Just in time to end the winter doldrums, the Martha's Vineyard Film Festival (MVFF) has announced its schedule for the March 13 through 15 event at the Chilmark Community Center. The ninth annual festival started on March 6 with a special preview showing of "Ballast" at the Capawock Theatre in Vineyard Haven.
The festival traditionally has emphasized documentaries, and of this year's 14 full-length features, four are fiction films and nine are documentaries. There will also be a program of international shorts.
For the first time, Martha's Vineyard Film Festival filmgoers will be able to buy tickets online for the rest of the festival through TicketsMV.com or the festival website, tmvff.org. That option ends at 12 noon on Friday, March 13, after which all tickets will be available at the community center. "It's kind of an experiment," says Managing Director Brad Westcott. Festivalgoer response to the online opportunity will determine whether Martha's Vineyard Film Festival continues the practice.
"We are making a push for more sofas this year," Mr. Westcott says of the comfortable borrowed seating that has been a hallmark of the community-oriented festival. But viewers will have to give up their cozy seats between screenings unless they already have purchased tickets for the next show.
For the kids
In addition to a full program of adult films, Martha's Vineyard Film Festival will once again offer a free series for children at the neighboring Chilmark Library. Nicole Dreiske, curator of the Chicago International Children's Festival, has come on board to choose this year's children's films. A veteran of nearly 35 years of curating children's films, she is also expected to choose the films for the summer Martha's Vineyard Film Festival series.
Praising Martha's Vineyard Film Festival Producer and Artistic Director Thomas Bena as a tremendous artist's advocate, Ms. Dreiske says she hopes the films in the series "will give children a window into cultures they've never experienced before."
The children's programming is divided into two sections: "A Different Drummer" for children 5 to 8, and "Inside Look" for those from 8 to 10.
One of Ms. Dreiske's choices is "Zoologic," an animated film about a fussy zookeeper. Another, "Stella and the Star of the Orient," which won Best of the Festival in Chicago, is a time-travel feature about a girl who ends up in the same house she lives in - 100 years earlier.
Still another feature, "The Secret of Skeleton Island," is based on a best-selling children's book series. A total of 19 children's films from 11 countries will be offered.
In explaining why she was willing to curate Martha's Vineyard Film Festival's children's program, Ms. Dreiske said Vineyard summer visitor Harold Ramis ("Ghostbusters," "Groundhog Day") told her, "Whatever you do there will never be wasted. They have a reverence for culture."
The festival
Music has always added to the celebratory atmosphere at the festival, and this year a Philadelphia band, Prowler, will perform on Saturday night. The music video for one of Prowler's songs is part of the festival's Short Film Series. A D.J. will play recorded music at other times.
Mr. Westcott, who serves on the screening committee that selected the films this winter, said the festival worked hard to bring lightness and variety of genres and languages to its offerings. Others on the committee, which worked on the program over the winter, are Artistic Director Mr. Bena, Lillian Robinson, Michele Mayhew, Anne Evasick, and short films curator Jeremy Mayhew.
Opening the festival on Friday night at 7:15 pm will be the documentary, "Life. Support. Music." This film tells the powerful story of guitarist Jason Crigler, who recovered from a brain hemorrhage suffered during a concert. A surprise guest will appear after the film.
Following at 9:15 pm will be the comic British documentary, "A Complete History of My Sexual Failures." The festival will screen its first horror film, "Let the Right One In," at 11 pm.
Saturday's program begins at 10:30 am with "Food, Inc.," an examination of the food industry. Following the film, Ali Berlow and Noli Hoye of Island Grown Initiative will discuss their Island Grown School program, and chef Jan Buhrman of The Kitchen Porch will talk about Martha's Vineyard's slow food movement.
The International Shorts Program follows at 1 pm. Among these films is "Drop," a lush and original movie directed by Aquinnah's own Janis Vogel. Inspired by the young filmmaker's experience growing up on the Vineyard, the film has been recognized with awards at several festivals in New York City.
Director Morgan Dews will answer questions after the 3 pm screening of his documentary, "Must Read After My Death," based on his grandmother's revealing archive of family members' audio recordings. A clash between South African and Australian surfers in Oahu, Hawaii is the subject of "Bustin' Down the Door," a documentary that will be shown at 5 pm.
The Saturday evening roster includes "Stranded: I've Come from a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains," at 7 pm. This documentary outlines how 16 passengers, including members of a Uruguayan rugby team, survived a plane crash. "Wendy and Lucy," starring Oscar-nominated Michelle Williams ("Brokeback Mountain") as a woman whose car breaks down en route to Alaska, will be shown at 9:30 pm.
Sunday morning's films start at 10:30 am with "The Archive," a short documentary about the world's largest record collection, and "Herb and Dorothy," a feature film about an unusual pair of art collectors. "Reporter," playing at 12:30 pm, profiles Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof. It was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
A French film, "The Secret of the Grain," is scheduled for 2:15 pm and follows the efforts of a Tunisian immigrant to open a restaurant in France. The documentary, "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29," uses the legendary 1968 football game to comment on memory, fate, and coincidence and will play at 5:15 pm.
This year's festival will close with "The Pool" at 7:30 pm, in which an Indian boy befriends the owner of a luxurious swimming pool. It relies on nonprofessional actors to tell a poignant story.
The festival will make use of the community center's new, larger movie screen. Food will again be available from the Scottish Bakehouse.
"We continue to see an influx of new people," says Mr. Westcott. He added that more filmgoers are coming from New York and Boston, and that he has noticed younger faces in the audiences for the festival's films.
Martha's Vineyard Film Festival, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, times vary, Chilmark Community Center. 9th annual event. For complete schedule: tmvff.org. $10; $5 for members per film; day/weekend passes available. 508-645-9599.
Brooks Robards regularly writes on books, films, and art for The Martha's Vineyard Times.
