The Key West Film Festival announced today the recipient of its 4th annual Golden Key Award for Emerging Talent.

The Golden Key for Emerging Talent, given to actors and directors whose work will be destined to grace our screens for years to come, will be presented to Delaney Buffett for her breakout role in front of the camera and deft direction behind it that can be seen in “Adult Best Friends.” The film will screen as a Spotlight title at the festival.

Past recipients of the award include Kodi Smit-McPhee for his Oscar nominated performance in Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” Elegance Bratton for his work behind the camera in “The Inspection,” and Thomasin McKenzie in her tour-de-force performance alongside Anne Hathaway in “Eileen.”

Delaney Buffett is a writer and director from Florida. Her directorial debut, “The Spring,” a short documentary about a mermaid amusement park, premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and won Best Documentary at the 2017 Toronto International Short Film Festival. She’s directed several other short documentaries, including “Wallace,” a film about a small town in Idaho where brothels were open and tolerated until 1991, which premiered at the 2019 Sun Valley Film Festival, 2020 Aspen Shorts Fest and 2019 Crested Butte Film Festival as well as “Mooptopia,” a short documentary that follows a young influencer who loses her fame overnight, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival. Her first narrative short, “Pal,” was an official selection at the 27th LA Comedy Festival. “Adult Best Friends” is her feature debut as a director.

Michael Tuckman, Director of Programming of the Key West Film Festival, “We are elated to present this award to Delaney Buffett and especially pleased to shine the spotlight on another incredible artist to hail from Florida. We at KWFF are so proud to play a role in continuing to showcase and spotlight her brilliant directing, writing and acting that has been on display since the film first premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. We know she won’t be thought of as “emerging” for much longer as her star shines brighter every day.

Visit https://keywestff.com/ for full program information – which will be announced on October 16, along with a schedule of events.

About the Key West Film Festival
Honoring creativity, diversity, sustainability and beauty, The Key West Film Festival is an annual celebration of film and filmmakers set to take place November 13-17, 2024.

A diverse, entertaining and artistically rigorous selection of films will be represented through a broad array of categories that offer opportunities for filmmakers, both aspiring and established, to commune and exchange ideas while showing their work to audiences in an historic and artistically vibrant tropical paradise.