The Key West Film Festival has announced the lineup for its 15th annual event, which begins Nov. 18 and features international films, documentaries and a new programming category highlighting Florida filmmakers.
The festival will open with a screening of Paper Tiger, a thriller starring Miles Teller, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson. The Debut, starring Academy Award winner Julianne Moore and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti, will close the festival, while Elsinore and Club Kid will be featured as centerpiece films.
The festival’s new series of programming, Florida and Friends, will include films, filmmakers and stories connected to Florida. The selections include the world premiere of The Farmer and The Shark, exploring the real-life inspiration for a character in Jaws and a 20th anniversary screening of Florida filmmaker Billy Corben’s Cocaine Cowboys.
The event will also feature the Florida Keys premiere of Patrick Bresnan’s First They Came for My College, examining efforts to reshape New College of Florida, a public liberal arts college in Sarasota County. Two students from the college will participate in a Q&A session.
Other programming highlights include foreign-language films from filmmakers such as Pedro Almodóvar and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, alongside documentary and LGBTQ+ selections. The festival will also showcase short films selected from a record pool of nearly 1,000 submissions across 50 countries, including award-winning films such as Body of Work, a documentary profiling Key West painter Eric Anfinson.
"Audiences are in for one of the most distinguished and engaging slates of shorts we’ve ever assembled," said Mike McNamara, director of short film programming. "Expect plenty of laughs, a healthy dose of drama, and, naturally, that unmistakable Florida spirit."
For more information about the festival's lineup and programming, visit the Key West Film Festival's event listing.
