"The silhouette is the most important thing," said costume designer Ellen Mirojnick of Oppenheimer's signature hat and suit. "I don't think there are words to describe how much I love designing menswear, and that silhouette was just a sublime one to design."

Mirojnick was speaking to a rapt student audience in a packed Gutstein Galley during the SCAD Savannah Film Festival panel "Artisans: Craft and Character Through Costume Design." Her insights revealed how costuming is a key to character.

"Until his death, Oppenheimer's silhouette was always the same," she said. "He was a man who always wanted to be presented as handsome and wearing fine clothes. Maybe that happens with men when they discover it's easier to look a particular way. His was a very forward-thinking silhouette."

Mirojnick (also known for The Greatest Showman, The Knick) was joined by fellow in-demand costume designers Charlese Antoinette Jones (Air, Nanny, Judas and the Black Messiah), Rudy Mance (American Fiction, The Watcher, The Alienist) and Trish Summerville (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Mank), on a panel moderated by Variety Senior Artisans Editor Jazz Tangcay. Their costume-centric discussion ranged from lavish period pieces to contemporary epics.

Film Fest guests (l-r) Tangcay, Jones, Mance, Mirojnick, and Summerville all love a stylish silhouette.

"If anything existed after 1984, it wasn't allowed in [Air]," said Jones of the sports drama set during Michael Jordan's rookie season. "That pertained to Nike sneakers and sportswear, and other clothing as well. If there was an older person in a scene, their clothes leaned more towards ‘70s style, and any young person, they were more current, with looks from '83-'84. It was a lot of suiting, which I love."

Earlier in the week, writer and director Cord Jefferson won the Breakthrough Director Award at a screening of his debut feature, American Fiction. Costume designer Mance said: "Cord and I have been best friends for at least fifteen years. About a year and a half ago he called me and said, ‘Baby boy, our dream's comin' true, they're letting me make a movie and you're going to costume design it.'" Mance described Jefferson's clear mandate for the movie: "Dress the family like old money."

Summerville spoke about the new blockbuster installment of the Hunger Games and revisiting the franchise ten years after the original hit film. "It's a completely different time now, we're sixty-four years in the past. We're seeing President Snow at eighteen years old. So how do we want to show this bold world, the future-past? Our fanbase loves the gluttonous Capitol, but we scaled that back to show what America looked like in the '40s and ‘50s and how people dressed properly. That meant creating a whole new silhouette and color palette and controlling the environment a lot more."

When Tangcay opened up the floor for a Q&A, there was no lack of smart requests from students. In turn, the panelists addressed challenges including compiling valuable research, communicating effectively with directors, the mutable role of archival costume houses, and what they do with their precious time off.

"As designers, we all work singularly, we don't work together, so when we see each other in a hallway and wave, that's about the extent of it," Mirojnick said. "When we're not working, we can have lunch, dinner—and come together panels like this one—social things that actually make our lives full."

Full of love—at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival.

Costume designer Charlese Antoinette Jones shines at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival 2023!

Oppenheimer image courtesy Universal Pictures / Everett Collection

Inspiration has a new destination, and SCAD is proud to announce the new classroom building at 641 Indian St. in Savannah has a meaningful name: the Graham Scott. 

Named for dedicated, long-standing staff members James Graham and Trá Scott, the Graham Scott welcomed students this fall as home to the university's top-ranked photography degree program. The new facility has classrooms, studio spaces, and art galleries to enhance the learning experience. 

“James Graham and Trá Scott are deeply devoted and brilliantly talented individuals," announced President Paula Wallace. “Their indefatigable contributions and inspiring positivity have helped create life-changing experiences for generations of SCAD Bees. The entire built environment of SCAD bears the imprint of their expertise and care, and it is wholly fitting to recognize their decades of transformative work with a SCAD building named in their honor."

Graham and Scott have been a special part of the SCAD family for 34 and 35 years, respectively. They are both lifelong Savannahians. 

