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The Martha's Vineyard Film Festival (MVFF) is an annual film festival founded in 2001 and held in West Tisbury, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The festival takes place in March. The MVFF also produces a summer film series in July and August, and special events at other times of the year. Annually, the festival screens more than 35 films.
The MVFF's main event is its winter festival in March, a long weekend of film screenings and discussions historically held at the Chilmark Community Center. In 2022, the MVFF relocated to the Grange Hall in West Tisbury. [1] In addition to screenings and discussions with guest filmmakers and film subjects, the winter festival includes food prepared by Vineyard chefs, art installations, and performances by local musicians. [ citation needed ]
The MVFF's Summer Film Series (SFS) began in 2004. Originally it took place at the Chilmark Community Center every Wednesday night in July and August (and sometimes the last Wednesday in June). Each SFS evening started with Cinema Circus revelry and a film for kids. During intermission, there was live music and a meal prepared by Vineyard chefs. The evening concluded with the feature presentation and discussion, usually attended by guest filmmakers or film subjects.[ citation needed ] In July and August of 2022, the Summer Film Series continued at the Grange Hall's second floor theater, screening films nightly Wednesday through Saturday.
Cinema Circus was established in 2009 under the direction of Lindsey Scott, later the MVFF's Director of Children's Programs. In addition to live-action and animated films for children, Cinema Circus events include performances by musicians, clowns, acrobats, jugglers, hula hoopers, unicyclists, stilt walkers, and puppeteers, along with face painting, costumes, and snacks and meals.[ citation needed ]
The Family. Film. Feast. was a family-oriented winter series that began in 2009 and took place at the Chilmark Community Center.
Family. Film. Feast. has included collaboration with other organizations on Martha's Vineyard. IMP, the Vineyard's kid and teen comedy improv troupe, performed at a Family. Film. Feast. event in December 2010. [2] The following month, the MVFF teamed up with Slow Food Martha's Vineyard to present a documentary film preceded by a family-friendly short films program and a “slow food” dinner prepared by Vineyard chefs Cathy Walthers, Jan Buhrman, and Robert Lionette. [3]
The MVFF occasionally screens films “down-island” at Vineyard Haven's historic Capawock Theatre or Edgartown Cinema. These screenings have either been encore presentations or in advance of the winter festival or summer film series. Special screenings have included the documentaries Inside Job (prior to its 2011 Best Documentary Oscar-awarding), Pete Seeger: The Power of Song , Southern Comfort, The Present, and Surfwise , as well as the narrative feature films Ballast and Beginners.
In addition to post-screening and panel discussions with featured filmmakers, the MVFF has hosted talks by other members of the film world. Screenwriter Naomi Foner was the featured speaker on the last night of the 2007 Summer Film Series. Cinematographer Michael Chapman spoke before screenings of two of his films, [4] and film critic A.O. Scott of The New York Times was a guest programmer and speaker during the 2008 Summer Film Series. [5] The MVFF's tenth annual winter film festival in 2010 featured a talk by New Yorker film critic David Denby. [6]
The MVFF offers a filmmaking class for students. MVFF Managing Director Brian Ditchfield began teaching the class at the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School in the winter of 2010. [7]
The eleventh annual MVFF winter festival [8] opened with Charlotte, a special sneak preview of Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte's new documentary about the Vineyard's Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway. The director and cinematographer, Brian Dowley, and two of the film's subjects, Ross Gannon and Pam Benjamin, spoke after the screening.
Other attending filmmakers and film subjects included Yoav Potash (Crime After Crime), Marilyn Sewell (Raw Faith), Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman, and Nev Schulman (Catfish), Laura Israel ( Windfall ), Sam Feuer ( The First Grader ), Anne Makepeace, Tobias Vanderhoop, and Wenonah Madison (We Still Live Here), and Peter Richardson (How to Die in Oregon).[ citation needed ]
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Island. It is the 58th largest island in the U.S., with a land area of about 96 square miles (250 km2), and the third-largest on the East Coast, after Long Island and Mount Desert Island. Martha's Vineyard constitutes the bulk of Dukes County, Massachusetts, which also includes the Elizabeth Islands and the island of Nomans Land.
Dukes County is a county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 20,600, making it the second-least populous county in Massachusetts. Its county seat is Edgartown.
