The SCAD Savannah Film Festival has announced its 13th edition of Docs to Watch, and the lineup reads like a map of the year’s most ambitious documentary storytelling. Ten directors, each with a film representing a distinct corner of nonfiction cinema, will gather at the Lucas Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 28 for a 90-minute panel moderated by Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter.
For nonfiction films, the panel has turned into a major stop along the route to Oscar recognition. Across the last 12 years, 27 films that appeared on the panel eventually received an Oscar nomination for best documentary feature, with eight eventually taking home that prize. Among the victors are 2015’s Amy, 2016’s O.J.: Made in America, 2017’s Icarus, 2018’s Free Solo, 2019’s American Factory, 2021’s Summer of Soul, and 2022’s Navalny and 2023’s 20 Days in Mariupol.
Ten films make up this year’s selections, covering a wide range of subjects and approaches. A look at each title follows, with brief loglines provided by the festival.
American Doctor and Avedon
Malaysian-born American journalist Poh Si Teng directs and self-finances American Doctor, which tracks three American doctors volunteering at a hospital in Gaza during the ongoing war. The film’s subjects include one Jewish doctor, one Palestinian doctor and one Zoroastrian doctor.
The documentary Avedon is directed by Ron Howard and focuses on the life, work and lasting influence of Richard Avedon, the American portrait photographer. It makes use of rare materials from his personal collection, including unseen stills and behind-the-camera footage.
Cookie Queens Through Harlem
Cookie Queens is the year’s highest-grossing non-celebrity doc. Alysa Nahmias directs a heartwarming chronicle of four young girls’ efforts to meet their sales goals during Girl Scouts cookie-selling season, despite varying forms of adversity.
The Oscar-winning directing duo Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi have made Everest: The Other Side, a film about a man and a woman who fall in love while sharing a dream of climbing and skiing down the north face of Mt. Everest.
A crew of climbers attempts to scale K2 during the winter months in The Last First: Winter K2, directed by Amir Bar-Lev. The summit is the second-highest peak on Earth, standing behind only Mt. Everest, and no one has ever reached it then before.
The second part of Julia Loktev’s epic portrait of independent Russian journalists runs six hours, marking it a longer installment than the first, which ran five hours. These journalists’ coverage under Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian crackdown has forced them into exile, and Loktev’s film documents their lives in exile as part of her ongoing project.
A remarkable film documents a gathering of Harlem Renaissance luminaries, captured in 1972 by one filmmaker. More than a half-century later, his son finished the project, creating a miraculous achievement.
One in a Million and The Trial of Alec Baldwin
A young Syrian girl and her family flee their war-torn country for refuge in Europe across a tumultuous decade, which forms the subject of One in a Million. The film secured the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Rory Kennedy directs The Trial of Alec Baldwin, the result of exclusive access to the actor following a 2021 accidental shooting during the making of the film Rust. The film includes footage from the set, Baldwin’s police interrogation and the legal proceedings that followed.
Lance Oppenheim directs You Can See Everything alongside Nathan Fielder, who enters the home of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes during the 34 days before she starts her prison term. Through his time there, Fielder attempts to determine who she truly is.
The Track Record Behind the Panel
Eight out of the 27 films that received Oscar nominations after appearing on the panel went on to win. That works out to roughly one in three winning. It stands as the clearest proof of why these directors are being gathered together.
The selections for this year cover a wide variety of topics. War reporting appears with American Doctor, while Avedon offers a biography of a photographer. Youth entrepreneurship is represented by Cookie Queens, and mountaineering gets two entries: Everest: The Other Side and K2. Political journalism shows up in Exile, and there is work on historical preservation in Harlem along with a piece about a celebrity trial, Baldwin.
The senior executive director of SCAD Theaters and Festivals, Christina Routhier, described the event’s goal without beating around the bush.
“This year’s Docs to Watch selections reflect a range of films that take us somewhere we didn’t expect to go, whether that’s into a hidden chapter of history, the life of an extraordinary individual, or a story unfolding in front of us right now,” Routhier said in a statement.
“We’re excited to partner with Scott Feinberg and The Hollywood Reporter to bring these filmmakers and their films to Savannah and give our students and audiences the chance to experience the work, meet the artists behind it, and be part of the conversation.”
The Festival Context
Savannah College of Art and Design runs the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, which stands as the biggest university-operated film festival on earth. The eight-day gathering draws roughly 75,000 attendees annually.
This year’s event spans Oct. 24-31, with exclusive screenings, panel talks and workshops on offer. The lineup draws some of the biggest names in Hollywood and world cinema, and tickets are now available to buy.
The festival’s centerpiece draws audiences year after year. Its track record of Oscar nominations speaks to the organizers’ ability to pick standout nonfiction films with confidence.
| Film | Director | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| American Doctor | Poh Si Teng | Watermelon |
| Avedon | Ron Howard | Netflix |
| Cookie Queens | Alysa Nahmias | Roadside |
| Everest: The Other Side | Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | Nat Geo |
| The Last First: Winter K2 | Amir Bar-Lev | Apple |
| My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile | Julia Loktev | MUBI |
| Once Upon a Time in Harlem | William Greaves and David Greaves | Neon |
| One in a Million | Itab Azzam & Jack MacInnes | Frontline |
| The Trial of Alec Baldwin | Rory Kennedy | Abramorama |
| You Can See Everything | Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim | A24 |
The Road to the Oscars
Being named to the Docs to Watch list carries more than honor for those in the documentary field. The selection operates as a recommendation to Academy members that a film has received approval from a significant festival, which can influence how their fellow voters regard it.
The festival’s partnership with The Hollywood Reporter adds visibility. Feinberg’s moderation of the panel means the conversation will be led by one of the industry’s most respected voices.
Seeing the directors who made some of the year’s most discussed films in person is what the panel gives audiences. The Lucas Theatre setting keeps things on a smaller scale than many other festival panels do.
These ten films span a wide range of documentary storytelling, touching on everything from war zones to cookie-selling seasons to mountaintops.
Why the Panel Matters
While the panel’s record is strong, it offers no assurance. Eight of 27 of its nominated picks went on to win, which is remarkable, yet that history does not mean every Docs to Watch pick is bound for the Academy.
The festival brings together these directors to create a conversation around the craft of nonfiction filmmaking, offering a snapshot of the year’s most accomplished documentary storytelling.
This panel honors the skill behind the art and serves as a reminder of what draws audiences back to this kind of storytelling again and again.
Anyone with an interest in documentaries should mark their calendars for the Oct. 28 panel. The roster spans a wide range of voices, the panel itself has a strong history of productive discussion, and the conversation will be guided by a respected moderator.
Source material: “SCAD Savannah Film Fest: Directors of 10 of 2026’s Top Documentaries Set for ‘Docs to Watch’ Panel (Exclusive),” The Hollywood Reporter.
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