Graham grew up in the Brickyard community in West Savannah and attended Johnson High School. He joined SCAD in 1990 and is the university's Support Service Supervisor. Graham manages the setup for SCAD signature events including the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, Sidewalk Arts Festival, and SCAD Fashion Show. 

“I am grateful to President Wallace and everyone at SCAD for this honor," Graham said. “This shows how much they pay attention and care about the hard work we do. The thing I love most about working at SCAD is being part of the student experience and watching them grow. The students are the ones who encouraged me to get my degree." Graham graduated from SCAD in 2010 with a B.F.A. in film and television.

Trá Scott grew up in the Hudson Hill neighborhood and attended Groves High School. He joined the university in 1989 and serves as the Facilities Manager. 

“This just shows hard work and determination can get you places you never dreamed possible," said Scott. “SCAD is the only place I have ever worked. The faculty and staff are like my family and this university is my love story."

A formal dedication of the building took place on the morning of Saturday, October 14. SCAD friends and family celebrated James Graham and Trá Scott's enduring legacy of positivity, expertise, and care, and their nearly 70 years of combined stewardship at SCAD.

As President Wallace said: “Trá and James, my deepest appreciation goes to you for your many contributions to SCAD. Your love and loyalty are woven into the fabric of our university. You truly embody our student-centered mission and exemplify our SCAD values. May the Graham Scott long remind us all of your brilliant legacies."

Banner image: Trá Scott (left) and James Graham outside their namesake building.

For everything a season: Fall Fine Arts Showcase is here. SCAD painting, photography, printmaking, and ceramic arts programs present an evening of outstanding student and alumni work this Friday, October 13, 5-8 p.m. Over 560 works of art by more than 200 student and alumni artists will be showcased in Alexander Hall and the new state-of-the-art SCAD photography building, The Graham Scott.

“This is a great opportunity for the community to come see outstanding work from SCAD,” said Honor Bowman, Dean of the School of Fine Arts and School of Visual Communication, of the free event, open to the public. “Everyone is welcome to come experience graduate students and seniors in their studios sharing their creative processes, as well as take in interactive faculty demonstrations that allow guests to watch an artwork in process or make something of their very own.”

Guests will have the opportunity to view and purchase art available for sale through SCAD Art Sales, the university’s in-house art consultancy. SCAD is the only university to offer a commercial gallery service that exclusively represents the work of students, alumni, and faculty to international clientele.

In Alexander Hall, visitors will view Sherah Rosen’s thesis exhibition Disillusion: The Search for the Sublime. Rosen (M.F.A., painting, 2023) presents contemporary renditions of 18th-century Romanticism, showcasing intense, figurative paintings that take after the historical movement’s dramatic style and explorations of the “sublime.” She encourages her audience to consider the potential what is ultimately unattainable.

“The people in my paintings are looking for an escape from the mundane, that which is otherworldly and transcends the everyday,” Rosen writes. “They want to come to something extraordinary.”

On view in The Graham Scott Gallery will be a SCAD photo exhibition highlighting photographic work spanning a wide range of subjects, styles, and material explorations. A pop-up collaborative exhibition will display work by alumni Julia Kier Wilson (M.F.A, photography, 2018) and William Glaser Wilson (B.F.A, photography, 2017).

SCAD artists shape wood, concrete, bronze, light, digital projections, and other materials in large public art works, movie miniatures, props and prosthetics, commercial prototypes, fine art, site-specific installations, set designs, and more. The university’s students and alumni exhibit at world-renowned museums—from the Guggenheim to the Museum of Modern Art to the Smithsonian.

Guests have the opportunity to tour studio spaces peek behind-the-scenes at a photoshoot, pull a print on a press, experience a photobook showcase, learn to slip cast, and be transported to the landscapes of Lacoste, France through a video projection exhibit. The showcase takes place in Savannah this Friday, Oct. 13, 5-8 p.m. at Alexander Hall and The Graham Scott on Indian Street.

Kassidy Keenehan, B.F.A. painting, "Jane, 1976," 2023, oil on canvas, 25 x 30 in.

