Matt Dillon, Geoffrey Fletcher, Diane Lane And Michelle Monaghan Will Be Honored At 15th Annual Savannah Film Festival

SAVANNAH, Ga., Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Academy Award-nominated actors Matt Dillon ("Crash") and Diane Lane ("Unfaithful") will be honored with Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Awards at the 15^th annual Savannah Film Festival, Oct. 27 – Nov. 3. The film festival, presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design, will also honor actress Michelle Monaghan ("Gone Baby Gone") with a "Spotlight Award" for her performance in "Tomorrow You're Gone" and Academy Award-winning writer and director Geoffrey Fletcher ("Precious") will receive the "SCAD Cinevation Award," which is given to one director for imagination, inspiration and innovation in cinema.

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Celebrating 15 years of cinematic creativity, the 2012 Savannah Film Festival will open with David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook," which recently won the top prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, and close with DreamWorks Animation's "Rise of the Guardian" directed by Peter Ramsey. By partnering with RealD Inc., a leading global licensor of 3-D technologies, the festival will screen films in 3-D for the first time. RealD will be the exclusive 3-D cinema provider at the Savannah Film Festival and provide the company's patented 3-D lens and glasses for permanent use.

Other special gala screenings include,

• Robert Zemeckis' "Flight"
• Dustin Hoffman's "Quartet"
• Jacques Audiard's "Rust & Bone"
• Wayne Blair's "The Sapphires"
• Michael Haneke's "Amour," winner of Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival
• Walter Salles' "On the Road"
• Geoffrey Fletcher's directorial debut "Violet & Daisy" with star James Gandolfini ("Sopranos") in attendance
• Ry Russo-Young's "Nobody Walks"
• Matt Ross' "28 Hotel Rooms"
• David Jacobson's "Tomorrow You're Gone"
• Bedabrata Pain's "Chittagong"
• Brian Savelson's "In Our Nature" with star Zach Gilford ("Friday Night Lights") in attendance
• Ramona Diaz's "Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey" documentary
• Julian Jarrold's HBO film "The Girl" with Jarrold in attendance
• Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush's "A Place at the Table" documentary
• Matt Dillon's "City of Ghosts" starring festival honoree Dillon
• George Roy Hill's "A Little Romance" starring festival honoree Diane Lane  

Special guests currently scheduled to attend will include,

• Christy Turlington Burns, who will be screening her "No Woman, No Cry" documentary
• Director Adam Shankman ("Rock of Ages")
• Producer and director, and founder and former president of New Line Cinema, Bob Shaye
• Gabourey Sidibe ("Precious")
• Norman Reedus ("The Walking Dead")
• Miles Teller ("Rabbit Hole")

The Savannah Film Festival has become one of the largest entertainment events in the Southeast. The festival features more than 30 competition films, selected from more than 1,000 entries in the categories of feature, short, animation, documentary and student competition that are submitted from around the world. During the festival, professional workshops and lectures for the community and area high school and college students address topics such as acting, directing, producing, animation and filmmaking, among others. SCAD students are also given the opportunity to network with filmmakers, directors, studio executives, producers and others to gain further understanding of their chosen career.

Over the past seven years, many of the evening screenings at the festival have garnered Academy Award nominations. The festival has U.S. premiered two Pedro Almodovar films as well as films by Robert Redford and Woody Allen. Special gala screenings, which were shown before their national release, include "127 Hours," "Amelie," "Babel," "Black Swan," "Precious," "Sideways," "Slumdog Millionaire," "The Artist," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "The Wrestler" and "Up in the Air."

Each year, distinguished honorees are presented awards for excellence in the entertainment industry. Past honored and special guests have included award winning actors Peter O'Toole, Michael Douglas, Oliver Stone, Jane Fonda, Sidney Lumet, Sir 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.

Tickets for the 2012 Savannah Film Festival will be available Monday, Oct. 1 at 10 a.m.

Tickets and passes can be purchased online at savannahboxoffice.com, via phone at 912.525.5050 or in person at the box office window, 216 E. Broughton St, Savannah. Festival passes are still available for purchase.

The schedule, which is subject to change, will be available Oct. 1 on the Savannah Film Festival website. For more information, visit scad.edu/filmfest or follow us on Facebook and on Twitter at @savfilmfest.

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution conferring bachelor's and master's degrees to prepare talented students for professional careers. As the most comprehensive art and design university in the world, SCAD offers more than 40 majors and more than 50 minors at distinctive locations in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia; in Hong Kong; in Lacoste, France; and online through SCAD eLearning.

SCAD has more than 20,000 alumni and offers an exceptional education and unparalleled career preparation. The diverse student body, consisting of more than 10,000 students, comes from all 50 United States and nearly 100 countries worldwide. Each student is nurtured and motivated by a faculty of more than 700 professors with extraordinary academic credentials and valuable professional experience. These professors emphasize learning through individual attention in an inspiring university environment. SCAD's innovative curriculum is enhanced by advanced, professional-level technology, equipment and learning resources and has garnered acclaim from respected organizations and publications, including 3D World, American Institute of Architects, BusinessWeek, DesignIntelligence, U.S. News & World Report and the Los Angeles Times. 

For more information, visit scad.edu.

SOURCE Savannah College of Art and Design