For years, the lament in Key West over the slim pickings of films offered by the local multiplex was like talking about the weather. Everyone deplored it, but no one did much of anything about it. It was against that backdrop that a small group of film buffs put out a call in 1998, seeking volunteers interested in rejuvenating the local cinema scene, while another group was trying to figure out where and how it could be done. They joined forces and tapped into a well-spring of community interest. Volunteers crowded meetings, offer ideas, suggestions and help for a project to bring alternative film to town. Working committees were formed to search out venues, track down film sources, and round up projection equipment.

The talk quickly moved from planning for "next year" to doing something right away, and it happened. From the gala opening fund raiser, the Key West premiere of Roberto Begnini's Life is Beautiful, to the first Key West International Festival of New Cinema, the Conch Republic has begun to see the best of independent, foreign and alternative movies.

What a Lineup!

In its truncated first season, from April to July of 1999, and two full seasons in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001, the KWFS brought an immensely varied fare of more than 150 films to Key West. Most had never before been shown on a public screen in the Keys. Highlights have included Cuban musical legend Buena Vista Social Club, Pedro Almadovar's Academy-Award-winning All About My Mother, Boys Don't Cry, Topsy Turvy, Being John Malkovich, Billy Elliot and Mulholland Dr. For the lover of the avant-garde, we have presented offerings like The Celebration, a leading exemplar of the new Dogma style of filmmaking – no lighting, no music, shot on video – the ultimate in cinema verite. The lover of classics has been equally well-served, with presentations of the Director's Cut of Orson Well's Touch of Evil, the newly remastered and restored Fellini masterpiece Nights of Cabiria, and the reedited and rereleased Apocalypse Now Redux. And, not overlooking laughs, we've had comedies such as the Stanley Tucci farce The Imposters, and the French gay-mixup delight The Closet.

Throughout, the goal was to celebrate film and to celebrate Key West as a haven for this most modern of arts. In this spirit, the film society has linked its efforts and its programming to the work of other local groups and local events. For Gay Pride Week we showed Wilde, the film biography of the great Oscar; for Hemingway Days, we brought in The Killers, an historic 1946 adaptation of the story by the great Ernest; and for Reef Relief Awareness Week what could have been better than Reap the Wild Wind, the 1942 Cecil B. DeMille sea story shot right here in Conchland. Even our local Bubba Boxing tournament was honored, with a special showing of the indie charmer Girlfight on a special screen hung in the middle of the boxing ring.

Cinematheque

For its first year and half, the KWFS limited itself to weekly showings each Sunday night. We then added a second midweek show. Rather than reshow the same film, this became a topical Cinematheque, rotating through a different theme each month. In January, it was Politics, in February -- Erotica, and in March – Music in Film.

Our Own Home

As the membership and attendance of the KWFS grew, it became clear that no part-time venues could fill our needs. By the 2002-2003 season we had begun a fund drive to create a permanent full-time home. The Film Society was already a qualified 501(c)(3) charity enabling it to solicit tax-deductible contributions. When the appeal went out, the community responded in force, from small contributors to major donors including the local Tourist Development Council. (Donor Honor Roll) Their goal was finally realized in the spring of 2004 with the opening of the new Tropic Cinema. Having added a third screen in 2007, the Tropic is a full-time, triplex theater, with a large lobby serving as a cultural center and gathering place. It is the home not only to movies but also to a wide variety of community cultural events, from jazz concerts to literary lectures.

WHY JOIN ?
Box office revenues from our screenings provide only a fraction of our costs. It is expensive to rent and maintain our theater, acquire public performance license for films, and buy sound and projection equipment. The thing that keeps the film society alive is membership contributions. When you join the KWFS, you help bring more films to the Keys and build a greater community presence for film. But, most important, you keep us alive and growing. And thanks to our 501(c)(3) status, all contributions are tax-deductible. .

Your joining is essential, important, and imperative!

Join Us For A Good Show

Thanks to Jon McIntosh for the Key West Film Society's palm tree logo design,
and to Julie Molback for the Tropic Cinema logo.

Press Clippings
Keynoter's L'Attitudes - March 30, 2002
Film Society Gets Home of Its Own - Keynoter for April 13, 2002
Film society's 'Field of Dreams' - Key West Citizen, April 18, 2002
A labor of love finally takes hold - Keynoter for March, 20, 2004
Kids Helping Kids makes music, money at new Tropic Cinema - Key West Citizen, May 24, 2004
Controversial documentary opens tonight - Key West Citizen, June 25, 2004
The Tropic Cinema As A Work of Art - Solares Hill, Dec. 30, 2005
Helmerich to Head Tropic Cinema - Keynoter, April 2, 2007
‘Waters of Wonder' Debuts - Keynoter, April 2, 2007

Please email any inquiries to info@keywestfilm.org.