The Florida Project

The Florida Project is a 2017 American drama film directed by Sean Baker and written by Baker and Chris Bergoch. It stars Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe, Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, and Caleb Landry Jones, and was the first film appearance for many of the cast members. The slice of life plot focuses on the summertime adventures of a six-year-old girl who lives with her unemployed single mother in a budget motel in Kissimmee, Florida. Their struggle to make ends meet and stave off homelessness takes place in a surreal environment dominated by the nearby Walt Disney World, which was code named "The Florida Project" during its early planning stages. It juxtaposes this with the local residents' less glamorous day-to-day lives, and also the children's joyful adventures as they explore and make the most of their surroundings, while remaining blissfully ignorant of the true hardships which their adult caretakers face.

The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, and was released theatrically in the United States by A24 on October 6, 2017. It was acclaimed by critics, who, alongside praising Baker's direction, praised the performances; Vinaite earned particular acclaim for her performance, Prince's work would earn her a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer, while Dafoe was adjudged to have given "his finest performance in recent memory", receiving Best Supporting Actor nods at the Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Critics Choice Awards and BAFTA Awards.

Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute chose the film as one of the top ten films of the year.