John Goodman and Stan Lee Join 15th Annual Savannah Film Fest Lineup

Emmy and Golden Globe Award winning actor John Goodman (Flight) will receive an Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award and comic book legend, former President and Chairman of Marvel Comics Stan Lee (The Avengers) will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual Savannah Film Festival, which will take place from October 27th to November 3th.

Academy Award-nominated actors Matt Dillon (Crash) and Diane Lane (Unfaithful) will be honored with “Outstanding Achievement in Cinema” Awards. Actress Michelle Monaghan will receive a “Spotlight Award” for her performance in Tomorrow You’re Gone, and Academy Award-winning writer/director Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious) will receive the 2nd Annual SCAD Cinevation Award prior to a screening of his directorial debut Violet & Daisy. The film’s star James Gandolfini will be in attendance.

David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook will open the festival on Saturday October 27. Other special screenings include Robert Zemeckis’ Flight (writer John Gatins will be honored prior to screening) Dustin Hoffman’s Quartet, Jacques Audiard’s Rust & Bone, Wayne Blair’s The Sapphires, Michael Haneke’s Canne’s Palme D’Or winner Amour, and Walter Salles’ On the Road. Dreamworks Animation’s Rise of the Guardian directed by Peter Ramsey and written by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire—who will be honored prior to the screening—will close the festival as the first ever 3D film to play at Savannah.

RealD Inc., a leading global licensor of 3D technologies, has partnered with SCAD to be the exclusive 3D cinema provider at the Savannah Film Festival. RealD will also provide SCAD with the company’s patented 3D lens and glasses for permanent use, allowing the university’s film and digital media students to screen their projects in 3D.

Other special screenings taking place at this year’s festival include: Matt Ross’ 28 Hotel Rooms, David Jacobson’s Tomorrow You’re Gone, Bedabrata Pain’s Chittagong, Ry Russo-Young’s Nobody Walks, Brian Savelson’s In Our Nature with star Zach Gilford in attendance, Glenn Gaylord’s I Do with writer/star David W. Ross in attendance, Ramona Diaz’s Journey documentary Don’t Stop Believin’, HBO Films’ “The Girl” directed by Julian Jarrold (who will attend), and Lori Silver Bush and Kristi Jacobson’s documentary A Place at the Table. Matt Dillon will take part in a Q&A after City of Ghosts, the 2002 film that he wrote, directed and stars in; and Diane Lane will take part in a Q&A after A Little Romance, her 1979 film debut.

Other confirmed special guests include Christy Turlington Burns who will show her documentary No Woman, No Cry; producer/directors Adam Shankman (showing his movie Hairspray) and Bob Shaye (showing his movie The Last Mimzy); Actor/Director Matthew Lillard, who’s film Fat Kid Rules the World will play in competition; photographer Nigel Barker (showing his documentary Dreams art Not Forgotten; actors Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead”) and Miles Teller (Footloose), all of whom will speak with SCAD students over the course of the festival.

Hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design, the Savannah Film Festival has become one of the largest entertainment events in the Southeast. SCAD offers the only major film program in the United States integrated within an acclaimed art and design university. In the past eight years, the university has been one of the top 10 U.S. film schools in producing Student Academy Award finalists.

Past festival attendees and honorees include: Peter O'Toole, Michael Douglas, Oliver Stone, Jane Fonda, Sidney Lumet, Mark and Jay Duplass, Ian McKellen, Isabella Rossellini, Lily Tomlin, Ellen Barkin, Liam Neeson, Vanessa Redgrave, Norman Jewison, James Marsden, Tommy Lee Jones, John Waters, James Franco, Alec Baldwin, Ray Liotta, Aaron Eckhart, Roger Ebert, Terrence Malick, Sydney Pollack, Malcolm McDowell, and Milos Forman.

Single tickets and passes for the festival are available now.