The 17th Annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF), presented by Run&Shoot Filmworks, will be held on the beautiful beach island of Martha’s Vineyard from August 5 – 10, 2019.
The summer’s finest film festival, MVAAFF now an OSCAR® Qualifying Festival in The Short Film Category, which means, short films that receive the MVAAFF Best Short Film award may now be eligible to enter the Academy’s Short Film competition for the concurrent season. This is a first for the Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival and takes the 17-year old film festival to new and exciting heights.
In keeping with its incomparable line-up to bring top notch programming, MVAAFF will present an exceptional program of over 70 original feature films, documentaries and short films produced and directed by a collective of talented filmmakers from all over the globe. The festival will be inclusive of poignant panel discussions and exclusive events throughout the island. Registration opens on Monday, August 5, at the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center (MVPAC), 100 Edgartown Vineyard Haven Road, in Oak Bluffs, MA, from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Check out full itinerary here.
Beginning Monday, August 5, the festival debuts a series of shorts films and documentaries from 11am to 5:00pm, including Amazing Grace, featuring Aretha Franklin recording the most successful gospel album of all time, Amazing Grace. Amazing Grace is crafted from never before seen footage captured in 1972. Directed by Sydney Pollack & Alan Elliott.
This year, Denny’s returns as a premiere sponsor, following last year’s partnership announcement on Denny’s Hungry Education scholarship program, which awards three new scholarships totaling $15,000 to future filmmakers at Howard University, Morehouse College, and other historically black colleges and universities. “Denny’s long-standing commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion has earned us a number of national, regional, and local awards and recognition. However, no initiative or program can truly be successful without individual commitment from each of us, said April Kelly-Drummond, Denny’s Senior Director of Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Multicultural Engagement.
To keep attendees fit, the American Heart Association and Run&Shoot Filmworks will present Morning Yoga on the beach & Polar Bears at the Inkwell Beach (check festival schedule for times). The American Heart Association will also debut EmPOWERED Voices: More Than Enough to Heal, a short film rooted in celebrating HBCUs and encouraging the next generation of black physicians.
“In our 17th year, we come back as an Oscar®-qualifying festival. We are honored and ecstatic to have the Academy recognize us,” said Floyd Rance, co-founder of the MVAAFF. “For the past few years, we’ve produced the MVAAFF with the primary goal of providing a positive environment where African-American filmmakers can share their thoughts, ideas, and aspirations. Now, we are thrilled to add that we can offer recipients of our Best Short Film award the possibility of being considered in the Short Film category of the Academy Awards®.”
Festival Highlights (check website for full schedule)
Opening night, Monday, August 5th, Netflix presents The Black Godfather profiling the exceptional and unlikely rise of Clarence Avant, a music executive whose trailblazing behind-the-scenes accomplishments impacted the legacies of icons such as as Bill Withers, Quincy Jones, Muhammad Ali, Hank Aaron, and Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. The movie will screen at 7:00pm followed by a conversation with Academy Award® nominee Reginald Hudlin (Director) and Nicole Avant (Producer).
On Tuesday, August 6th, screenings begin at 11am, featuring a series of back to back film shorts; and two full length films to include House of Invictus and Wheels, followed by spotlight screening at 8:00pm of BET’s First Wives Club. After neglecting their friendship, best friends Ari (Ryan Michelle Bathe), Hazel (Jill Scott) and Bree (Michelle Buteau) reunite to help each other through rough patches in their lives. Along the way, the women learn that as long as they have each other, there’s nothing they can’t do.
The American Heart Association presents EmPOWERED Voices: More Than Enough To Heal, on Wednesday, August 7th at 1:00pm. The film explores the extraordinary impact of black physicians on medicine over time, the significance of Historically Black Colleges, Universities and Medical Schools in strengthening the pipeline of physicians and our power to begin healing everything from health disparities to implicit physician bias. At 7:00pm the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University premieres Brian Banks, a football player’s dream to play in the NFL are halted when he is wrongly convicted and sent to prison.
Thursday, August 8th at 3:00 p.m. (“Greenleaf”) & 8:00pm (“David Makes Man”), OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network will screen the premiere episode from season four of its original drama series “Greenleaf,” from award-winning writer and producer Craig Wright. Followed by a talk-back with cast members Lynn Whitfield, Merle Dandridge and Deborah Joy Winans. Then at 8:00pm, OWN presents the first episode of its highly touted drama “David Makes Man” from Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (“Moonlight”) and executive produced by Michael B. Jordan and Oprah Winfrey. The one-hour lyrical drama centers on a 14-year-old prodigy from the projects who is haunted by the death of his closest friend and relied on by his hardworking mother to find a way out of poverty. He must choose between the streets that raised him or the higher education that may offer him a way out.
Friday, August 9th, at 8:00pm, HBO presents their Short Film Competition and Awards Ceremonies, followed by a special screening of HBO’s presentation of The Apollo by Oscar® and Emmy® winner Roger Ross Williams. This film chronicles the unique history and contemporary legacy of New York City’s landmark Apollo Theater by weaving together archival clips of music, comedy and dance performances; behind-the-scenes verité footage of the team that makes the theater run; and interviews with such artists as Common, Jamie Foxx, Savion Glover, Patti LaBelle, Smokey Robinson and Pharrell Williams. Following the screening, there will be a talk-back with Oscar® and Emmy® winning director Roger Ross Williams and Producer Lisa Cortes.
The MVAAFF will conclude on Saturday, August 10th with more great documentaries, shorts and features, including One Child Left Behind: The Untold Atlanta Cheating Scandal. In 2009, 1,176 Atlanta teachers were investigated for test cheating at 2:30pm. Next, Color Of Changepresents Finding Justice with Dream Hampton. With a voting rights advocate running on one side, and a Secretary of State known for voter suppression on the other, the Georgia election will be a showdown to see if fighters and activists can prevent yet another election injustice. Election night in Georgia will reveal a victory for the first Black woman governor in America or a bitter defeat, starting at 5:00pm.
Closing out the night, Run&Shoot Filmworks Presents Academy Award® Winning Director Spike Lee as he plays Da Music, Videos and Clips from his Iconic “Spike Lee Joints“
This year’s sponsors include HBO, Denny’s, BET, OWN, Netflix, American Heart Association, Color of Change, CBS/Diversity, Sag Indie, Uncle Nearest, ASU/Arizona State University and Ketel One.
All screenings will take place at Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center (MVPAC) unless otherwise noted. Please be advised that all screening and events are subject to change without notice.
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