Key West Film Festival Works to Rebuild Community After Destruction of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma
While the major venues of the Key West Film Festival luckily made it through both Hurricanes Harvey and Irma with little damage, the rest of the community the festival calls home did not. To that end, the annual event — which bills itself as “Passion Meets Paradise” — is working towards assisting in rebuilding efforts around the Key West area.
In a new call for action, the festival’s Founder and Chairman A. Brooke Christian, recalls why Key West inspired the festival to begin with, sharing, “Six years ago, we committed to Key West to host our film festival because of the vibrancy and tenacity of its people. And in this time of great adversity, that strength and resilience is more powerful than ever. But recovery and rehabilitation will not come easily. It will require an incredible amount of assistance and outside support. I implore you to do what you can to help….to give what you can to help…and to help rebuild a place that so many of us treasure.”
To assist in those efforts, the festival will hold a silent auction, with all of the proceeds benefiting the local Key West community. The auction will include items of memorabilia and souvenirs from various films. In addition, 25 percent of the earnings from every piece of KWFF merchandise sold between now and the end of 2017 will be donated to recovery efforts supporting Key West and neighboring communities.
Beyond that, this year’s Official Launch Party, set to be held on October 17, will also help in the relief process, as 100 percent of proceeds from the evening will also go directly to Key West hurricane relief.
This year’s festival is still on track to take place November 15 – 19, and the festival’s main hubs — including The San Carlos, the Studios of Key West, The Tropic, and the Key West Theater — will once again be in use. Find out more about the festival and its plans at its official website.
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