SCAD Film Festival
For eight days at the end of October, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival takes over downtown Savannah. The SCAD Savannah Film Festival fills the city’s two grand historic theaters with premieres, brings in actors and directors for tributes and conversations, and draws more than 70,000 guests a year. The Savannah College of Art and Design, which runs it, calls it the largest university-run film festival in the world.
It is also a festival you can do entirely on foot. The two main theaters are about a block and a half apart, and two of our four inns are within a five-minute walk of both.
The 2026 Festival
The 29th SCAD Savannah Film Festival runs Saturday, October 24 through Saturday, October 31, 2026. Opening Night and Closing Night gala screenings fall on the two Saturdays.
Passes are on sale now through filmfest.scad.edu. The Savannah Daytime Pass is $200 and covers all screenings and panels before 6 p.m. The Spotlight Pass ($350) and the Marquee Pass ($600) were both sold out when this guide was written in mid September.
Individual tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 2, 2026. Buy them online through the festival schedule, in person at the SCAD Box Office at 216 East Broughton Street, or by phone at 912.525.5050.
Pass pickup starts Wednesday, October 21 at Festival HQ, inside Press café at Jen Library, 201 East Broughton Street. Each pass carries the holder’s name and photo and cannot be transferred.
Previous honored guests have included Spike Lee, Oscar Isaac, Kristen Stewart, Brendan Fraser, Amanda Seyfried and Mark Hamill, which gives a fair idea of who turns up. The 2026 lineup is announced closer to the festival.
The Venues
Screenings and events take place in SCAD’s own historic buildings.
- Trustees Theater, 216 East Broughton Street. Opened in 1946, Art Moderne outside, 4K projection inside.
- Lucas Theatre for the Arts, 32 Abercorn Street, on Reynolds Square. A 1920s movie palace that still has its original 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ.
- SCAD Museum of Art, 601 Turner Boulevard. Built around an 1853 railway depot, with its own theater. This one is on the west side of downtown, about a 15-minute walk from the two theaters.
- Press café and Gutstein Gallery, both at 201 East Broughton Street, across the street from Trustees Theater.
How the Lines Work
This is the part that often catches first-time visitors by surprise.
- A pass does not guarantee a seat. SCAD recommends passholders arrive at least 30 minutes before a screening, and says those who arrive later may not be seated at the most popular events.
- Ticket holders should also arrive 30 minutes ahead. Doors usually open 30 to 45 minutes before the start time.
- When a screening has no tickets left it becomes standby only. The standby line forms about 60 minutes before the screening. Fifteen minutes before the start, staff count the empty seats and sell rush tickets to the line, first come, first served.
- Every venue is cashless. Bring a card.
- If your day includes the Museum of Art, leave time for the walk across downtown.
Where to Stay: A Short Walk From the Theaters
Kehoe House and East Bay Inn
Both are within about five minutes on foot of Trustees Theater and the Lucas Theatre, close enough to go back to your room between an afternoon screening and an evening gala.
Kehoe House is an 1892 mansion on Columbia Square with just 13 individually named rooms, including the Johnny Mercer Room. It is adults-only, breakfast is cooked to order and can be delivered to your room, and parking is included, which matters in a week when downtown is full.
East Bay Inn has 28 rooms in an 1852 building on East Bay Street, one street from River Street. It is the only one of our four inns that welcomes children and pets, and parking is included in the amenity fee. Choose it if the festival is part of a family trip, or if you want River Street on the doorstep.
Eliza Thompson House and The Gastonian
Eliza Thompson House on West Jones Street is about a 15-minute walk from the theaters and the closest of the four to the SCAD Museum of Art. The Gastonian, on the north edge of Forsyth Park, is a little farther, closer to 20 minutes. Both are adults-only, with breakfast, early-evening wine and later desserts included in the stay. Over an eight-day festival, a quiet courtyard to come back to has its own appeal, and the walk north through the squares is one of the pleasures of the city.
Booking
Two of the three pass tiers sold out more than a month before opening night, and the festival’s opening Saturday is also the day of the Savannah Pride Festival and the first day of Wag-O-Ween. With several major downtown events falling on the same weekend, it is worth booking accommodation early, particularly if staying within walking distance of the festival theaters matters to you.
For how the Historic District is laid out and how walkable it is, see our first-timer’s guide to Savannah.