Editor

The 13th annual Savannah Film Festival, hosted by SCAD, presented Miles Teller with the "Discovery Award" on October 31.

Teller admitted to being humbled by the honor. "This is my first film award – my very first one," he said upon accepting the award. "The Discovery Award has a certain amount of pressure to it," he quipped. "I have to live up to the expectation and also prove that SCAD made the right choice."

Teller, 23, received the award prior to a special screening of his debut performance in John Cameron Mitchell's "Rabbit Hole" (also starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart). The screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Lindsay-Abaire is about a husband and wife who fight to save their marriage after the deepest form of loss. The film is a vivid, honest and unexpectedly funny portrait of a family searching for what remains possible in the most impossible of situations.

Teller makes his screen debut in "Rabbit Hole." He is currently shooting the new Paramount film, "Footloose," and was recently cast to star in the new Todd Phillips film, "Project X" for Warner Bros.

Teller joins a lineup of special guests including Sir Ian McKellen, Liam Neeson, Isabella Rossellini and Bobby Zarem. McKellen will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award on November 4. Neeson will receive an Achievement in Cinema Award on November 2 and Rossellini will receive a similar award on November 5. Public relations legend Zarem will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award on November 3.

The 13th annual Savannah Film Festival is presenting special screenings of the films Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," Danny Boyle's "127 Hours," Doug Liman's "Fair Game," Mike Leigh's "Another Year," Ed Burns' "Nice Guy Johnny," Sam Rockwell's "Conviction," Nigel Cole's "Made in Dagenham" and Derek Cianfrance's "Blue Valentine," among others.

For more information, visit www.scad.edu/filmfest.

ABOUT THE SAVANNAH FILM FESTIVAL

Featuring the best in independent and innovative film from around the world, the Savannah Film Festival presents a full-range of cinematic creativity from both award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers, bringing world-renowned filmmakers, producers, actors and journalists, as well as other film enthusiasts, to SCAD and Savannah for eight days of feature films, lectures, workshops, panels and competition films from a range of genres. Highlights of the festival include intimate "coffee talks" with film professionals, question-and-answer panels, lectures and special screenings.

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution that offers bachelor's and master's degree programs in 43 majors. Visit scad.edu.