Courtesy of the artist.

For architectural historians, annual conferences are an opportunity to showcase and see new research, scholarship, and analytical approaches, connect with colleagues from across the country, and learn about the host city through tours and presentations. The annual meeting of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (known as “SESAH” and pronounced see-saw)—attracts architectural historians, historic preservationists, social historians, architects, and independent scholars.

At this year's meeting, held Sept. 27-30 in Little Rock, Arkansas, SCAD had another great showing, with a total of seven presentations by faculty, a current graduate student, and three alumni—the largest representation by any institution of higher education. 

Architectural history faculty members David Gobel, Patrick Haughey, and Chair Robin Williams presented, respectively, on early 20th century Savannah architect Henrik Wallin, U.S. Presidential libraries, and Savannah's early sports infrastructure. M.F.A. student Bethany Laskin drew from her master's thesis project in presenting on the pioneering all-female architecture firm Gannon and Hands and the impediments they faced in a nearly all-male field in the early 1900s. Five alumni of the department attended the conference, with three presenting papers: Nathan Walker (M.A. 2006), Alesha Cerny (M.A. 2011) and Glen Umberger (M.F.A. 2015). Alum Ruben Acosta (M.F.A. 2010) serves on the SESAH Board of Directors as the Florida representative.

Beyond the scholarship on display, the SESAH board unanimously approved SCAD's bid to host the 2026 SESAH annual meeting in Savannah, which will coincide with the architectural history department's 30th anniversary. SCAD last hosted the SESAH meeting in 2003. David Gobel concluded a four-year term on the Board as chair of the Editorial Committee overseeing the publication of SESAH's annual academic journal Arris.

Each year SESAH recognizes excellence in scholarship with four publication awards selected by a dedicated committee. Chair Robin Williams was honored with the Best Essay in an Edited Volume award for his chapter "The Global Spread of Street Pavement Materials and Technology, 1820-1920" in Infrastructure Designs: Global Perspectives from Architectural History, edited by Joseph Heathcott (Routledge, 2022). This was the second publication award received by SCAD faculty. In 2018, Williams and four departmental co-authors won the Best Guidebook award for Buildings of Savannah (University of Virginia Press, 2016).

Among the architectural highlights of Little Rock are the Old State House, the oldest state capitol building west of the Mississippi (built 1833-42, Gideon Shryock and George Weigart, architects) where the concluding keynote address took place, the William J. Clinton Presidential Center (built 2004 by Polshek Partnership, now Ennead Architects), and the dramatically renovated and expanded Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts by Studio Gang, which opened in April 2023. These buildings of historical significance were a fine setting for another successful SCAD experience at SESAH.

Congratulations to Chair Robin Williams, recipient, "Best Essay in an Edited Volume" Award, SESEAH 2023.

Learn more about architectural history at SCAD.

Group photo, left to right: Ruben Acosta, Nathan Walker, David Gobel, Robin Williams, Elizabeth Clappin (M.F.A., architectural history, 2016), Bethany Laskin, Glen Umberger, Alesha Cerny and Patrick Haughey.

Last week the artist Tyler Mitchell, wearing a supremely stylish lavender sweater, sat on the SCAD MOA theater stage to discuss his new exhibition Domestic Imaginaries with chief curator Daniel Palmer. "This is such a big moment!" Palmer enthused, introducing "Tyler's most ambitious show to date and his first solo museum show in his home state." Mitchell basked in the ovation from the student audience.

"Whenever I'm invited to show my photographic work in a museum, I'm always thinking how to engage with the physicality, democratize the medium, and fuse the installation and sculpture," Mitchell said. The Atlanta native ("I grew up in the same house until age 18"), was prepared to plumb work that, in his words, "considers contemporary Black presence."

Domestic Imaginaries tackles a challenge of space. The Pamela Elaine Poetter Gallery of the SCAD Museum of Art—almost 300 feet long, with one wall comprised entirely of windows and the other of 1850s Savannah Gray brick—has confounded more experienced artists. Mitchell's solution: subdivide the gallery using zig-zagging clotheslines hung with photographs printed on fabric.

