To the Editor:
The 11th annual Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival was by far our best festival to date. Yes, our attendance was higher than ever with many sold-out films, but that isn’t the only thing that made it our finest festival. It was the spirit of the festival, of the audience, the staff, and the filmmakers. People were happy, they seemed grateful, and there was electricity in the air.
Scott Hershowitz brought his years of experience at Mocha Motts into our coffee bar. Jan Buhrman and Robert Lionette created magic in the kitchen. Rob Myers organized a slate of incredible Island musicians. Lindsey Scott and Molly Purves coordinated our beloved production staff and volunteers. Anthony Esposito and Katrina Nevin happily shuttled the filmmakers around the Island. There are more names to mention — our patrons, the advertisers, board members, and those who lent helping hands when we needed them most — you know who you are, and we could not have done it without you.
This year we also decided to announce our dream of building a home for MVFF on Martha’s Vineyard. Audrey van der Krogt designed an interactive art installation that asked for feedback, and we received lots of great ideas. We were moved by the number of people that have already jumped in by helping to look around the Island for land, offering their design services, and providing ideas for moving forward. We are now engaged in an Island-wide brainstorming session and hope that more of our community will want to get involved. Please contact us with your ideas.
We want our community to know how much we love working here, how lucky we feel to be doing this work, and how much more we want to do.
Thomas Bena
Chilmark
Brian Ditchfield
Edgartown
