{"id":7655,"date":"2017-10-06T06:11:49","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T10:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=7655"},"modified":"2017-10-06T06:14:15","modified_gmt":"2017-10-06T10:14:15","slug":"7655","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2017\/10\/7655.html","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;The Florida Project&#8221; offers a gritty glimpse into a world few films have presented before"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s today&#8217;s dispatch from the crossroads of faith and culture:<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Florida Project | Official Trailer HD | A24\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WwQ-NH1rRT4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4144\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4143\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4142\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4141\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4140\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4139\" class=\"yiv4140853010MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4138\"><strong><em>The Florida Project<\/em> worth checking out. <\/strong>The film goes into limited release this weekend. Warning: the movie contains raw language and situations but it does serve as a modern-day parable of an ordinary man (played by Willem Defoe) who manages a seedy welfare hotel just outside of Disney World in Orlando, Florida while also maintaining a heart of compassion. Director Sean Baker (who co-wrote the gritty naturalistic script with Chris Bergoch) deftly conveys a true-to-life world few of us have much, if any, awareness of.\u00a0 The performances by Dafoe and the otherwise unknown cast are superb. Brooklyn Prince as Moonie, the six-year-old child at the center of the story, looks like a star of the future. <strong>Recommended.<\/strong><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv4140853010MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4138\"><strong>SYNOPSIS (from the film&#8217;s press release):<\/strong> Set on a stretch of highway just outside the imagined utopia of Disney World, <em>The Florida Project<\/em> follows six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) and her rebellious mother Halley (Bria Vinaite,) live week-to-week at \u201cThe Magic Castle,\u201d a budget motel managed by Bobby (Willem Dafoe), whose stern exterior hides a deep reservoir of kindness and compassion.\u00a0 The only people providing any sort of structure and hope at the motel are Bobby and a local church that delivers food every week to the desperately poor families living there.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4154\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4153\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4152\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4151\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4150\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4108\" class=\"yiv4140853010MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4107\">Despite her harsh surroundings, the precocious and ebullient Moonee has no trouble making each day a celebration of life. Unbeknownst to Moonee, however, her delicate fantasy is supported by the struggle and sacrifice of Halley, who is forced to explore increasingly dangerous possibilities in order to provide for her daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4096\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4095\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4094\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4093\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4092\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4078\" class=\"yiv4140853010MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1507282616751_4089\">With <em>The Florida Project,<\/em> director Sean Baker gives life and a voice to a community rarely seen on screen. Through the eyes of Moonee, Halley, and Bobby, Baker has created a spellbinding and transformative portrait of contemporary lives lived in the margins that are otherwise too easily forgotten. National numbers are hard to come by as it is a transient population, but it is estimated that somewhere between 100-200 thousand people are living full time in motels.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s today&#8217;s dispatch from the crossroads of faith and culture: The Florida Project worth checking out. The film goes into limited release this weekend. Warning: the movie contains raw language and situations but it does serve as a modern-day parable of an ordinary man (played by Willem Defoe) who manages a seedy welfare hotel just&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[9240,9239,9241,9236,9238,9235,9237],"class_list":["post-7655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies","tag-bria-vinaite","tag-brooklynn-prince","tag-chris-bergoch","tag-disney-world","tag-sean-baker","tag-the-florida-project","tag-willem-dafoe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&quot;The Florida Project&quot; offers a gritty glimpse into a world few films have presented before<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2017\/10\/7655.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;The Florida Project&quot; offers a gritty glimpse into a world few films have presented before\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here&#8217;s today&#8217;s dispatch from the crossroads of faith and culture: The Florida Project worth checking out. The film goes into limited release this weekend. Warning: the movie contains raw language and situations but it does serve as a modern-day parable of an ordinary man (played by Willem Defoe) who manages a seedy welfare hotel just&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2017\/10\/7655.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-06T10:11:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-06T10:14:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. 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Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2017\/10\/7655.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2017\/10\/7655.html","name":"\"The Florida Project\" offers a gritty glimpse into a world few films have presented before","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-10-06T10:11:49+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-06T10:14:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2017\/10\/7655.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2017\/10\/7655.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2017\/10\/7655.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"&#8220;The Florida Project&#8221; offers a gritty glimpse into a world few films have presented before"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7655"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7658,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7655\/revisions\/7658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}