"I'm thinking about the luxury of outdoor space and what that means in today's world, especially for young Black people," Mitchell said. "All that gets married into this work, which I hope is understood and appreciated as much formally and visually as it is intellectually."

"House Is Not a Home" achieves all three aims. A satiny shroud covers a boxy walnut frame. The dye-sublimation print of a photograph of a young Black man on the fabric suggests that what is revealed is also obscured. A sort of now you see him, now you don't impression is indelible.

The exhibition also features pieces of furniture—a bureau, a bookshelf, a couch—that the artist calls "altar sculptures." They emphasize Mitchell's idea of the home as the original gallery, "where we first encounter photographs of ourselves, as people, as families, as humans wanting to form a sense of identity." (This is strikingly manifest in "The Grand Sofa," where family photos are literally printed on the sofa's mustard green fabric.)

By "bringing my photographic practice into a physical storytelling realm," Mitchell invites scrutiny of the work. One altar sculpture has drawers containing photographs; another is laden with books including Josef Albers' Interaction of Color (1963) and Robin Coste Lewis' To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness (2022). "Placing these books in proximity to each other can create almost a full sentence," Mitchell said.

Prompted by Palmer, the artists ‘fessed up to being an "obsessive collector of art books." His decision to include some of them in his show indicated a deep esteem for research as form of artistic practice. He gave a shout-out to Grace Wales Bonner.

At the end of Palmer and Mitchell's conversation, students posed questions: some technical, some philosophical. Mitchell emphasized intuition as a solution. He thanked everyone and said:

"It's exciting as a photographer to make a show that expands on what a photography show can do."

Domestic Imaginaries is on view at the SCAD Museum of Art through December 31, 2023.

Rev up your Unreal Engine, it's time for SCAD AnimationFest!

The highly anticipated festival returns this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Sept. 28-30, 2023, as the first major event to be held at the new 700-seat SCADshow theater in Atlanta. SCADFILM's signature festival for digital media will feature sessions with top executives and creatives from Netflix, Gearbox, Cartoon Network Studios, FOX, Viva Kids, Animal Repair Shop, Crafty Apes, Artie, and FuseFX, as well as SCAD faculty and alumni at the forefront of animation, motion media design, and visual effects. This year, SCAD AnimationFest programming expands to include gaming and virtual production, industries that have intertwined to create a new transmedia entertainment world.

"As the nation's biggest and best festival celebrating student animators and industry trends, SCAD AnimationFest shines in three-dimensional wonder—especially true this year, as SCAD unveils our state-of-the art theater in the heart of Midtown, where the screen is as colossal as SCAD's student talent," said President Paula Wallace. "It's the perfect stage for the world premiere of The Last Dungeon, the latest triumph from SCAD Animation Studios and a collaborative marvel from more than forty SCAD Bees. Truly a masterpiece in motion!"

SCADFILM is honored to recognize Adam Muto as the 2023 Spotlight Award recipient for his innovative contributions to animation and entertainment. Muto will be presented with his award on Friday during a special screening event for his new Max series Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, followed by a Q&A to share insights about his incredible journey in animation.

SCAD will also honor keynote speaker Theodore "Ted" Ty with the Outstanding Achievement in Animation Award. The global head of character animation at DNEG Animation, Ty will present a behind the scenes look at the popular Netflix movie Nimona, based on the acclaimed 2015 graphic novel by ND Stevenson.

On Saturday night, FOX will host an exclusive screening of the comedy Krapopolis, with members of the production team on hand to give attendees a behind-the-scenes look at the new animated series. Several sessions at SCAD AnimationFest feature work from students and faculty, including a preview of the new animated film Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow, which is followed by a Q&A with producer and film professor Jason Kaminsky and screenwriter Rocco Pucillo.

The Last Dungeon: a true SCAD collaboration.

