'OSAGE COUNTY' Star Abigail Breslin to Be Honored at Savannah Film Festival

Academy Award-nominated actress Abigail Breslin will receive a Discovery Award prior to the screening of her latest film "August: Osage County" on Saturday, Nov. 2, closing night of the 16th annual Savannah Film Festival, hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design. Breslin joins previously announced honorees and special guests Jeremy Irons, Alexander Payne, Bruce Dern, Natalie Dormer, Alec Baldwin, James Toback and Miles Teller.

Abigail Breslin became one of the youngest actresses ever to be nominated for an Academy Award when in 2007, at the age of 10, she was honored for her role in "Little Miss Sunshine." She began her film career in M. Night Shyamalan's "Signs" and has since been seen in "The Call," "Rango," "Zombieland," "My Sister's Keeper," "New Year's Eve" and "Raising Helen" among others. She co-stars with Meryl Streep, Ewan McGregor, Julia Roberts and Juliette Lewis in the much-anticipated "August: Osage County."

As previously noted, Jeremy Irons will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, Alexander Payne will receive an Achievement in Cinema Award and Natalie Dormer will receive a Discovery Award at the Festival. Multiple Emmy and Golden Globe award-winner Alec Baldwin and Oscar nominated writer and director James Toback will premiere and discuss their HBO documentary "Seduced and Abandoned." Bruce Dern, star of "Nebraska" and previous Savannah Film Festival honoree, will present director Payne with his Award.

Previous Discovery Award honoree Miles Teller will host a special screening of "The Spectacular Now" with director James Ponsoldt and screenwriter Michael Weber. Julian Sands will be in attendance supporting the Edouardo Ponti directed short film "The Nightshift Belongs to the Stars". Other special guests include Norman Reedus and Emily Kinney of "The Walking Dead," Nina Dobrev and Candice Accola of "The Vampire Diaries," Zach Gilford of "Friday Night Lights" and Keile Sanchez of "Lost."

Premiere special screenings this year include Payne's "Nebraska," John Wells' "August: Osage County," Jon Turteltaub's "Last Vegas," James Toback's "Seduced and Abandoned," Brian Percival's "The Book Thief," Stephen Frears' "Philomena," Asghar Farhadi's "The Past," Justin Chadwick's "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," Ralph Fiennes' "The Invisible Woman" and David Frankel's "One Chance."

Other special screenings taking place include: Kevin Macdonald's "How I Live Now," Stephen Frears' "Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight," the world premiere of Brad Coley's "East of Acadia," Ti West's "The Sacrament," a special work-in-progress presentation of Christopher Ashley's "Lucky Stiff," and a special presentation, with RealD, of Andrew Adamson's "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away 3-D."

In addition to the special screenings, there are 58 films in competition in the categories of Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Professional Shorts, Student Shorts, and Animated Shorts, as well as two new shorts categories: Historical and SuperShorts! The competition films are competing for more than $80,000 in cash and prizes this year.

Hosted by SCAD, the Savannah Film Festival has become one of the largest entertainment events in the southeast. In the past eight years, SCAD has been one of the top 10 U.S. film schools in producing Student Academy Award finalists.

Tickets and passes can be purchased online at savannahboxoffice.com, via phone at 912.525.5050 or in person at the box office window, 216 E. Broughton St., Savannah, Georgia. Festival passes are still available for purchase.

For more information, visit savannahfilmfestival.com, follow the festival on Facebook and join the conversation on Twitter at @savfilmfest.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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