SCAD Savannah Film Festival Announces Films Selected for 2026 Pixels and Pencils, Presented in Partnership with Variety
Skwigly
© DreamWorks Animation
The Savannah College of Art and Design’s 29th annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival (Oct. 24-31) announced programming for this year’s Pixels and Pencils, presented in partnership with Variety. Now in its fifth year, the signature animation series highlights the directors behind the year’s most acclaimed animated features and culminates in the annual roundtable moderated by Variety’s chief awards editor, Clayton Davis.
The selected films and their directors are:
- Forgotten Island (Dreamworks Animation), dirs. Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado
- Hoppers (Pixar), dir. Daniel Chong
- Tangles (IFC), dir. Leah Nelson
- Ray Gunn (Netflix), dir. Brad Bird
- Wildwood (Laika), dir. Travis Knight
The panel has become a key destination for animated contenders during awards season, with previous participants including Academy Award-nominees Arco, Elio, KPop Demon Hunters, and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain. KPop Demon Hunters went on to receive an Academy Award.
The eight-day festival is the largest university-run film festival in the world and welcomes approximately 75,000 attendees each year for exclusive screenings, panel discussions, workshops, and appearances from leading names in Hollywood and world cinema.
Festival passes for 2026 are available now. Individual event tickets go on sale Friday, Oct. 2, and will be available online at filmfest.scad.edu, by phone at 912.525.5050, or in person at the SCAD Box Office (scadboxoffice.com) at 216 E. Broughton St. in Savannah.