will be held September 3-8, 2024 at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center

PROGRAM, TICKETS, SPECIAL GUESTS will be announced in late July/early August

See Below for info from our 2023 Festival

The Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival, now in its 19th year, is a celebration of cinema worldwide. The films we’ve gathered for you show the full glory of cinema arts. These films’ bold imagery, creative storylines, and unique characters will wrap your in warm cinematic magic.

The MVIFF is a culminating highlight of our island’s culture-packed summer season. Each September we gather the best new films from dozens of countries, films that provide a path to bridging our cultural differences and exploring universal human experiences.

MVIFF

We open the festival with our “Spotlight” screenings at the Film Center, located in the Tisbury Marketplace. These four festival films, showing on September 5th and 6th, are GOLDEN YEARS (Switzerland) SCRAPPER (UK), THE GULLSPÅNG MIRACLE (Sweden) and RAMONA (Spain)

MVIFF

Our official OPENING NIGHT, September 7th, will feature THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS (Italy) playing at the Film Center at 7:30pm. The film will be preceded by our Opening Night Party on the lawn of the Tisbury Marketplace. Our closing night film will be TÓTEM (Mexico) at 4:30pm pn Sunday September 10th, followed by our Closing Night Party at Fish MVMVIFF

Enjoy meeting fellow festival attendees and special guests inside a tented reception, from 5:30-7:30 PM, on the beautiful waterfront lawn adjacent to Lagoon Pond, just off Beach Road at the Tisbury Marketplace. We’ll be serving wine, beer and appetizers while a wonderful band performs under the tent. s

Don’t miss our annual SHORT FILMS JURIED COMPETITION on Friday, September 8th at 7:30pm, 9 shorts chosen from over 250 submissions from around the world. This year our jury is made up of

JURY

Diana Barrett – Diana has been a long time festival jury member and president and founder of the Fledgling Fund, a philanthropic organization that supports documentary films that have a social impact.

MVIFF

Sarah Kernochan – Sarah is a two-time Academy Award winner for short documentary film, a director, and screenwriter.

MVIFF

David Helpern -David is a producer, director, and screenwriter (and seasonal resident of Martha’s Vineyard).

Monty Cole – Monty has directed for Steppenwolf, Center Theatre Group, The Goodman Theatre, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Victory Gardens Theater, the Center for New Performance, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Alley Theatre and others. His re-interpretations of classics from Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape to Hamlet have received awards and critical praise in Chicago. His short film Sons of Toledo was our juried short competition winner in 2022.

Our Mission

The recurring theme of the annual Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival is “Other Places, Other People”; the festival’s purpose is to encourage attendees to think broadly (about how huge the world of film is) and deeply (about the universal concerns and desires that unite all people). About 90% of all film selections are non-US productions, helping to fulfill the festival mission of promoting cross-cultural understanding through film.

Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival is an amazing experience not to be missed. Come and join us for 6 days in September.

Overview

THE FILMS: The 2021 Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival will present a selection of films from around the globe by international filmmakers. Films are curated from top-notch festivals like Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes, with a few surprises thrown in.

THE ISLAND EXPERIENCE: Although most of the festival will take place in a village of Vineyard Haven, there will be plenty of opportunities to explore our other Island towns and natural beauty. Martha’s Vineyard is the perfect location for our multi-day festival, with its amazing beaches, sunsets, spectacular chefs, unique shops, and a highly influential community.

Festival Difference

What makes our festival different? It’s community-oriented programming inspired by the World around us. Martha’s Vineyard is a special place and we have designed programs to give back to the community, including promoting commerce in downtown Vineyard Haven and across the Island. We are working with local merchants to create a community celebration that will go hand-in-hand with our festivities.

We offer filmmakers a chance to show their best work during our International Juried Short Film Competition. We select 10 films for the program which are shown in a single program, with the announcement of the winner coming at the conclusion of the program. The winner is awarded a $1,000 cash prize and their film is shown again before our Closing Night Film and Program. For more information, or to submit your film for consideration please click the submit button below.

For more details and information on how to submit your local short film or work-in-progress – please contact info@mvfilmsociety.com

Our Festival is also cooperating with various Island non-profit on events/films that focus light on their mission and community services. Contact us if your organization is interested in collaborating, at info@mvfilmsociety.com

Festival Host

The Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival is presented by the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society. The Film Society presents award-winning feature films, documentaries, animation, and shorts from around the world, paired with topical speakers throughout the year. We aim to bring together people of all ages, foster appreciation of the world’s diversity, and stimulate discussion through the universal language of film. The Martha’s Vineyard Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.

Festival Director

Since 1999, when he founded the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society, Richard Paradise has been actively involved in the promotion and exhibition of independent and international films on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard. The Martha’s Vineyard Film Society has become a much loved year-round arts organization screening over 200 films annually, with a membership of over 2500 and annual patronage of over 35,000.

Visiting Martha’s Vineyard for the Festival

To obtain information on getting to and from Martha’s Vineyard, we have asked our partner, the MV Chamber of commerce for its assistance. Please click the link below for information on transportation options.

Getting To Martha’s Vineyard by air, sea, and land

To see a map of downtown Vineyard Haven and our venues/locations, please click this link.

For general information on other lodging options, please click this link to the Chamber of Commerce site:

Places To Stay