Julianne Moore to Receive Icon Award at Screening of "The Debut" at SCAD Savannah Film Festival
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA (Sept. 29, 2026) — The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) has announced that Academy Award-winning actress Julianne Moore will receive the Icon Award during the SCAD Savannah Film Festival’s Centerpiece screening of The Debut Tuesday, Oct. 27. The nation’s largest university-led film festival and one of the largest of any kind in the Southeast, the 29th edition of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival will take place Oct. 24–31 primarily at the university’s historic, meticulously restored Lucas Theatre for the Arts and Trustees Theater, among other venues.
“Julianne Moore is one of the most extraordinary actors of her generation, bringing emotional depth, wit, and humanity to every role she inhabits,” said Christina Routhier, Senior Executive Director of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. “Her extraordinary career represents the very best of cinematic artistry, and we are thrilled to welcome her to Savannah to celebrate her work with our students, our community, and audiences from around the world.”
In The Debut, Moore stars alongside Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, and Jesse Eisenberg in Eisenberg’s A24 musical comedy, arriving in select theaters Friday, Dec. 11.
An Academy Award, Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and BAFTA-winning actor, Moore is celebrated for her wide-ranging performances across film and television, including acclaimed roles in Still Alice, Far From Heaven, The Hours, The Kids Are All Right, and Boogie Nights. Moore is the first American woman to receive top acting honors at the Berlin, Venice, and Cannes film festivals, cementing her status as one of the most respected performers of her generation. Her recent credits include Todd Haynes’ May December, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination; Apple TV’s Echo Valley; Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door; Netflix’s limited series Sirens; and the historical miniseries Mary & George. Next year, she will return to the stage to star in the title role of the off-Broadway play Faydra. Beyond her acting, Moore is a New York Times-bestselling children’s author of the Freckleface Strawberry series and the founding chair of Everytown for Gun Safety’s Creative Council, where she advocates for ending gun violence in America.
Festival passes for 2026 are available now. Individual event tickets go on sale Friday, Oct. 2.
ABOUT THE SCAD SAVANNAH FILM FESTIVAL
Presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), the SCAD Savannah Film Festival is filled with cinematic creativity from award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers. Each year, more than 74,000 people attend the eight-day festival. The festival has become a distinguished stop on the road to the Academy Awards, hosting exclusive screenings, competition films, feature films, documentaries, shorts, animated films, panel discussions, and workshops at SCAD’s historic theaters and industry-leading studio spaces. Presented in Savannah, a premier film hub in the Southeast, the festival promotes quality movies produced by independent and studio filmmakers.
Follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram, Letterbox1d, and TikTok @savfilmfest. For additional information and tickets, visit filmfest.scad.edu.
SCAD: THE UNIVERSITY FOR CREATIVE CAREERS
SCAD is a private, nonprofit, accredited university, offering more than 100 graduate and undergraduate degree programs across locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Lacoste, France; and online via SCADnow. SCAD enrolls more than 17,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 100 countries. The future-minded SCAD curriculum engages professional-level technology and myriad advanced learning resources, affording students opportunities for internships, professional certifications, and real-world assignments with corporate partners through SCADpro, the university’s renowned research lab and prototype generator. SCAD has earned top rankings for degree programs in interior design, architecture, film, fashion, digital media, and more. Career success is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni employment rate. A 2026 study found that 99% of recent SCAD graduates were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 12 months of graduation. SCAD provides students and alumni with ongoing career support through personal coaching, alumni programs, a professional presentation studio, and more.
ABOUT THE SCAD SCHOOL OF FILM AND ACTING
With resources that rival Hollywood studios and Broadway theaters, award-winning faculty, professionally run casting offices, and renowned film and television festivals, the SCAD School of Film and Acting prepares students for impactful careers in film, television, and live performance. Students in acting, cinematography, editing, film and television, production design, sound design, and the school’s new music production and vocal performance degree programs work across disciplines on professional-caliber film and TV shoots and stage performances, gaining hands-on experience, production credits, and valuable industry connections before graduation.
The heart of the SCAD School of Film and Acting is the newly completed 11-acre SCAD Film Studios in Savannah, the largest and most comprehensive university film studio complex in higher education. Designed for professional and student productions, the complex includes purpose-built soundstages and an expansive Hollywood-style backlot with more than 50 façades and practical interiors that can be transformed for different locations and eras. Filmmakers in Savannah also have access to a leading-edge LED volume stage, as well as virtual production, postproduction, and extensive production and costume design facilities. Together with SCAD Film Studios in Atlanta — with its own state-of-the-art spaces, such as an LED volume stage, broadcast studios, and editing facilities — located amid one of the nation’s leading film and television production markets, these resources position students on the same sets and spaces they will lead throughout their careers. At SCAD, every set, stage, and studio is a classroom.
Each fall, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival welcomes celebrated filmmakers, actors, producers, and other industry leaders to Savannah, bringing national and international attention to filmmaking throughout the region and Georgia. During the festival’s weeklong lineup of screenings and panels, SCAD students enjoy myriad opportunities to connect with major stars in front of and behind the camera, including exclusive master classes and Q&A sessions.