Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette" Opens Up the 2015 Savannah Film Festival (***)

We chat about how Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep got involved and how she fell in love with Georgia after just a few hours in Savannah.

Each year, the Savannah Film Festival marks the unofficial anniversary of Reel Georgia. While it was launched a few months earlier in 2011, it wasn't until I booked it down to Savannah for two days in October that this website really started to post frequent, original content about Georgia films, Georgia festivals and the global industry from a Georgia perspective.

This year, my dedicated co-editor Lucy Doughty and eloquent contributor Jessica Hinckle join me here and together, there isn't a moment we will miss. Eighteen years in, SAVFF is at a peak artistically and commercially. Stars attending this year include Olivia Wilde, Alexander Skarsgard, Saoirse Ronan, Alfie Allen, Meg Ryan and Elizabeth Olsen. Tons of filmmaking talent is also attending—something the festival has obviously been spotlighting more in recent years, as the SCAD filmmaking programs continue to grow in popularity.

Among this year's attending filmmakers are director Sarah Gavron and producer Alison Owen of opening night film "Suffragette." I sat down with Gavron at the Trustees Theater ahead of the premiere, asking first and foremost what she thought of Georgia.

"I love it," she said. This is not just her first time in Savannah, it's her first time in the state at all. "I wandered around for two hours. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was; it was very visual."

Meg Ryan, Olivia Wilde, Elizabeth Olsen among expected guests at 2015 Savannah Film Festival

Four of the 2015 Savannah Film Festival's special guests clockwise from top left:
Meg Ryan, Elizabeth Olsen, Saoirse Ronan, Olivia Wilde.

As the Savannah Film Festival gets closer to turning 20-years-old (this year will be the 18th festival), it is pivoting itself as an important stop on the national festival circuit in terms of programming but also as a continually celebrity-friendly festival. Just in the last few years, I've enjoyed attending alongside stars like Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons, John Goodman, Jane Seymour, Alec Baldwin, Matt Bomer, Gena Rowlands, Lily Tomlin and Miles Teller.

This year, honored guests include Meg Ryan, Olivia Wilde and Alfie Allen. Elizabeth Olsen, Saoirse Ronan, Riley Keough and Tab Hunter are also expected to attend.

2015 Savannah Film Festival to Kick-off with Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette"

Directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Abi Morgan, "Suffragette" has been chosen to open the 2015 Savannah Film Festival on October 24th.

Gavron and Morgan previously worked in the same capacity together on "Brick Lane." Morgan also penned "Shame," "The Iron Lady" and "The Invisible Woman," which screened at the 2013 Savannah Film Festival (and was one of that year's best selections). "Suffragette" stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Natalie Press, Anne-Marie Duff, Romola Garai, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw and Meryl Streep.