Black Film Festival Returns To Martha's Vineyard

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MA  -- Run & Shoot Filmworks’ Annual Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival (MVAAFF) returns for its ninth year with 60 films representing filmmakers from around the world.

Films will be showcased at Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven.

This year’s shorts program includes quite a few filmmakers we’ve mentioned before on this site, including Daniel Patterson & Justin Staley (Stage&Doe), Darius Clark Monroe (Slow), and our own Curtis Caesar John (A Little Bit of More).

Among features, CNN will debut a documentary entitled Pictures Don’t Lie about the complicated life of famed Civil Rights-era photographer, Ernest Withers. 

Withers documented the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s through images that evoked the injustices, victories, and personalities that defined the times. 

Following his death in 2007, documents emerged that revealed Withers was also a paid FBI informant, underscoring a complex life for a man who had, through his work as a photographer, become an icon himself.

Nationally syndicated radio personality Michael Baisden will also debut his new documentary,What Women Want, the latest installment in the never-ending debate on black women and relationships.

New this year, global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi’s Executive Vice President of Production Sheldon Levy will conduct a workshop entitled “This is How We Do It,” a hands-on exploration of commercial production. Saatchi will also recognize an emerging artist from the festival with the designation of ‘artist in residence,’ inviting the filmmaker to spend three to six months within their production/creative departments.

MVAAFF aims to be a fertile ground for new talent and a door opener for aspiring filmmakers by honoring the best and brightest in African-American film and cinematography.

The full lineup of films and events can be viewed here.