SCAD Film Festival Announces 2026 Pixels and Pencils Line-Up

Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Film Festival is the biggest university-run film festival in the world. Among all the general film screenings and events, SCAD has become well known for one of its animation-focused events. Pixels and Pencils, presented in association with Variety brings together the filmmakers behind the year's most notable animated features for a roundtable discussion. 

The panel is now in its fifth year, and is moderated by Variety's Awards editor Clayton Davis. The organisers have a pretty good record of predicting which films are likely to be nominated for Best Animated Feature at next year's Oscars and other awards, but they don't always get them 100% right.

This year's selections are Forgotten Island from DreamWorks Animation, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado; Hoppers from Pixar and director Daniel Chong; the independent feature Tangles directed by Leah Nelson, Ray Gunn from Skydance Animation and Netflix, directed by Brad Bird and Wildwood from LAIKA and Travis Knight.

It's an impressive line-up and the directors involved should ensure a fascinating conversation. Hopefully, the panel will be released online afterwards, but the only way to guarantee you see it is to attend the festival yourself.

In previous years, Pixels and Pencils has featured past Academy Award winners Flow and K-Pop Demon Hunters and nominees including Arco, Elio, Little Amelie or The Character Of Rain, The Wild Robot, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-verse and Inside Out 2.

SCAD Film Festival's 29th Edition runs from October 24-31. The festival features work from both professionals and student filmmakers. As well as Pixels and Pencils, the festival also features an animated short competition. Awards are given out to professionals and students, as well as a Juried Award For Excellence In Animation.

Passes are on sale now, tickets for individual events and screenings go on sale October 2.