Sean Baker\u2019s \u201cThe Florida Project\u201d takes place in a blindingly purple low-budget motel named the Magic Castle, just down Route 192 from Disney\u2019s Magic Kingdom. For the children of single parents who live there, the Kissimmee, Florida, motel is a playground \u2014 even if they\u2019re living in poverty. \u201cThe Florida Project,\u201d which opens in theaters Friday, is an ebullient, candy-colored movie wrapped around the very real issue of hidden homelessness. Families nationwide are living below the poverty line and eking out an existence in cheap motels, but the problem is particularly acute \u2014 and ironic \u2014 in the shadows of Walt Disney World. \u201cWhen Chris Bergoch, my co-screenwriter, brought it to my attention, I was like: \u2018This is happening? There are literally kids who are homeless outside of what\u2019s considered the most magical place on the Earth for children?\u2019\u201d said Baker, the 46-year-old independent filmmaker. 1,700 homeless families Studies and investigative reports, including one in 2014 by The Associated Press , have found that an estimated 1,700 families are homeless in Florida's Osceola County, with most living in the motels surrounding one of the country\u2019s top tourist destinations. Efforts in recent years have been stepped up to get mentally ill homeless people off the streets around Orlando, yet the county still lacks shelters. Many simply find their low-paying service industry jobs don't cover rent. But if you\u2019re expecting a stern lesson from \u201cThe Florida Project,\u201d you\u2019ll be surprised to find one of the most vibrant, spirited and heartbreaking films of the year. \u201cThe Florida Project\u201d stars Willem Dafoe as the kindly father-figure manager Bobby, but its central characters are played by newcomers. The feisty, scamming Halley (Bria Vinaite) is the 23-year-old mother to Moonee (7-year-old Brooklynn Prince), a free-spirited troublemaker who, with her friends (including the 6-year-old Valeria Cotto), are a delightful menace to Bobby and the motel\u2019s residents. \u201cWe wanted it to be a throwback, in a way. What I mean by that is: Little Rascals 2017,\u201d said Baker. \u201cI wanted to do something very similar where it was presenting the kids as kids, first and foremost \u2014 and have the audience embrace them, love them, laugh at them. And then hopefully at the end, the audience is sitting during the credits, and the issues have had a light shined on them that will have them talking on their way home.\u201d Films focus on the overlooked In stories ranging from pornography actresses in the San Fernando Valley ("Starlet'') to immigrants in New York ("The Prince of Broadway''), Baker has made films depicting the lives of those Hollywood often overlooks a specialty. His last movie, \u201cTangerine,\u201d was a micro-budgeted breakthrough, winning a Spirit Award and earning the praise of Francis Ford Coppola. Baker shot the transgender prostitute tale on iPhones with a mix of professional and non-professional actors, including the celebrated leads Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez. \u201cWhen I made \u2018Tangerine,\u2019 I moved to Los Angeles and I thought that Los Angeles was shot out, meaning that there\u2019s no other stories to tell,\u201d said Baker. \u201cThen I found there's a whole other world south of Olympic that we haven\u2019t even seen in film unless it was \u2018Straight Outta Compton.\u2019 You realize who\u2019s telling these stories. They\u2019re not thinking outside their box, and often their sugar-coated visions of who they are.\u201d \u201cMy films are a response to what I don\u2019t see,\u201d added Baker. Issue film as entertainment \u201cThe Florida Project,\u201d the director says, was an effort to go further in packaging an issue film as an entertainment. The approach drew the interest of Dafoe, a veteran actor eager to appear as a \u201cnon-actor,\u201d he says. Especially appealing was the opportunity to work among non-professional performers on location in Orlando. \u201cIt was one of those experiences where you able to riff off what was there. You were able to deal with what\u2019s in the room,\u201d said Dafoe. \u201cMy dressing room was not a trailer. It was one of those rooms. Troy lived down the hall. Troy became my friend. Troy was a resident who lived there for many years. That adds a dimension. It makes you learn things and gives you an experience.\u201d Since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, \u201cThe Florida Project\u201d \u2014 as well as Dafoe and Brooklynn's performances \u2014 has been widely lauded as among the best of the year. No one has enjoyed the ride more than Brooklynn, a natural performer who has tweeted and Instagramed her adventures. Making the movie, the Orlando native said, was like summer camp. She and her young co-star, Val, now consider themselves best friends. \u201cMe and my mom and dad went over this,\u201d Brooklynn said of the film's more adult nature. \u201cThey weren't really sure about this movie. But I came to them and I said, \u2018I want to bring awareness to these kids and show people the light \u2014 my light for Jesus.\u2019\u201d Movie an eye-opener The low-budget production was for both Brooklynn and Dafoe an eye-opener: an up-close view of the homelessness most never see. \u201cI learned things about a certain kind of poverty, a certain kind of cycle of homelessness and hopelessness,\u201d said Dafoe. \u201cIt\u2019s a rich movie. It\u2019s a poor little rich movie.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sean Baker\u2019s \u201cThe Florida Project\u201d takes place in a blindingly purple low-budget motel named the Magic Castle, just down Route 192 from Disney\u2019s Magic Kingdom. For the children of single parents who live there, the Kissimmee, Florida, motel is a playground \u2014 even if they\u2019re living in poverty. \u201cThe Florida Project,\u201d which opens in theaters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51162,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}