You’ll never go to Orlando without thinking about ‘The Florida Project’

Posted on November 17, 2017

By MARK VIOLA

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces the Oscar nominations in January, many of the films on the list will be ones most people have never heard of before that moment. The inevitable question that follows is, “When were those films released?” In many cases, the answer is now. One such film that we will likely hear a lot more about when awards season begins next month is “The Florida Project,” one of the most buzzed-about movies of the fall.

All I really knew about this movie is that it followed a young girl living in a motel near Walt Disney World in Orlando, but with a name like that, how could I not go see it? And, I’m really glad I did, because it is one of those smaller releases — populated by a cast consisting of mostly unknowns — that strikes a chord of reality which makes the entire affair seem more akin to a documentary than a scripted movie. “The Florida Project,” co-written and directed by Sean Baker (“Tangerine”), is not a perfect film, but it comes really close.

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