The Key West Film Festival has announced the recipients of its annual Golden Key Awards to be presented to screen legend Chris Cooper and Elegance Bratton, director of the upcoming release The Inspection.
This year’s Golden Key Award for Career Excellence goes to Chris Cooper, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the seminal Florida film, Adaptation. To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the release of the film, Cooper will attend in person and participate in a conversation with David Fear, Senior film editor of Rollingstone.com. Prior to the film, the festival will also present the World Premiere of the short film Nuts, directed by Cooper and starring both him and his wife, Marianne Leone. Susan Orlean, author of the novel The Wild Orchid on which the film was based, will present the award to Mr. Cooper via a pre-recorded speech at the Saturday night Awards Ceremony.
Past recipients of the award include Burt Reynolds, Marisa Tomei, Kimberly Peirce, Tom Skerritt, Lois Smith, Paul Verhoeven, and Alan Cumming.
The Golden Key for Breakthrough Filmmaker, recognizing a director whose films will be seen widely in the future – will be given to Elegance Bratton, whose film The Inspection will be screened at the festival. The Inspection, which will be the Closing Night film at the New York Film Festival, will be released by A24 later this year. Last year’s inaugural recipient of this award was Clint Bentley, director of Jockey.
Following the screening, Bratton will join Eugene Hernandez, the newly appointed director of the Sundance Film Festival, for a pre-recorded conversation and award presentation.
Chris Cooper was recognized in 2003 with an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of ‘John Laroche’ in Columbia Pictures’ Adaptation, written by Charlie Kauffman (Being John Malkovich) and directed by Spike Jonze. Cooper was also recognized for his performance in the film by numerous critics associations including the Broadcast Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and Toronto Film Critics Association.
Cooper most recently wrapped Boston Strangler opposite Kiera Knightly for Disney/Hulu. During the pandemic, he starred in and directed With/In opposite his wife Marianne Leone who also wrote the piece. Previous credits include the Focus Features & Plan B Entertainment political satire Irresistible alongside Steve Carrell and directed by Jon Stewart. He starred in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women opposite Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, and Timothee Chalamet and the TriStar Pictures feature film A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys.
Elegance Bratton is an award-winning and boundary-breaking director, writer, and producer. He began making films as a US Marine after spending a decade homeless. Bratton holds a BS from Columbia University (2014) and MFA from NYU Tisch Graduate Film (2019). As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, his work captures stories untold with an intention to show the universal power of our shared humanity. Bratton’s films have played in over 200 film festivals worldwide including Sundance, Outfest, BFI, Doc NYC, and BlackStar Film Festival. He made his television debut as the creator and executive producer of the Viceland television series My House. The 10-episode series was nominated in the category for Outstanding Documentary at the 2019 GLAAD Media Awards. The series is currently available on Hulu. In 2021, Bratton won the Film Independent Truer Than Fiction Spirit Award which is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The recipient of this award also receives a significant grant and becomes a Film Independent Fellow. His nonfiction feature debut, Pier Kids made its television and streaming debut in August 2021 on PBS/POV. He was a Sundance 2020 Native Lab mentor, and a 2022 Outfest Screenwriting Lab mentor.
The Inspection his narrative fiction debut world premieres as the opening night film of the Toronto International Film Festival Discovery section and closes the New York Film Festival 2022.
Michael Tuckman, Director of Programming of the Key West Film Festival commented: “Chris Cooper’s resume over the last five decades is itself a chapter in film history. To be able to honor him, in conjunction with a screening of perhaps the most definitive Florida film ever made, is an honor beyond words, and we are thrilled that he and Marianne will be able to join us. The Inspection is a true showcase of cinema both breaking boundaries and claiming one’s voice, and the work behind the camera from Mr. Bratton establishes an artist who will drive cinema for years to come.”
The festival runs from the 16th to the 20th of November
Visit kwfilmfest.com for full program information – which will be announced on October 18, along with a schedule of events and travel and lodging details.
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