The highly-regarded Key West Film Festival returns to the Sunshine State on November 20th and will run until the 24th. Throughout the festival’s tenure, it has screened some of the most talked about films in recent times. Roma, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Shape of Water, and La La Land all screened in Key West before making their way to the Oscars. Modern LGBT classics like Call Me By Your Name and the Studio 54 documentary have also graced the screen of the Key West Film Festival.
Arianne Phillips (photo via KWFF)
One of the distinguishing prizes that the Key West Film Festival awards is the Golden Key Award for Costume Design. The award honors great costume designers who help bring films to life through the transformative art of costuming. Arianne Phillips has been named the 2019 recipient. Phillips has a stunning career in costuming, working for films such as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Kingsman franchise, and A Single Man. She has also received two Oscar nominations for Best Costume Design for the Johnny Cash biographical drama Walk the Line, and Madonna’s film W.E.
Phillips has even been nominated for a Tony Award for her costuming work on the hit revival of Hediwg and the Angry Inch.
Recently released is the lineup of “Florida Films” which are all movies created by Florida natives or filmed within Florida. Some highlights from the list include A Name Without a Place, about a young man who travels from Miami to the Keys searching for clues about his late brother’s death, and unexpectedly stumbles upon the fountain of youth.
Sure to be a critical hit is the documentary The Intruders. The story follows Claudio Rojas, who is detained by ICE outside his home and sent to a facility to await deportment. Terrified, his family contacts the National Immigrant Youth Alliance (a group of young Dreamers who are known for stopping deportations.) Throughout the film, the group uncovers the multi-leveled, for-profit industry that is Deportation.
Photo via KWFF
Also released was the list of Floridian short films. Of note is Float 23. A documentary about Bob Harvey, Captain of the Key West’s Fantasy Fest Parade, along with his team, all of whom build a giant Monopoly float, but exchange the tiles for local Keys-themed locales. The short film is sure to bring smiles and serve a comic relief in-between some of the heavier films.
Throughout the month of October, more details, such as the 2019 film lineup and list of events, will be announced. Stay up-to-date with the festival by following them on Twitter and Facebook.