SCAD Animation Studios, the world's only animation studio at a university, is excited to host the premiere screening of The Last Dungeon, the first student animated film to be created using Unreal Engine. A true SCAD collaboration, students from many different degree programs worked together on the production, including animation, visual effects, acting, and sound design students, to build a cohesive, harmonious score and riveting soundtrack that pulls the film together.

"This year, SCAD AnimationFest explores how technology is evolving beyond traditional definitions of animation to develop new and innovative transmedia storytelling," said Leigh Seaman, senior executive director of SCADFILM. "As a top-ranked university in animation, interactive design and game development, visual effects, motion media design, illustration, and more, SCAD is uniquely qualified to host the best in the industry as presenters and mentors."

To purchase passes and view the full schedule, visit scad.edu/animationfest.

"When there is a lack of representation, you assume there's a good reason why," says Jelly, Ben & Pogo creator Jalysa Leva (B.F.A., animation, 2015). "And there isn't."

In 2021, PBS Kids debuted Leva's program about a young Filipino American brother and sister (that would be Jelly and Ben) and their sensitive, sometimes silly sea monster (Pogo). The show represents the siblings' cultural reality with fun, educational stories suitable for Pre-K viewers. In one episode, they prepare a balikbayan box for a cousin in the Philippines. In another, they enjoy a kamayan feast with their best friend's family. Jelly and Ben's grandmother, Lola, speaks primarily in Tagalog.

"I wanted to give [Filipino American] kids [watching the show] a sense of validation that they don't know they need yet—when they get older they'll realize it's important," Leva told Asians in Animation in a 2022 YouTube interview.

Now, she expands on that idea, explaining how representation is an invitation: "I've gotten feedback from parents of all types of families and they specifically call out, ‘We're not Filipino, but we love the show. We even tried halo-halo!'"

After graduating as salutatorian from SCAD Atlanta in 2015, Leva went to work at Primal Screen, a studio with a close relationship with PBS Kids. "Jelly, Ben & Pogo was a result of a PBS Kids request for proposals for new content from new creators, and they specifically wanted more diversity," she says of the network home to Curious George and Molly of Denali. "That was perfect for me."

On Friday, Sept. 29, Leva will appear at SCAD AnimationFest on the Alumni Voices panel, hosted by professor animation Matt Maloney. "Having Jalysa take part in our Alumni Voices panel will be a highlight of what’s sure to be another incredible AnimationFest," says Maloney. "As both a creator and creative leader, she exemplifies the best of our professional animation alumni, and sets a sterling example for our students."

SCADFILM Executive Director Leigh Seaman is equally enthusiatic: "Alumni Voices is always one of the most popular panels and we are thrilled to have Jalysa join us this year. It is no surprise to those of us who know Jalysa that she's had incredible success in the industry, and it's exciting to have her back to inspire current students as they prepare to launch their own creative careers."

Leva is a dab hand at live events. At conventions like WasabiCon and Dragon Con, she represents as a Filipino American creator with her TOTO-O character brand offering toys, puzzles, hats, blankets, and yes, a shrimp crackers pillow.

"When I take my business to convention spaces, Filipinos always recognize that we're Filipino," she says. "They're grateful because they're getting what we've been giving our Jelly, Ben & Pogo audience, which is representation in a space where they thought there wasn't room for them. It's really rewarding."

A cool conversationalist, Leva is also an attuned leader. Close to twenty SCAD alumni have worked on Jelly, Ben & Pogo, demonstrating the power of creative collaboration in a professional setting.

"I believe a strong leader should not be the strongest artist in the room—they should be the strongest leader," Leva says. "The leader is meant to support their strongest artists. I love doing that."

Meet leader, creator, and super cool person Jalysa Leva at SCAD AnimationFest 2023!

photo: Alex Kelly

"When we look at a portrait of an artist, we think about the person who's depicted in the work, their art, their stories," said assistant curator Haley Clouser from the stage of the SCAD MOA theater. "I'm happy to sit here today and flip the script."

