Savannah Film Festival Presents Lily Tomlin with Lifetime Achievement Award

(Newsroom America) -- The 14th annual Savannah Film Festival presented Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-nominated, Emmy Award-winning actress Lily Tomlin ("9 to 5," "All of Me") with a Lifetime Achievement Award on Wednesday, Nov. 2.

"Thank you all so much, I'm delighted to be a guest of SCAD and Savannah," said Tomlin. "I'm so thrilled to be here with these art and design students…I say to all the students do something audacious that portends to be humiliating." Tomlin continued to thank attendees and blew kisses to the crowd as she left the stage.

Throughout her career, Tomlin has received six Emmys, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, two Peabody Awards and numerous other notable awards for her acting, producing and narrating achievements. Tomlin continues to appear around the country in concert performances. Currently, Tomlin can be seen on Showtime's new series, "Web Therapy," as Lisa Kudrow's narcissistic mother. She is also appearing on the CBS hit drama, "NCIS," and the cable series, "Eastbound and Down."

Prior to Tomlin's tribute, the Silver Screen Society awarded a $2,500 cash grant for the best short film submitted by a SCAD student to Tom Salvaggio (B.F.A., film and television, 2011) for "Bone'Yeerd." Salvaggio's short is a Gothic tale of a lonely farmer who descends into madness when he cannot let go of the woman he loves.

The evening continued with a special gala screening of David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," which looks at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gave birth to psychoanalysis.

The festival will also honor director Oliver Stone ("Platoon," "Wall Street"); actor Aaron Eckhart ("The Dark Knight," "Erin Brockovich"); actor James Marsden ("27 Dresses," "X-Men") and directors/writers Mark and Jay Duplass ("Cyrus," "The Puffy Chair") during the weeklong festivities. Actress Ellen Barkin ("The Big Easy," "Ocean's Thirteen") and actor Ray Liotta ("Goodfellas," "Hannibal") received Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Awards during the opening weekend.

Additionally, the festival included special guests including Universal Pictures President Ron Meyer, Alec Baldwin, James Cromwell, James Toback, Sam Levinson, Anson Mount, Miles Teller, Geoffrey Fletcher, Kenneth Lonergan and Famke Janssen.

Hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design, the Savannah Film Festival presents a full range of cinematic creativity from both award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers. As the university for creative careers, SCAD offers the only major film program in the United States integrated within an acclaimed art and design university. In the past seven years, the university has been one of the top 10 U.S. film schools in producing Student Academy Award finalists.