Florida’s best filmmakers, industry panelists, student award winners and major names from Hollywood are gathered through Nov. 16 in the Southernmost City for the Key West Film Festival.
Legendary comedian and performer Billy Connolly will receive the festival’s Golden Key Award for Artistic Excellence. Connolly will be in attendance to coincide with a screening to celebrate the 20th anniversary of “The Aristocrats,” the groundbreaking film about the dirtiest joke ever told, in which Connolly is featured.
The festival will also celebrate its 10th annual Golden Key Award for Excellence in Costume Design, honoring Academy Award-winning costume designer Deborah L. Scott, who will participate in a discussion of her work moderated by Addie Morfoot of Variety.
A new section of programming is included in the festival this year called “Floridocs.” Culled from hundreds of submissions of Florida-based films and filmmakers, these three films show the incredible stories being told by Florida filmmakers. Making its world premiere at the festival is Rob Hoovis’ “Outlaws of the Everglades.” Featuring interviews from both Carl Hiaasen and Tim Chapman, the film tells the story of fishermen who turned to a life of crime after areas of the Everglades were barred for them. Also making its world premiere is Miami-based Gaspar Gonzales’ “Summer of 83,” about arguably the greatest College World Series ever, featuring players including Roger Clemens, Dave Magadan, Barry Larkin and more. And what’s Florida without a little snake hunt? Xander Robin’s SXSW-premiering documentary “The Python Hunt” follows the annual state-sponsored python hunt across Florida that attracts visitors from around the world. But is it more spectacle than an actual effort to eliminate this dangerous predator?
Also featured at the festival will be a special work-in-progress screening “Eric Anfinson: A Portrait, Part 1,” directed by three-time KWFF “alumni” Cassidy Rast and Odin Wadleigh. The documentary explores Anfinson’s formative years and young adulthood in the Midwest and highlights the life-changing event that led him to finding his artistic calling in Key West.
Per annual tradition, the festival’s final screening will be an outdoor music-themed film, this time celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of outlaw country documentary “Heartworn Highways,” featuring the music of Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle and more.More information is at keywestff.com
