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The Florida Project (2017)

We'll discuss NJ-born Oscar winner Sean Baker's acclaimed 2017 comedy-drama about a poor but precocious six-year-old girl growing up in a rundown motel just outside the walls of Disney World.

Please note that attendees must watch the film beforehand; there will be no library screening. 

Set over one summer, The Florida Project follows a poor young girl – precocious six-year-old Moonee – as she courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates and bonds with her rebellious but caring mother, all while living in a rundown motel near Orlando, just outside the walls of Disney World.

Directed by New Jersey’s own Sean Baker – a graduate of Peapack & Gladstone’s Gill St. Bernard’s School – who won four 2024 Academy Awards for his most recent feature, Anora. 

The Florida Project "is a work that combines boundless energy and childlike enthusiasm with dark social realism," says Film Monthly. "Sean Baker's wildly inventive style of filmmaking has resulted in a gorgeous masterpiece." 

“It is equal parts whimsical child fantasy and very real adult drama,” says The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It simultaneously broke my heart and opened my eyes.”

Starring Willem Dafoe (Oscar-nominated for his role here), Brooklyn Prince, Bria Vinaite and Caleb Landry Jones.

WATCH THE TRAILER

Run time: 111 minutes. Rated R. 

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