Submit your film
The SCAD Savannah Film Festival's competition series features the very best in independent filmmaking. Showcasing cinematic creativity that ranges from compelling feature-length narrative and documentary films to innovative international shorts, the festival's continuous pursuit of spotlighting excellence in filmmaking results in a diverse and enriching experience each year.
Submit your film
The SCAD Savannah Film Festival receives more than 2,500 film submissions annually for competition series. To submit a film for consideration or to learn more, visit FilmFreeway.
Submissions for the 2025 festival are now open.
To submit your film for consideration, visit 
2025 dates and deadlines
Submission period opens: Dec. 1, 2024
Early bird deadline: April 30, 2025
Regular deadline: June 1, 2025
Late deadline: June 15, 2025
Extended deadline: June 30, 2025
Notification date: Sept. 15, 2025
Festival: Oct. 25–Nov. 1, 2025
Competition categories
Animated Shorts
With the ability to delight and excite, these animated short films represent the diversity of the process — from hand-drawn figures to stop-motion and digital rendering — and showcase unique storytelling at its finest.
Global Shorts Forum
This collection of more than 30 powerful short films from a variety of international perspectives tackles pressing challenges faced by our global community, including BIPOC topics, homelessness, health, and women's issues.
LGBTQ+ Shorts presented by Amazon Studios
Recognizing the need for more inclusive storytelling, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and Amazon Studios have partnered to create a dedicated short film competition that offers a platform for emerging queer filmmakers to share their stories and gain mentorship and exposure.
Narrative Features
From side-splitting comedies to heart-wrenching dramas, narrative feature films selected represent diversity in storytelling, excellence in acting and directing, and exemplary cinematography and editing.
Shorts Spotlight
These short films transcend the traditional modes of filmmaking with stories that make us laugh, consider the challenges many people face, and change the way we think about the world around us.
Documentary Features
Beyond simple subject matter, documentaries present compelling stories that illuminate and educate audiences in a thought-provoking and timely manner.
Documentary Shorts
In this mesmerizing collection of shorts, filmmakers explore art, history, politics, and personal profiles to offer a captivating panorama of our world.
Professional Shorts
Running the gamut of topics and styles, these short films are selected based on their individual merits in storytelling and execution.
Student Shorts
In this collection, student short films represent emerging visions from a broad range of styles, including live action, narrative, documentary, and animation.
"There are festivals that are a business and there are festivals that genuinely care about the films, the filmmakers and nurturing new and up-and-coming talent. SCAD is certainly the latter."
— Chris Overton, Academy Award-winning filmmaker, The Silent Child
2024 award winners
Winning films from the 2024 SCAD Savannah Film Festival explored a wide range of themes and viewpoints.
Audience awards
- Audience Award Winner — The Wild Robot, directed by Chris Sanders
- Audience Award Runner-Up — Anora, directed by Sean Baker
Professional competition
- Best Animated Short — The Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess, directed by Anna-Ester Volozh
- Honorable Mention — Monsoon Blue, directed by Jay Hiukit Wong and Ellis Kayin Chan
- Best Documentary Feature — Champions of the Golden Valley, directed by Ben Sturgulewski
- Best Narrative Short — The Masterpiece, directed by Àlex Lora
- Best Narrative Feature — Los Frikis, directed by Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson
- Best Director — The Ride Ahead, directed by Samuel Habib and Dan Habib
- Special Jury Recognition for Cinematography — After Annecy, directed by Rebecca Holstein
- Special Jury Recognition: Spotlight Performance — Amrit Kaur, The Queen of My Dreams
- Best LGBTQIA+ Short — RIPE!, directed by Tusk (Olivia Mitchell and Kerry Furrh)
- LGBTQIA+ Short Audience Award Winner — Re-Entry, directed by Ariel Mahler
Student competition
- Best Narrative Student Short — El Alma de la Sed, directed by Colleen Ryan, SCAD
- Honorable Mention — Desync, directed by Minerva Marie Navasca, Sheridan College
- Best Student Animated Short — High Diver, directed by Oscar Bittner, Filmakademie Baden Württemberg
- Special Jury Honorable Mention — The Nectar Instead for Excellence in Craftsmanship, directed by Yoo Lee, University of Southern California
- Best Student Documentary Short — Failure to Fail, directed by Haley Breese, SCAD
The Inaugural Katie Spikes Legacy Award Scholarship
Katie Spikes was a senior story editor for CBS' 60 Minutes and a beloved friend of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival for many years. After her passing in 2023, the Katie Spikes Legacy Scholarship was created to honor excellence in filmmaking by a SCAD student.
- Award Winner — Failure to Fail, directed by Haley Breese, SCAD
Global Shorts Forum
- Best Latin Lens — ¡Salsa!, directed by Antonina Kerguelen Roman (B.F.A., film and television, 2018)
- Best Visions de France — Yuck!, directed by Loïc Espuche
- Honorable Mention for Social Impact — Monochrome, directed by Cedric Prevost
- Best Global Short — Little Queen, directed by Julien Guetta
Shorts Spotlight
- Best Comic Distortions — Idiomatic, directed by Phil Dunster
- Best After Dark Horror Short — Wake, directed by Sean Carter
- Best Femme Forward — Vlog, directed by Yvonne Strahovski
- Best Shorts Spotlight — A Family Portrait, Queens, directed by Billy Silva
- Best Professional Documentary Short — Good Enough Ancestor, directed by Cynthia Wade
- Honorable Mention — I'm Still Here: A Life on Dynamite Hill, directed by Stephen Stinson and Sam Miller
- Jury Award Honorable Mention — Les Bêtes for Craftsmanship in Animation
Rules
To see the rules and terms for submission, visit filmfreeway.com.
Awards and prizes
The SCAD Savannah Film Festival honors the top films in competition categories and will award additional recognitions at the discretion of festival jurors.
Judging
Films chosen for competition at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival are judged by a select panel of jurors who are journalists, filmmakers, producers, and executives with industry experience and have a keen eye for the best in cinema. Awards are announced at the annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival awards brunch.
2024 professional competition jurors
- Kate Erbland (Editorial director, IndieWire)
- Brian Formo (Head of studio relations and video, Letterboxd)
- Zeberiah Newman (Filmmaker)
- Richard Suckle (Producer)