Celebrating Black Film and Excellence on Martha’s Vineyard

22^and The annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF) kicked off on August 2 with nine days of programming, screenings, panels and parties featuring black filmmakers, actors and producers. The backdrop for the festivities was Martha’s Vineyard, a picturesque Massachusetts island within the Atlantic Ocean just south of Cape Cod, with its lighthouses, sandy beaches and farmland.

Each yr, the festival brings together vibrant celebrations of culture and community that shine a light-weight on successful Black professionals, creators, and trailblazers. This yr, MVAAFF screened roughly 70 shorts, feature movies, television series, and documentaries. Founded in 2002 by Run & Shoot Filmworks principals Floyd and Stephanie Rance to amplify Black voices, storytelling, and culture, it’s now an annual film festival that qualifies for the Academy Award for Best Short Film.

In addition to attending screenings, panels and social events, festival attendees soaked up the great thing about the Vineyard, an enthralling New England colony that has been a summer escape for black vacationers and luminaries for generations. In the twentieth century, when racial segregation prevented black Americans from accessing beaches, pools and resorts, they flocked to the island town of Oak Bluffs, a destination for black families in addition to distinguished leaders and artists, including Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Massachusetts Senator Edward W. Brooke and Maya Angelou. Today, the small island is a haven for black Hollywood and celebrities like Jennifer Hudson, Spike Lee and the Obamas.

Below we present crucial events and program points that took place as a part of MVAAFF.

Hyatt on the Vineyard World

On August 8, World of Hyatt hosted Bar Noir, a night of cocktails, conversations, and community constructing on the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Vineyard Haven. During the event, Tyronne Stoudemire, senior vice chairman of worldwide diversity, equity, and inclusion at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, spoke concerning the hospitality brand’s commitment to promoting and supporting Black entrepreneurship.

“Many organizations have responded or responded to the death and murder of George Floyd,” said Stoudemire, a recognized global DEI thought leader. “We responded with a program called Change Starts Here.” Launched in 2020, Stoudemire’s initiative addressed the initiative’s efforts to deal with systemic racism in three key areas: who they hire, develop, and advance; the communities they support; and who they buy from and partner with. In addition to job opportunities, this system also opens doors to further executive advancement, community development, and supplier diversity. It has also donated $1 million over three years to 6 community organizations situated in Chicago, Atlanta, and Minneapolis.

“It’s not just about money, it’s about care. It’s not just about care, it’s about helping people grow (and) invest in businesses,” he added.

Black Excellence Brunch

More than 200 guests wearing white gathered for The Black Excellence Brunch, held at Aria, an out of doors event in Edgartown, on Aug. 9. The invitation-only event honored actress and director Sanaa Lathan for her contributions to Hollywood over the past 20 years. During a live fireside chat with Trell Thomas, founding father of The Black Excellence Brunch, the 52-year-old star opened up about her family’s history of addiction and her journey to sobriety.

“I quit drinking six years ago,” Lathan said. “Addiction runs in my family. That’s what I did, and it was crazy because I found all these generations of alcoholics who had literally died.”

The star also spoke concerning the impact alcohol had on her life. “It was affecting my health. The people I allowed around me were not okay. And so I decided that this was something that ran in my family. I had to nip it in the bud.”

Instead of joining Alcoholics Anonymous, Lathan says she quit drinking on her own shortly before the pandemic. She then directed and co-wrote in 2022 on the Paramount+ channel, where she played a former mother and a girl recovering from addiction.

Sponsored by Camille Rose and featuring special beverages provided by Ciroc, the brunch also featured notable guests including director Will Packer, star Uzo Aduba, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, Win With Black Women founder Jotaka Eddy, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Bravo forged members Alex Tyree and Nick Arrington.

“The Black Excellence Brunch was beautiful,” Arrington said, comparing the event to the colourful sense of community felt at an HBCU homecoming or a black family reunion. “It was beautiful, and everyone looked good,” he continued. “I think the best way to describe Trell’s brunches is that it’s a celebration. It’s a celebration of us.”