To the stage Clouser welcomed artists Rebecca Ness, Keith Mayerson, and Michael James O'Brien, each of whom has a work in the new SCAD MOA exhibition Likewise: Artists Portraying Artists. "So, what about the artist behind the painting, behind the photograph?" Clouser prompted.

Serious script-flipping ensued; but first, a warm-up: Mayerson, radiating positivity, told the audience, "You rock!" (A laughing Ness: "You're so impasto!") O'Brien crossed his legs and told a peculiar anecdote about Richard Avedon and a dog. Clouser entreated them to speak of their work, revealing how-what-why and then some.

Mayerson's rendering of Marcel Proust—twinkling visage, prominent chin, fab mustache—depicts the French writer marveling over a painting by Vermeer. "I think the secret of portraiture is revealing the inner personality of the person you're portraying," Mayerson said, biting into an imaginary madeleine. He advised students to go deep, get into it, do research—"yes, learn from your professors and complete your assignments"—but do what you want to do. Mayerson said he'd listened to the entirety of Proust's epic A Remembrance of Things Past ("on 26 CDs!") while painting.

Brooklyn-based Ness was there to discuss "Hangama," her rich, dynamic painting of her friend, Afghan-Canadian artist Hangama Amiri, who, as Ness explained, "very specifically doesn't make paintings with paint, she makes paintings with fabric." Ness's portrait, taken from her Studio Visitor series, depicts an absorbed, in-action Hanagama pushing patchwork cloth through a sewing machine. "What was more important than getting the likeness right was making the portrait of her work the most authentic to her."

"If the person's very well known, that's not always helpful," said SCAD Atlanta chair of photography O'Brien, discussing the perils of celebrity portraiture and the day he shot Andy Warhol. "I wanted Andy to look like the prince regent in an imaginary Velazquez painting, and Edmond Gaultney is the sentry." O'Brien pointed out how his choice of film ("Tri-X 400 graded at 320") combined with limitations-turned-strengths ("I don't have depth of field") created a regal and resonant image of Warhol. "You have to ask yourself why you're being drawn to it."

Students of all ages sopped up the wit and wisdom. The discussion lasted a half-hour, tops, Clouser corralling the crew. Afterwards someone yelled "I loved that!" The only possible response? Likewise.

(l-r) Michael James O'Brien, Keith Mayerson, Rebecca Ness, SCAD MOA's Haley Clouser.

"When I'm painting, I try to stay loose," said Maggie Ellis (B.F.A., painting, 2014). "I'm not interested in depicting realistic environments perfectly."

Full of churning energy and a preponderance of purple, her paintings prove her point. The Atlanta-born artist was in the SCAD Museum of Art for a gallery talk with assistant curator Brittany Richmond. The occasion was Ellis's first museum exhibition, The Ride. "We're going to take you on a ride around her show," said Richmond, which sounded a bit meta but felt right.

Indeed, the packed talk became a live-action version of the paintings themselves. Looking at people looking at the work was a manifestation of the artist's objective.

"I was trying to think about a situation where I could paint a crowd where everyone was having an experience collectively," Ellis said. "And within that, the different facial expressions, individually."

Ellis and Richmond stood bracketing the large-scale painting "IMAX." The moviegoers depicted in the painting seem disgruntled, delighted, or drowsy as they sit on a slant in a steeply pitched theater. "I was thinking about the sharp diagonal, cutting the space corner to corner and having the figures recede into the back, all bathed in this light," Ellis explained. "It conveys the feeling of gawking up at this ginormous screen," added Richmond.

“IMAX,” 2021, oil and acrylic on canvas, 34 x 50 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Ellis, who currently lives and works in New York City, has been called "an unflinching observationalist" and is represented by gallerist Charles Moffett. Much of her work feels New York-centric, though not to the exclusion of other worlds. Whether depicting an in-flight crush of airplane passengers ("Turbulence") or a phalanx of bicyclists on a stinky Bushwick street ("Flat Rat"), the paintings all capture crucibles of human drama.

