of the most decorated careers in the business. The actress won the Academy Award for best actress for “The Queen” and drew Oscar nominations for “The Madness of King George,” “Gosford Park” and “The Last Station.” She has also collected a Tony, four Emmys and multiple BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild honors across film, television and the stage.
Her credits stretch from “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover,” “The Mosquito Coast” and “Prime Suspect” to “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” “Hitchcock,” “Trumbo,” “RED” and “National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” alongside recent turns in “1923,” “Barbie,” “Fast X,” “Golda,” “The Good Liar” and “The Thursday Murder Club.” She next appears in the second season of Paramount+’s “MobLand.” Named a Dame of the British Empire in 2003, Mirren has already been feted with the BAFTA Fellowship, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Chaplin Award, the SAG Life Achievement Award and the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. More honorees and films set to play at this year’s festival will be announced in the coming weeks.
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