Summer on the island is packed with cultural events, and for many celebrities, politicians and filmmakers, the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival is a highlight.
“Ready for the Supremes?” the Legendary Chris Washington called out from a D.J. booth inside the packed auditorium at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School on a recent August evening, as he played Motown hits for the crowd.
It was one of the biggest nights of the 22nd annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, a nine-day event devoted to celebrating Black filmmakers. The festival held on Martha’s Vineyard, the quaint Massachusetts island, has drawn luminaries like the actress Jennifer Hudson, the director Spike Lee and former President Barack Obama in summers past.
Wednesday night’s crowd of about 800 was there for the premiere of “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat,” the director Tina Mabry’s adaptation of the best-selling novel about a trio of lifelong girlfriends who call themselves the Supremes, after the 1960s girl group. Backstage, Uzo Aduba, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Sanaa Lathan, who star in the film, were posing for a row of photographers as they prepared for the debut screening.
Ms. Aduba, who grew up in Massachusetts and occasionally visited the island as a child, said it was her first time attending the festival.
“To see culture and art and our stories presented in this incredibly placid and elegant and green backdrop, which feels like it weds so many historic vacation moments for Black culture,” she said, “is wonderful.”
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