During her talk, the esteemed alum stood in front of her oil-on-linen "The Big Dance" and said: "I was looking a lot at El Greco, his figures in his paintings from the 1500s have very long exaggerated limbs and they're flailing passionately around. I was thinking about putting together a space with limbs and legs and the figures themselves pulled from imagination or people I've seen on the street." (Plus the occasional recognizable celebrity: an old school John Travolta getting down amid the dancing throng.) Curator Richmond gestured towards a young woman in the painting and wondered: "Is she wearing a see-through top or is her body see-through?" Ellis's answer was to nod and smile.

Bits of Bruegelian grotesquerie and Ernie Barnes boogie-downs seem to inform the work. The paintings in The Ride feel both distinct yet part of something greater. As Richmond put it, "You have these master art historical painter influences and you're using what they put out in the world and you're bringing it to 2023 and it feels so fresh."

At that point, the curator and the artist were standing in front of a wall displaying gouache and graphite on paper works with titles like "Scream Study" and "Pizza Party Study." All part of The Ride.

"I see painting as this gigantic lineage, past-present-future," said Ellis. "I'm just here now."

Photo by Charlie Rubin

Maggie Ellis, The Ride, on view at SCAD Museum of Art through Mon. August 28, 2023.

SCAD is delighted to present the second annual SCAD Lacoste Film Festival, this Saturday and Sunday, July 1–2, at the university's global location in majestic Lacoste, France. The festival will bring together award-winning producers and new and legendary films for a two-day celebration beginning with an opening night soiree on the lawn at La Maison Basse.

"With walls dating back from the 12th century, La Maison Basse transforms into an outdoor stage and theater where art can be enjoyed under the stars," said SCAD Lacoste executive director Cédric Maros. "Every second feels special here, and it's that magic that gives the SCAD Lacoste Film Festival its unique setting for artists sharing their work with the students and the community."

This year's event shines a light on fashion in film, connecting many of the university's top ranked degree programs including fashion, film and television, production design, and performing arts. The festival features a screening and conversation with Emily in Paris costume designer Marylin Fitoussi and a tribute to French film icon Jean-Luc Godard and his immortal feature, Breathless. SCAD dramatic writing professor Chris Auer will lead a conversation about Godard's 1960 masterpiece, regarded as one of best examples of the French New Wave.

On Sunday, July 2, acclaimed British actor Lesley Manville will be presented with the prestigious SCAD Etoile, followed by a screening of Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. Manville is known for her Academy Award-nominated role in Phantom Thread and her extensive collaboration with director Mike Leigh. Manville's performance in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. SCAD performing arts professor Ashanti Brown will join Manville in conversation to discuss an expansive career across film, television, and stage.

The SCAD Lacoste Film Festival is presented by SCADFILM, the university's leading programmer of events for students and working professionals in animation, film and television, interactive design and game development, motion media design, immersive reality, and digital media arts.

"From fashion documentaries to the hottest TV series and acclaimed films, the SCAD Lacoste Film Festival weaves together two perfect days filled with screenings and events in the enchanting Luberon Valley,” said SCADFILM senior executive director and producer Leigh Seaman. "All attendees including students will enjoy access to award-winning creatives from across the globe thanks to the unique partnerships SCAD enjoys with the film and television industry.”

Highlights of the festival including a screening of the animated film Le Futur, a tribute to the storied life and career of fashion designer and longtime Lacoste resident Pierre Cardin. Executive produced by SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace and directed by Matthew Miller, Le Futur sets Cardin's fascinating tale in motion, giving life to his sensational rise to global acclaim.

Special guests include Alison Owen, one of the U.K.'s leading film and television producers, who will discuss her remarkable career. Owen initially found international success with Shekhar Kapur's multi-Academy Award-nominated and BAFTA-winning 1998 historical drama Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchett. In 2014, she founded the film and television company Monumental Pictures Ltd. with fellow U.K. powerhouse producer Debra Hayward.

See the full schedule for SCAD Lacoste Film Festival 2023!