Movie buffs bring glamour and glitz to Oscar party

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Time for tuxedos, designer dresses, and guessing who will win, at the Martha's Vineyard Film Center Oscar party. — Photo by David Welch

Oscar fans turned out in their Hollywood best for the Oscar party at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center Sunday night. Hors d’oeuvres and champagne flowed as guests mixed and mingled in the center’s main foyer before the screening of the Academy Awards.

“This event is always a lot of fun and the film center is very conducive to films and events like this,” said Richard Paradise, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society.  “We love doing this on a local level and give people a local experience. It’s also a fun excuse to get people to dress up.”

Geoff Rose, of West Tisbury came prepared.

“I’m a movie nut,” Mr. Rose said. “I’ve seen every movie with the exception of Captain Phillips and I’m intrigued to see what’s going to win.”

The event at the Film Center also drew an international presence. David Wood and Steven McGuniges flew all the way from London to attend Sunday’s affair.

“We go to the U.S every year for the Academy Awards,” Mr. Wood told The Times. “This year we chose Boston, but we’ve always wanted to see the Cape and the Island so we thought we’d come here.”

Prior to show-time, guests were invited to strike a pose with a 1949 Oscar statuette. The statue was courtesy of Chilmark resident Robert George, whose late father, George L. George, won the award in 1949 for his film short, “Toward Independence.” Made for the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the film was about military men with disabilities returning home after World War II.