MV Film Society founder and executive director Richard Paradise couldn’t be more pleased about the 11th year of Documentary Week programming, running from July 28 through August 1.
“The MV Doc Week has always been one of our most prized events of the summer, held for the past 10 years at the beginning of August,” Paradise said. “It provides Vineyard audiences with some of the best American-produced documentaries of the year, with visiting filmmakers, film subjects, and special guests. Arthouse cinema audiences cherish documentaries about interesting people and important causes. That’s what the MV Doc Week delivers each year.”
The five compelling documentaries delve deeply into a fascinating array of topics, a luxury in this era of soundbites.
The festival begins on Monday, July 28, with “Deaf President Now,” followed by a live discussion with co-director Davis Guggenheim. The documentary tells the story of the eight days of historic protests in 1988 at Gallaudet University, the only higher learning institution designed to be free of barriers to the deaf. Unrest erupted when the board of trustees overlooked two qualified deaf candidates for a hearing president. “We wanted to scream, but how do we scream out in our language?” asks one protester. Another states, “We wanted a leader who could understand our world.”
After a week of rallies, boycotts, and protests, the students triumphed, marking a crucial moment in civil rights history with an impact that extended far beyond their campus, and helped lead to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Guggenheim notes, “The four heroes of ‘Deaf President Now!’ show how collective action can work. That’s why it’s especially gratifying to share this movie.”
On Tuesday, July 29, catch “Becoming Katharine Graham,” followed by a Zoom discussion with producer Jawad Metni. Based on Graham’s awardwinning autobiography, the film explores Graham’s journey in her career as the legendary publisher of the Washington Post, where she was a nemesis of President Nixon. The documentary emphasizes her relentless pursuit of truth through television footage, interviews, and audio recordings, including Nixon saying, “I want some vicious calls made to the Post. Kay Graham should get some.”
Graham was a woman who fought for truth, broke barriers in a sexist world, and won a Pulitzer Prize, inspiring generations with her courage and resilience. “I really hate fights,” she says in the film, “but when cornered, then I can fight.”
On Wednesday, July 30, see “Tenga duro signorina! (Hold tight missy!) Isabella Ducrot Unlimited,” followed by a prerecorded Zoom interview with the film’s director, Monica Stambrini. The documentary spotlights Isabella Ducrot, one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Italian art. Ducrot, whose real name was Antonia Mosca, didn’t become a visual artist until age 55. Four decades later, galleries and museums throughout Europe are celebrating her work. The film follows her unconventional ascent, with footage of her home studio in Rome, travels, and meetings with curators and gallery directors. “Tenga duro signorina!” is a portrait of a treasured artist who rose to the top despite being self-taught and an outsider, revealing, as Ducrot exclaims in the film, “A happy life begins at 60!”
Stambrini notes, “I believe that being exciting and surprising is the greatest quality of a film, so if I have conveyed some of that to the viewers, I couldn’t hope for anything better, together with the most significant and transformative lesson from Isabella — that old age should not be feared.”
“The Stringer” screens on Thursday, July 31, followed by a live panel discussion with director Bao Nguyen, photojournalist Gary Knight, producers Fiona Turner and Terri Lichstein, and executive producer Sue Turley, moderated by journalist and M.V. Times Publisher Charles Sennott.
Nguyen recounts the story of Nguyen Thanh Nghe, a former Saigon photo editor haunted by a 52-year-old secret. When he courageously makes a shocking admission, it launches a gripping investigation into five decades of buried secrets behind one of the Vietnam War’s most memorable photographs. The images, including the famous photo, “The Terror of War,” also known as “Napalm Girl,” shocked the world with their depiction of children suffering violence, sparking global protests and calls to end the war. However, a claim by a former Associated Press photo editor raises questions about the image’s origins. Renowned war photographer Gary Knight and journalists Fiona Turner, Terri Lichstein, and Lê Vân embark on an intense quest to find and seek justice for a man known only as “the stringer.”
Nguyen said “For me, this film is about uplifting a generation of Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans who have been silenced, or whose stories have been ignored. Many unknown stringers are taking photos, working as journalists in their own countries, but have not received credit, often risking their lives on the frontlines … This film invites you … to consider some uncomfortable truths.” He added, “I hope viewers leave this film not just thinking about one photograph, but about the quiet, complicated ways we decide whose stories are told and whose aren’t. This isn’t just about a single image. It’s about truth, authorship, silence, and what it means to finally be heard after half a century of being overlooked.”
Closing the festival on Friday, August 1, is “Women & the Wind,” followed by a live discussion with director, producer, and subject Kiana Weltzien. The documentary follows three courageous women as they sail nearly 2,300 miles across the North Atlantic, tracking plastic pollution aboard a meticulously restored 50-year-old wooden catamaran. The journey provided an opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth.
“What began as a journey to follow plastic became a journey of surrender unto ourselves,” says Weltzien. “When creating ‘Women & the Wind,’ our intention was to move people in two ways: to rekindle a sense of connection with nature — and the urgency to protect it — and to spark the feeling that even the seemingly impossible can be achieved.”
Martha’s Vineyard Documentary Week runs from July 28 through August 1 at the Martha’s
Vineyard Film Center. For more information, visit mvfilmsociety.com.