Thomas said he created the event series, which he founded in 2017, to foster community and connection while honoring the legacy of black excellence. The series reimagines the Sunday dinners he had together with his family growing up in South Carolina. What began as an area gathering at Thomas’ house has evolved into a worldwide celebration of underappreciated cultural figures from New York to New Orleans, South Africa and Ghana.

“Martha’s Vineyard is no stranger to amazing Black people, and it was amazing to be a part of the celebration of Black Excellence with our first-ever Black Excellence Brunch on the Vineyard,” Thomas, a veteran media expert, said in an announcement to BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP“It was a true honor to present flowers to so many wonderful people and celebrate a cultural icon like Sanaa Lathan.”

Director’s Brunch

On Saturday, August 10, MVAAFF, Comcast NBC Universal, and Black Experience on Xfinity joined forces to present “The Director’s Brunch” celebrating storytellers of color. Held at Aria, the reception featured a buffet brunch, a live DJ, and a panel discussion with MSNBC President Rashida Jones, award-winning filmmaker B. Monét, director Gia-Rayne Harris, Robert Baltazar, VP of DEI programming at NBCU Launch, and moderator Loren Hudson, SVP and Chief Diversity Officer at Comcast Cable. The panel explored the challenges Black filmmakers face in breaking through within the industry.

“I think the path of a director, especially if you want to be one, is not easy,” Monet said. It’s not like, ‘You go to film school and you are just going to make it. You know? I mean, the foundations are different for us, unfortunately,'” she said.

Rather than follow a linear path, Monet encouraged young filmmakers to try alternative methods of breaking into the industry, similar to producing short movies and observing other producers and artists.

Fight Night

MVAAFF concluded with a grand event that included a special screening, a star-studded panel, and an afterparty celebrating the premiere of the limited series Peacock on closing night.

The evening began with live music from DJ Trauma before festival founders Stephanie and Floyd Rance introduced acclaimed filmmaker and series executive producer Will Packer, who took part in a one-on-one fireside chat with journalist Danielle Cadet on Roc Nation’s iconic gold Lenny Santiago couch.

“There were a lot of interesting people sitting on that couch talking. This is the kind of cultural thing that is for us (and) that we can do at a film festival on Martha’s Vineyard (and not) anywhere else,” Packer told the sold-out audience.

The series, which premieres September 5 on Peacock, tells the story of the audacious armed robbery that took place in Atlanta on the night of Muhammad Ali’s famous 1970 return to the ring. Based on the acclaimed iHeart crime podcast, it tells the story of how the infamous holdup ultimately transformed Atlanta into the “Black Mecca.”

The story centers on a street hustler named Chicken Man (played by comedy star and actor Kevin Hart) who throws an afterparty to have fun a fight with a guest list of the country’s richest and most notorious gangsters. However, the night ends in probably the most brazen heist in Atlanta’s history. Suspected of masterminding the crime, Chicken Man is set to clear his name, but must persuade his old nemesis, J.D. Hudson (played by Don Cheadle), certainly one of the primary black detectives in town’s desegregated police force, to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Following the screening, Packer returned to the stage with showrunner, creator and executive producer Shaye Ogbonna and forged members Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle and Chloe Bailey for a discussion moderated by journalist Tiffany Cross.

“I’ve always loved and admired working with Will, and for this opportunity to come together was really, really cool,” Bailey said. “I’m an Atlanta native and I’d never heard of this heist story. And then to hear that I got to work with Taraji, Don, Samuel (Jackson) and the most incredible actors in the game, it meant the world to me.”

To cap off the evening, Peacock hosted the festival’s Closing Night Party at The Loft in Oaks Bluffs. The ’70s-themed bash was decorated with roses, disco balls and plush red carpets. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, songwriter Ledisi, actor Glynn Turman, MSNBC President Rashida Jones and Destiny’s Child singer LeToya Luckett were in attendance.