The 13th Annual Key West Film Festival announces its official 2024 lineup including major fall films from Pedro Almodovar, Barry Jenkins, Billy Corben, Michael Gracey, Gia Coppola and others. More than 75 films will be shown during the 5-day festival, which runs November 13-17.
As is tradition for the festival, the Opening and Closing Night films are curated by two of the top film critics in the country. Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter will host a discussion with Stepanie Zacharek of Timeprior to the Opening Night screening of THE FIRE INSIDE, the inspiring story of two time Olympic women’s boxing gold medalist Claressa “T-Rex” Shields and her fight for all women athletes across the world. The film is written by local hero Barry Jenkins, Miami-bred Academy Award winning writer and director of Moonlight.
On Saturday night, Zacharek will lead a pre-show conversation with Gyarkye prior to the screening of THE ROOM NEXT DOOR, which stars Academy Award winner Julianne Moore and Academy Award nominee Tilda Swinton in Pedro Almodovar’s first English language film about a best-selling writer who rekindles her relationship with her friend, a war journalist, with whom she has lost touch for a number of years.
Other spotlight films include Gia Coppola’s THE LAST SHOWGIRL, featuring a career defining performance by Pamela Anderson as a seasoned Las Vegas showgirl who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run; the inspirational true story UNSTOPPABLE, featuring Jennifer Lopez and Bobby Cannavale alongside Jharrel James (also in Moonlight), who stars as Anthony Robles, an athlete born with one leg who defies expectations to become a champion wrestler in college; and BETTER MAN, from director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), based on the true story of the meteoric rise, dramatic fall, and remarkable resurgence of British pop superstar Robbie Williams, one of the greatest entertainers of all time.
This year’s LGBTQ films, programmed with the assistance of Eugene Hernandez, Executive Director of the Sundance Film Festival, David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter, and Brian Brooks of Cinetic Media, include LIZA: A TRULY TERRIFIC ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY about the life of Liza Minnelli; multiple festival award winning film YOUNG HEARTS; and A NICE INDIAN BOY which was the Opening Night Selection of this year’s NewFest.
Documentaries take center stage once again at the festival this year, with music, food, adventure, the cowboys of Argentina, and even a secret apartment in a mall staking their claim. The daughter of the inventor of the world’s first synthesizer takes us on a musical journey of both the instrument and the man behind it in THE RESYNATOR; the director of Oscar winner Navalny brings us the inspiring story of a family taking their children on a tour of the world, in a race against time before their vision begins to recede in the powerful BLINK; a beach community, like many throughout the Keys, confronts unaffordable real estate development in HAPPY CAMPERS; Michael Dweck (The Last Race, KWFF 2018) returns to the festival with his love letter to the Gauchos of Argentina, both male and female, in GAUCHO, GAUCHO; Miami-based filmmaker Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys, Screwball, God Forbid) makes another visit to the festival with his international conspiracy doc MEN OF WAR– hatched right out of South Florida ; and director Jeremy Workman takes us inside an apartment used by artists for over four years inside a mall in downtown Providence, RI, in the festival hit SECRET MALL APARTMENT.
The International films at the festival include FLOW, which is Latvia’s official entry to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and Japan’s MY SUNSHINE, both of which premiered at Cannes; and ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, the Cannes Grand Prix winner from India, which was a surprise omission as the official entry from the country.
Florida – and Key West in particular – gets its moment in the sun with the special Florida Focus section. Films include NAKED AMBITION: BUNNY YEAGER, from Miami based Emmy-nominated filmmaker Kareem Tabsch, who returns to the festival for the third time (Dolphin Lover, The Last Resort). Local heroes including artist Mario Sanchez and Tom Dustin, founder of the Key West Comedy Club, in loving portraits of themselves in MARIO SANCHEZ: OVER THE BEAUTIFUL FLORIDA KEYS from Roberto Otera Morfa and PORTRAIT OF A COMEDIAN, director/comedian Joe List’s touching portrait of funny man Tom Dustin.
Special screenings this year include a 50th Anniversary screening of Roman Polanski’s CHINATOWN, a free screening presented by the Florida Keys and Key West Film Commission. Native Floridian and past Golden Key Award winner Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry) joins film critic David Fear of Rolling Stone for a not to be missed conversation about the film.
Also featured will be the 72 Hour Film Challenge, a widely popular showcase of local film teams who conceive of, write, shoot and edit a film in 72 hours. This year, the challenge will screen its films the Tuesday night prior to the festival’s Opening night film as the soft launch of the festival.
Shorts programs at the festival this year include sections for Comedy, Documentary, International, Florida films, Student and Florida students. The Kimberly Peirce Award for Best Student Film presented by the Diana King Foundation will also be awarded once again. The shorts programs and Florida feature films were curated from over 1500 submissions, with entries from nearly all 50 states and dozens of countries. These include a special screening during the festival of THE SALT CURED LIFE, in which local entrepreneur and humanitarian Paul Menta shares with the world the power of salt water in finding balance in one’s life.
Returning programs this year include the 9th annual Golden Key for Excellence in Costume Design awarded to Danny Glicker for his work in SATURDAY NIGHT, making KWFF the only such festival to annual honor this art; the 10th annual Critics Panel, in which top film critics will discuss the year’s best films and the seismic changes in the industry this year. Attending critics include David Rooney, Stephanie Zacharek, Lovia Gyarkye, David Fear and Shirrel Rhoades. And the 4th annual Golden Key for Emerging Talent will be awarded to writer/director/actor Delaney Buffett in conjunction with her feature debut ADULT BEST FRIENDS.
And as its traditional final screening on Sunday night, outdoors at the Perry Hotel and Marina in Stock Island, the festival will screen the Florida premiere of REBEL COUNTRY, a film showcasing under-represented voices in country music such as Jelly Roll, Sam Williams, Breland and Blanco Brown.
Screening Venues for this edition of KWFF include: Williams Hall, The Perry Hotel and Marina, and The Regal Key West.
Visit https://keywestff.com for full program information.
