Delaney Buffett will be awarded the 4th annual Golden Key Award for Emerging Talent at Key West Film Festival for her breakout role in front of the camera and direction behind it, in Adult Best Friends. The film will screen as a Spotlight title at the festival.
In Adult Best Friends, two friends Katie and Delaney, inseparable since childhood, find their paths diverging in their 30s. While Katie is happily committed and living with her boyfriend, Delaney is still single and living with a roommate. Despite the differences in their lives, their friendship is still a top priority. They’ve always been the most important person in each other’s lives. That is, until Katie’s boyfriend proposes. To soften the blow, Katie plans a nostalgic trip to their childhood beach town, intending to share the news in a familiar setting. But the journey takes unexpected turns, courtesy of a bizarre rental homeowner, a chance encounter with a former classmate, a bachelor party, and a few potential love interests. Caught in a whirlwind of emotions, Katie hesitates and withholds the news from Delaney, putting their lifelong friendship in peril.
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.”
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.