MIAMI – With eight Academy Awards nominations, the movie "Moonlight" is unquestionably the Cinderella story of this year's Oscars.
Based on a play written by New World School of the Arts graduate Tarell Alvin McCraney, and adapted for film by Northwestern High graduate Barry Jenkins, the movie has put South Florida talent on the Hollywood radar.
The film has introduced the world to Miami Norland Middle School students Jaden Piner and Alex Hibbert, along with their teacher, Tanisha Cidel.
"I believe it tells the real story -- it tells a real story about people who live and reside in Miami that people don't get to see and nobody ever has talked ever about or exposed," Cidel said.
The movie chronicles the personal experiences of "Chiron," the son of a drug-addicted mother who is struggling to find his identity in a challenged and fragile neighborhood. It shows him in three stages of life.
"Moonlight" began as a play written by McCraney, who was interviewed this week.
"The real heroes are these filmmakers -- these creators who came to this story and said, 'This is important to us,'" McCraney said. “Barry [Jenkins] said, ‘This is important.’ The producer said, 'This is important.' These young actors said, 'This is (a) story about someone being bullied and I am gonna figure out a way to show this in a way that is important.’”
The movie was filmed in Miami in 2015, shot in the Liberty Square Housing Projects, where McCraney and Jenkins grew up not far from each other, but never met.
The movie was also filmed at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Liberty City, Jimmy's East Side diner, Virginia Key Beach and Miramar High School.
Among the honors the film and its actors have taken home so far are three Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild award.
Now, those who made the film hope the academy will bestow the ultimate prize: the Oscar.