The 22nd annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF) kicked off August 2 with nine days of programming, movie screenings, panels, and parties highlighting Black filmmakers, actors, and producers. At the backdrop of the festivities was Martha’s Vineyard, a quaint Massachusetts island on the Atlantic just south of Cape Cod marked by lighthouses, sandy beaches, and farmland.
Each year, the festival brings together vibrant celebrations of culture and community that spotlight successful Black professionals, creatives, and trailblazers. This year, about 70 shorts, features, TV series, and documentaries were screened at the MVAAFF. It was established in 2002 by Run & Shoot Filmworks principals Floyd and Stephanie Rance to amplify Black voices, storytelling, and culture and is now an Oscar-qualifying annual film festival in the short film category.
In addition to attending screenings, panels, and social events, festivalgoers reveled in the beauty of the Vineyard — a charming New England colony that has been a summer escape for Black vacationers and luminaries for generations. In the 20th century, when segregation barred Black Americans from beaches, pools, and resorts, they flocked to the island town of Oak Bluffs. The destination attracted Black families as well as prominent 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 high-profile figures like Jennifer Hudson, Spike Lee, and the Obamas.
Here are some highlights of the events and programming that took place during the MVAAFF.
World of Hyatt on the Vineyard
On August 8, the World of Hyatt held Bar Noir featuring an evening of cocktails, conversation, and community building at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum on Vineyard Haven. During the event, Tyronne Stoudemire, the Senior Vice President of Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, talked about the hospitality brand’s commitment to advancing and supporting Black entrepreneurship.
“Many organizations either reacted or responded to the death and murder of George Floyd,” said Stoudemire, a recognized global DEI thought leader. “We responded with a program that’s called Change Starts Here.” Launched in 2020, Stoudemire touched on the initiative’s effort to address systemic racism through three key areas: who they employ, develop, and advance; the communities they support; and who they buy from and partner with. In addition to employment opportunities, the program also opens doors to further managerial advancement, community development, and supplier diversity. Furthermore, it has provided $1 million over three years to six community-based organizations located in Chicago, Atlanta, and Minneapolis.
“It’s just not about the money, it’s about care. It’s just not about care, it’s about helping people to grow [and] invest in businesses,” he added.
The Black Excellence Brunch
Over 200 guests dressed in all-white ensembles gathered for The Black Excellence Brunch held at the Atria, an outdoor venue in Edgartown, on August 9. The invite-only affair honored actress and director Sanaa Lathan for her contributions to Hollywood over the past 20 years. During a live fireside chat with Trell Thomas, founder of The Black Excellence Brunch, the 52-year-old Love & Basketball star opened up about her family’s history with addiction and her own journey to sobriety.
“I stopped drinking six years ago,” Lathan revealed. “Addiction runs in my family. I just did Finding Your Roots
and it was crazy because I found all these generations of alcoholics that had literally died.”The Brown Sugar star also mentioned the impact alcohol had on her life. “It was affecting my health. The people that I was allowing to be around me wasn’t right. And so, I decided, this is something that’s in my family. I need to nip it in the bud.”
Rather than enrolling in Alcoholics Anonymous, Lathan says she quit drinking on her own shortly before the pandemic. She then went on to direct and co-star in On the Come Up on Paramount+ in 2022, where she played a recovering addict and mother.
The brunch, which was sponsored by Camille Rose and offered specialty drinks provided by Ciroc, also included notable attendees like filmmaker Will Packer, Orange is the New Black star Uzo Aduba, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, Win With Black Women founder Jotaka Eddy, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and Bravo’s Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard cast members Alex Tyree and Nick Arrington.
“The Black Excellence Brunch was beautiful,” said Arrington, likening the event to the vibrant sense of community felt at an HBCU homecoming or Black family reunion. “It was a beautiful thing, and everybody looked good,” he continued. “I think the best way to describe Trell’s brunches are, it’s a celebration. It’s a celebration of us.”
