The Savannah College of Art and Design has released its first wave of SCAD Savannah Film Festival 2024 honorees, and they include Lupita Nyong’o and Annette Bening.

Taking place from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2, the festival features a lineup of exciting films including an opening night gala presentation of Blitz on Saturday, Oct. 26, featuring director Steve McQueen in attendance to receive the Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award.

“This year’s honorees epitomize the extraordinary breadth of talent within the world of cinema, from seasoned veterans to Hollywood’s rising stars,” said Christina Routhier, executive director of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. “I am thrilled for our students and attendees to witness the incredible star power coming to Savannah.”

Honorees attending the festival will participate in an awards presentation, moderated conversations, and master classes with SCAD acting and film and television students. Other screenings include Anora, Alien: Romulus, A Different Man, Emilia Pérez, Hit Man, Sing Sing, Unstoppable, The Wild Robot, and Young Woman and the Sea’.

On Friday, SCAD announced that The Piano Lesson actors Danielle Deadwyler, John David Washington, Skyler Aleece Smith, Michael Potts and director Malcolm Washington will receive the first annual Ensemble Award.

The Netflix film will screen on Saturday, Oct. 26 as part of opening night.

“We’re excited to present our inaugural Ensemble Award to the extraordinary cast of The Piano Lesson, whose collective talent brings August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play vibrantly to the screen,” SCAD Savannah Film Festival executive director Christina Routhier said. “It is an honor to recognize these exceptional artists including Danielle Deadwyler and John David Washington who give knockout performances in this powerful film along with the rest of this stellar cast as impeccably directed by Malcom Washington.”

Here is the full list of honorees announced so far below with information on their awards and where they will receive them:

SCAD Savannah Film Festival 2024 Honorees

Danielle Deadwyler, John David Washington, Skyler Aleece Smith, Michael Potts and director Malcolm Washington will receive the Ensemble Award at a screening of The Piano Lesson.

Annette Bening will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at a screening of her 1990 film The Grifters.

Jerry Bruckheimer will receive the Legend of Entertainment Award at an In Conversation event discussing his career.

Colman Domingo will receive the Spotlight Award at a screening of Sing Sing.

Karla Sofía Gascón will receive the Distinguished Performance Award at a screening of Emilia Pérez.

Jharrel Jerome will receive the Lumiere Award at a screening of Unstoppable.

Richard Linklater will receive the Lifetime Achievement in Screenwriting Award at a screening of Hit Man.

Mikey Madison will receive the Breakthrough Award at a screening of Anora.

Isabela Merced will receive the Rising Star Award at a screening of Alien: Romulus.

Lupita Nyong’o will receive the Virtuoso Award at a screening of The Wild Robot.

Daisy Ridley will receive the Lumiere Award in recognition of her current projects Magpie and Young Woman and the Sea. 

Sebastian Stan will receive the Maverick Award at a screening of A Different Man.

Also Read: SCAD Lacoste Honors Miranda Richardson, Janty Yates, Sam Taylor-Johnson and Jean-Pierre Jeunet

More About the Honorees

Bening most recently starred in the Peacock limited series Apples Never Fall. Last year, she starred in the film Nyad opposite Jodi Foster. Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, it followed 64-year-old marathon swimmer Diana Nyad throughout her journey to becoming the first person ever to swim from Cuba to Florida.

She’ll next be seen in The Bride!, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s upcoming Frankenstein film. Other cast will include Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penélope Cruz, and Peter Sarsgaard. Bening’s past film roles include Poolman, The Report, 20th Century Women, The Kids Are Alright, American Beauty, The American President, The Grifters, and Bugsy.

Bruckheimer is a prominent film and television producer known for Academy Award-nominated producer’s film credits including the Pirates of the Caribbean, Top Gun, National Treasure, Bad Boys, and Beverly Hills Cop franchises, as well as  Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, Remember the Titans, Enemy of the State, Armageddon, Con Air, The Rock, Crimson Tide, and Flashdance. 

Domingo executive produced and stars in Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing, which came out in July from A24. Last year, he notably played Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin in Netflix and Higher Ground’s Rustin for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He also recently starred as Mister in The Color Purple, and in November, he’ll play the lead in the limited series The Madness created by Clement Virgo for Netflix. 

Karla Sofía Gascón is a Spanish actress known for El Señor de los Cielos, Nosotros los Nobles, and recently, Netflix’s Emilia Pérez.

Jharrel Jerome is known for the Oscar-winning film Moonlight and his Emmy Award-winning performance in Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us. He recently starred in Boots Riley’s I’m a Virgo and Steven Soderbergh’s Full Circle.

Linklater is known for Slacker, Dazed and Confused, theBefore trilogy, Boyhood, Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, and Hit Man. 

Mikey Madison plays the title role in Sean Baker’s Anora, which received the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Her previous credits include The Lady in the Lake, Scream, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Isabela Merced recently appeared in Alien: Romulus. Her other films include Turtles All the Way Down, Madame Web, Rosaline, Father of the Bride, Sweet Girl, Spirit Untamed, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Let It Snow, Instant Family, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, and Transformers: The Last Knight. She’ll next be seen in the new season of The Last of Us, and as Hawkgirl in the upcoming Superman movie.

Lupita Nyong’o is an Oscar-winning Kenyan actress, producer, and New York Times bestselling author for her children’s book, Sulwe. She’s known for 12 Years a Slave, Black Panther, and Us.

Daisy Ridley’s will soon be seen in Magpie, as well as Young Woman and the Sea, and Sometimes I Think About Dying, also serving as a producer on all three as well as We Bury the Dead. She’s known for playing Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.

Stan executive produces stars in A24’s A Different Man, which is currently in theaters. His next film is The Apprentice, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, where he portrays Donald Trump alongside Jeremy Strong’s Roy Cohn.

His other credits include Pam and Tommy, Endings, Beginnings, Destroyer, I, Tonya, Fresh, Dumb Money, Sharper, The 355, Monday, Logan Lucky, The Martian, Ricki and the Flash, and Black Swan. He’ll soon be seen in the role of Bucky Barnes in Marvel’s Thunderbolts, reprising the role he’s played in seven Avengers franchise films including Avengers: Endgame, Ant-Man, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and three installations of Marvel’s Captain America films including Captain America: Civil War, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: The First Avenger.  

As previously announced, Colleen Atwood will receive the Creative Impact Award for Costume Design for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Additional honorees and the festival’s lineup are still to be announced.

Find out more about the SCAD Savannah Film Festival 2024 here.

Main Image: Lupita Nyong’o on the red carpet at the Big Screen Achievement Awards at the 2024 CinemaCon at The Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, Gage Skidmore, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0; Annette Bening at the Toronto International Film Festival 2013, Gordon Correll, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0.