Aquinnah is a town located on the western end of Martha's Vineyard island, Massachusetts, United States. From 1870 to 1997, the town was incorporated as Gay Head. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 439. Aquinnah is known for its beautiful clay cliffs and natural serenity, as well as its historical importance to the native Wampanoag people. In 1965, Gay Head Cliffs were designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
Chilmark is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,212 at the 2020 census. The fishing village of Menemsha is located on the western side of the town along its border with the town of Aquinnah. Chilmark had the highest median home sale price of any town or city in Massachusetts in 2013.
Edgartown is a town on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. The town's population was 5,168 at the 2020 census.
Oak Bluffs is a town located on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,341 at the 2020 United States Census. It is one of the island's principal points of arrival for summer tourists, and is noted for its "gingerbread cottages" and other well-preserved mid- to late-nineteenth-century buildings. The town has been a historically important center of African American culture since the eighteenth century.
Tisbury is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,815 at the 2020 census.
West Tisbury is a town located on Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census. Along with Chilmark and Aquinnah, West Tisbury forms "Up-Island" Martha's Vineyard.
The Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) is an annual film festival organized by the California Film Institute. It takes place each October in Mill Valley, California and welcomes more than 200 filmmakers, representing more than 50 countries, each year.
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School or MVRHS is the primary public high school for the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, United States. It is located in Oak Bluffs.
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June 2020. In addition to the annual festival, Hot Docs owns and operates the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, administers multiple production funds, and runs year-round screening programs including Doc Soup and Hot Docs Showcase.
Transcendent Man is a 2009 documentary film by American filmmaker Barry Ptolemy about inventor, futurist and author Ray Kurzweil and his predictions about the future of technology in his 2005 book, The Singularity is Near. In the film, Ptolemy follows Kurzweil around his world as he discusses his thoughts on the technological singularity, a proposed advancement that will occur sometime in the 21st century when progress in artificial intelligence, genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics will result in the creation of a human-machine civilization.
The Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) is held annually in March in Boulder, Colorado USA, and has gained a reputation as one of the most innovative and influential film festivals in the U.S. BIFF features the best films by new and emerging filmmakers, as well as the industry’s most celebrated directors, writers, producers, and actors. There are 25,000 attendances annually.
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival takes place every January in Park City, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; and at the Sundance Resort, and acts as a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival consists of competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature films and short films, and a group of out-of-competition sections, including NEXT, New Frontier, Spotlight, Midnight, Sundance Kids, From the Collection, Premieres, and Documentary Premieres. Many films premiering at Sundance have gone on to be nominated and win Oscars such as Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role.
The Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival was founded in 2006 by the Martha's Vineyard Film Society and is held annually in early September. The International Film Festival is produced by the Martha's Vineyard Film Society, a 503 c3 non-profit corporation.
The European Independent Film Festival is an annual international film festival dedicated to independent cinema. Held in Paris, France, it was created in 2006 by Scott Hillier.
The concept of the position of Martha's Vineyard Poet Laureate was formally initiated in 2011 by the Martha's Vineyard Poetry Society. This was the first time in Martha's Vineyard history that a position was created to designate an island-wide poet laureate. On similar note, the Martha's Vineyard Poetry Society (MVPS) is the first island-wide poetry organization with membership in the history of Martha's Vineyard. MVPS was founded in 2008 by island poet/author/musician, William Waterway.
The ICFF is a not-for-profit, publicly attended film festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, programming international films and taking place during the summer. Founded in 2012, ICFF has grown from a four-day, single-venue festival of 18 films, to a 10-day, nine-city festival of over 130 feature films, documentaries and short films.
Menemsha Pond is a salt pond split between the towns of Aquinnah & Chilmark, Massachusetts. At the mouth of the pond, the Menemsha Creek leads into the Menemsha Bight and the Vineyard Sound. Along Menemsha Creek sits the historic sea-side fishing village of Menemsha. Menemsha Pond connects to both Stonewall Pond via Nashaquitsa Pond and to Squibnocket Pond via the Squibnocket Herring Run.
Blue Heron Farm is a 28-acre (11 ha)+ acre estate on Martha's Vineyard in Chilmark, Massachusetts, United States, that served as a summer vacation place – the "Summer White House" – to President Barack Obama and his family during his presidency in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Later, the property was owned by the British architect Norman Foster and his wife Elena Ochoa Foster.