Founded in 2017, Thomas said he created the event series to foster community and connection while paying tribute to the legacy of Black excellence. The series reimagines the Sunday dinners he had with his family while growing up in South Carolina. What started as a local gathering in Thomas’ home has since morphed into a global celebration of under-recognized cultural figures from New York to New Orleans to South Africa and Ghana.
“Martha’s Vineyard is no stranger to excellent Black people, and it was amazing to join in on the celebration of Black Excellence hosting our first-ever Black Excellence Brunch on the Vineyard,” said Thomas, a seasoned media expert, in a statement to BLACK ENTERPRISE. “It was truly an honor to give flowers to so many amazing people and celebrate the cultural icon that is Sanaa Lathan.”
The Director’s Brunch
On Saturday, August 10, MVAAFF, Comcast NBC Universal, and Black Experience on Xfinity teamed up to present “The Director’s Brunch” in celebration of storytellers of color. Held at the Atria, the soiree included a buffet-style brunch, live DJ, and a panel discussion featuring MSNBC president Rashida Jones, award-winning filmmaker B. Monét, director Gia-Rayne Harris, Robert Baltazar, NBCU Launch’s Vice President of TV Programming DEI, and moderator Loren Hudson, Chief Diversity Officer, Connectivity & Platforms, Comcast. During the discussion, the panel touched on the challenges Black filmmakers face when trying to break into the business.
“I think the path of being a director, especially if that’s what you want to be, it’s not just cut and dry,” said Monet. It’s not “like you go to film school and then you’re just going to make it. You know? I mean, the rules, unfortunately, are different for us,” she said.
Rather than pursuing a linear path, Monet encouraged young filmmakers to try to explore alternative methods to break into the industry, such as producing short films and shadowing other producers and artists.
Fight Night
The MVAAFF ended with a punch featuring a special screening, star-studded panel, and after-party for Peacock’s limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist
on closing night.The evening kicked off with live music from DJ Trauma before the festival’s founders, Stephanie and Floyd Rance, introduced acclaimed filmmaker and the series’ executive producer, Will Packer, who participated in a one-on-one fireside chat with journalist Danielle Cadet on Roc Nation’s Lenny Santiago’s iconic gold couch.
“All kinds of interesting people have sat on and have had conversations on this couch. This is the kind of cultural thing that is for us [and] that we get to do at a Martha’s Vineyard film festival [and not] elsewhere,” said Packer to a sold-out audience.
The show, which will be released September 5 on Peacock, tells the story of a brazen armed robbery that took place in Atlanta on the night of Muhammad Ali’s famous return to the ring in 1970. Based on the acclaimed iHeart true-crime podcast, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist chronicles how the infamous robbery ultimately transformed Atlanta into the “Black Mecca.”
The story centers on a hustler named Chicken Man (played by superstar comedian and actor Kevin Hart) who hosts an afterparty to celebrate the fight with a guest list of the country’s wealthiest and most notorious gangsters. However, the night ends with the most brazen criminal underworld heist in Atlanta’s history. Suspected of masterminding the crime, Chicken Man is hellbent on clearing his name but must convince his old adversary, J.D. Hudson (played by Don Cheadle), one of the first Black detectives in the city’s desegregated police force, who is tasked with bringing those responsible to justice.
Following the screening, Packer returned to the stage with showrunner, creator, and executive producer Shaye Ogbonna and cast members Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle, and Chloe Bailey for a discussion moderated by journalist Tiffany Cross.
“I have always loved and admired working with Will, and to have this opportunity come to fruition was really, really cool,” said Bailey. “I’m an Atlanta native and I have never heard of this heist story. And then to hear that I get to work alongside Taraji and Don and Samuel (Jackson) and the most incredible actors in the game meant so much to me.”
To close the evening, Peacock hosted the Closing Night Party of the festival at The Loft in Oaks Bluffs. The 70s-theme party 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, President of MSNBC Rashida Jones, and Destiny’s Child singer LeToya Luckett were in attendance.