What happened in this Culture story?

Jessica Lange will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 SCAD Savannah Film Festival (Oct. 24-31), where she stars in the screening film "Long Day's Journey Into Night." The festival unveiled 24 distinguished films plus signature screenings, docs, and animation panels.

What is a key fact in this story? (1)

**Jessica Lange** will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, honored during a screening of "Long Day's Journey Into Night" in which she stars as matriarch Mary Tyrone opposite Ed Harris — a role that previously won her Tony and Drama Desk Awards on Broadway.

What is a key fact in this story? (2)

**The SCAD Savannah Film Festival** runs Oct. 24-31, opening with Anton Corbijn's "A Talent for Murder" (Bleecker Street) and closing with Martin McDonagh's "Wild Horse Nine" (Searchlight), with Jesse Eisenberg's "The Debut" (A24) as the Centerpiece Gala on Oct. 27.

Jessica Lange to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at SCAD Savannah Film Festival — SkimNews

By Variety · Summarized & edited by Kapil Samant · 2026-10-02

Get the Culture newsletter

Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.

Jessica Lange will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, honored during a screening of "Long Day's Journey Into Night" in which she stars as matriarch Mary Tyrone opposite Ed Harris — a role that previously won her Tony and Drama Desk Awards on Broadway.
The SCAD Savannah Film Festival runs Oct. 24-31, opening with Anton Corbijn's "A Talent for Murder" (Bleecker Street) and closing with Martin McDonagh's "Wild Horse Nine" (Searchlight), with Jesse Eisenberg's "The Debut" (A24) as the Centerpiece Gala on Oct. 27.
The 24-film distinguished lineup adds "Paper Tiger" (James Gray/Neon), "I Play Rocky" (Peter Farrelly/Amazon MGM), and "Behemoth!" (Tony Gilroy/Searchlight), alongside Danny Boyle's "Ink" and Peter Berg's "The Mosquito Bowl" (both Netflix), with distributors spanning A24, Neon, Sony Pictures Classics, and Mubi.
Signature Screenings feature Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" (Universal), a re-screening of the Wachowskis' "The Matrix" (Warner Bros.), Chris Rock's "Misty Green" (A24), Olivia Wilde's "The Invite" (A24), and Kane Parsons' "Backrooms" (A24).
The 13th annual Docs to Watch includes Rory Kennedy's "The Trial of Alec Baldwin" (Abramorama), Ron Howard's "Avedon" (Netflix), and Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi's "Everest: The Other Side" (National Geographic), with a directors roundtable hosted by The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg.
Variety's 10 Artisans to Watch returns for a fifth year, moderated by senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay, alongside the fifth annual "Pixels and Pencils" animation panel moderated by chief awards editor Clayton Davis, featuring Pixar's "Hoppers," Brad Bird's "Ray Gunn" (Netflix), and Laika's "Wildwood."
Christina Routhier, SCAD's senior executive director, called the lineup a snapshot of "incredible work happening across the industry right now," noting students get to sit in the room with "filmmakers and performers" shaping their own careers.

Why it matters: Lange's lifetime award — paired with the screening of her new Eugene O'Neill adaptation — is the festival's marquee moment, but the broader 2026 programming reveals SCAD's positioning as an awards-season staging ground: 24 distinguished films plus signature screenings of Nolan's "The Odyssey," Wachowski's "The Matrix," and a Docs lineup anchored by Rory Kennedy's "The Trial of Alec Baldwin" give distributors a concentrated platform in the eight days before Halloween.