Storytelling is a gift. Not everyone has it. But anyone who has had the good fortune to have seen one of Dawn Porter’s powerful documentary films can spot her gift right away. Her work as a producer-director has appeared on ESPN, Netflix, HBO, PBS, and Discovery, and garnered a number of awards. And now Circuit Arts, the organization behind the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, the Drive-In at the YMCA, Cinema Circus, and more, has selected her to be the first recipient of its Film Icon Award.
Attendees at the award presentation at the Grange Hall Saturday evening were treated to a sampler of Porter’s gift in a series of clips shown on-Island over the years. Introduced by Circuit Arts executive director Brian Ditchfield, the excerpts presented in the upstairs theater may have been short, but each was profoundly compelling, and left those who hadn’t yet seen the films in their entirety vowing to do so ASAP.
In 2013, Porter’s directorial debut, “Gideon’s Army,” followed the work of three public defenders in the American Deep South. Three years later, in 2016, Porter produced and directed “Trapped,” a prescient examination of the impact of reproductive rights restrictions already in place in 11 states, with a particular focus on the South and the last abortion clinic in Mississippi. “Bobby Kennedy for President,” in 2018, adeptly combined current interviews with footage of Kennedy’s campaign and 1968 assassination to tell the story not just about the man, but also of a critical moment in U.S. history.
Then came 2020 and social distancing. Still, Circuit Arts continued its Drive-Ins, and ran Porter’s “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” another masterpiece of entwining interviews with archival images. Ditchfield recalled the timeliness of the showing (Lewis would die of cancer less than two weeks later), and how everyone honked their horns when the film ended.
In the depths of the pandemic, rather than in-person interviews, Porter pivoted to using diaries recorded by Lady Bird Johnson, deftly weaving them with images of LBJ, his years in the White House, and of course, the tragedy that brought him and his family there. Imagine discovering those tapes, then, like a puzzle, painstakingly piecing them together with old films and photos! “The Lady Bird Diaries” was released in 2023.
Finally, this year, film — and music — lovers have been treated to Porter’s latest work, “Luther: Never Too Much.” First featured at March’s M.V. Film Festival, the film continues to draw appreciative audiences on-Island this summer, most recently last week. After watching just three minutes of it, with a Supremes soundtrack under Luther Vandross’ childhood recollections and interviews with an array of music-world luminaries, it’s hard not to be hooked.
And that’s just a sampler!
In his remarks, Brian Ditchfield spoke of the compassion and grace evident in each film, and how those same characteristics are matched by the woman who produced them. Porter, whose family owns a home in Edgartown, has participated in Circuit Arts screenings over the years, leading discussions of her work and the stories she has chosen to tell — or, as she may very well say, chose her.
Journalist and author Michele Norris followed Ditchfield to the stage to speak about her friend, who is also an avid tennis player, attended Georgetown Law School, and began her career as an attorney for ABC News. Norris described Porter’s work as “a mirror or portal to take us to places that we may not want to visit, but need to nonetheless.” She “sprinkles fairy dust” on her films to make viewers see “the best of us as we look at things that are not the best of us. To see ourselves in a better way.” She also praised her as a mentor, always encouraging others, including on the tennis court. “Icon,” in Porter’s case, equates with “I can,” making her the perfect candidate for the Circuit Arts inaugural award.
With that, the film icon took the stage to receive her trophy, whose design was a collaboration between artist Danielle Mulcahy and Martha’s Vineyard Glassworks, with the actual execution by the Glassworks’ Joey Huang and Wil Sideman. In her thanks, Porter said, humbly, “I am privileged to do what I do.”
Attendees then descended to the building’s Main Hall to sit at four long communal tables and enjoy dinner catered by Nina Levin, featuring products curated from Island farms. Once all were seated and glasses filled, publisher Dawn Davis toasted her friend of many years, both off and on the Island’s tennis courts.
Concluding the evening, Circuit Arts board president Jim Warner thanked the honoree and those who came to celebrate her, promising even more great things from Circuit Arts.
No doubt, more great things will also come from the truly gifted Dawn Porter. We can’t wait.
