Prominent historian, cultural critic, and filmmaker Henry Louis Gates Jr. has joined the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival (MVFF) board of directors, MVFF managing director Brian Ditchfield announced last week. Mr. Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard, summers in Oak Bluffs.
Mr. Gates has been actively involved in MVFF events for the past three years. This summer, Mr. Gates helped shape MVFF’s “Race in America” series, moderating a discussion with filmmaker and Oak Bluffs summer resident Stanley Nelson and former Black Panther Kathleen Cleaver, a Martha’s Vineyard summer visitor. Mr. Gates also served as a panelist for a discussion of Mr. Nelson’s 2015 film “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution.” In 2014, he introduced Mr. Nelson’s film “Freedom Summer” and served as a speaker at the screening of “James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket.” In 2013, he helped MVFF produce “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners,” a film that generated controversy over Ms. Davis’s political positions.
“We are thrilled to have him on board,” said Mr. Ditchfield. “We are honored that he finds us worthy of his time,” executive director Thomas Bena added. Mr. Bena said that as a member of the board of directors, Mr. Gates joins three new members of MVFF’s advisory board: Iranian-American and children’s advocate Mahsa Noble, filmmaker Laurie David, and Protect Our Defenders founder Nancy Parrish. All four are activists, aligned with MVFF’s mission to offer discussion, debate, and action on social issues. “They bring powerful, wonderful ideas,” Mr. Bena said. “We rely on them heavily for their advice.”
Mr. Gates is the author of 20 books and 14 documentaries, and has been awarded 55 honorary degrees and a MacArthur genius grant. His PBS documentary series “Finding Your Roots” begins its third season in January 2016. MVFF is the longest-running film festival on the Island. As part of its teaching-in-the-schools mission, it is running an investigative documentary course at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. The 16th annual Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival is scheduled for March 17-20, 2016.
For more information, visit tmvff.org.