The 14th Annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF)
SPIKE LEE, NATE PARKER, SOLEDAD O’BRIEN AMONG HOLLYWOOD NOTABLES TO ATTEND RUN&SHOOT FILMWORKS’
14TH ANNUAL MARTHA’S VINEYARD AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
MVAAFF Announces its Slate of Films, Conversations and Events
MARTHA’S VINEYARD, MA – The 14th Annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF), presented by Run&Shoot Filmworks, announced its line-up of film screenings, panels, conversations and premiere events to be held from August 8–13, 2016. Sponsored by HBO, Saatchi & Saatchi, Hennessy and The Wharton Sports Business Initiative, the MVAAFF is considered to be the “Summer’s Finest Film Festival” and continues to highlight the artistry of African American filmmakers from all over the world. The films that are featured at the MVAAFF address an array of topics that stem from the African American, LGBT, Hispanic, Asian and international communities.
The MVAAFF will open, on Monday, August 8, at Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center (MVPAC), 100 Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, Oak Bluffs, MA, with “Citizen” – a post-modern dance performance, led by Reggie Wilson, artistic director of Fist and Heel, a Brooklyn-based dance company.
The festival’s opening night film, Syl Johnson: Any Way The Wind Blows, screening on Tuesday, August 9 at 2:00 p.m. at MVPAC, is a portrait of an overlooked, yet hugely influential, African American musician whose expansive career encompassed nearly every genre of black music from the blues, to soul, to funk, to hip hop. The evening will end with a screening of Southside With You at 7:30 p.m. at Edgartown Cinemas, 65 Main Street, Edgartown, MA. The film, written and directed by Richard Tanne, set in 1989 Chicago, is the charming and witty reimagining of the first date between Barack and Michelle Obama.
On Wednesday, August 10, at 7:00 p.m. at MVPAC, the Wharton Sports Business Initiative will present Muhammad Ali: The People’s Champ, a biographical tribute to the former heavyweight champion and global hero, Muhammad Ali. Ali, directed by Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, draws a line between the boxer’s avid activism and the millennial generation and uncovers what the champion signifies to the current world at large.
Journalist and producer, Soledad O’Brien will explore, in the feature length documentary, Babies Behind Bars, a program at Washington Corrections Center for Women where women are permitted to keep their babies and raise them, for up to two years, within prison walls. The screening will take place on Thursday, August 11 at 7:00 p.m. at MVPAC.
Writer and director Deborah Riley Draper’s historically-based, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, will screen at the MVAAFF on Saturday, August 13 at 12:00 p.m. at MVPAC. The film explores the experiences of eighteen African American Olympians who defied harsh Jim Crow laws, along with Adolf Hitler, to successfully compete in the 1936 Nazi Olympic Games in Berlin. They went on to win over ten medals, collectively.
On Saturday, August 13 at 7:00 p.m. at MVPAC, Spike Lee will lead “The Color of Conversation,” a lively discussion with Nate Parker(The Great Debaters) and Aja Naomi King (“How to Get Away with Murder”) around the groundbreaking film, The Birth of a Nation, and the journey from conception to distribution. Parker’s directorial debut recounts the 1831 slave uprising commanded by Nat Turner. The film was honored at the Sundance Film Festival with the highly coveted Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize. Fox Searchlight has acquired the worldwide rights by closing the richest deal in Sundance history and will distribute the film in theaters this fall.
All screenings and events will take place at Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center (MVPAC) unless otherwise noted. Please be advised that all screening and events are subject to change without notice.
“We are always thrilled to give filmmakers of color a platform for their art. We consider them storytellers and providing a showplace for them is paramount to my husband, Floyd and I,” says Stephanie Rance, co-founder of MVAAFF.
For more information on the MVAAFF and a complete schedule of screenings and special events, please visit www.mvaaff.com.
2016 Sponsors: HBO (Premier Sponsor); Fox Searchlight Pictures (Premiere Sponsor); Saatchi & Saatchi (Premier Sponsor), Hennessy (Premier Sponsor) and The Wharton Sports Business Initiative (Premier Sponsor).
About Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival
Established in 2002, the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF) is a five-day event where independent and established African-American filmmakers can showcase, screen and promote emerging feature, documentary, and short films from across the world. The brainchild of husband and wife team, Floyd and Stephanie Rance, MVAAFF provides a nurturing environment for African American filmmakers to test their creativity, while providing sponsors a captive audience to promote their brands among a virtual who’s who of the African American community.
About Run&Shoot Filmworks
The mission of MVAAFF’S production company is to provide a positive environment where filmmakers can share their thoughts, visions and aspirations. In addition, the company has produced commercials for clients such as Foot Action, Spalding, Reebok, Nike and NBC Sports.
Follow MVAAFF on our social media platforms:
Twitter: @mvfilmfestival
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runshootfilmworks/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mvaaff/?hl=en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mvfilmfestival
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MVAAFF/run-shoot-filmworks-mvaaff/
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