The Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival returns next week for its 20th year.
The festival takes place from Sept. 2 to 7 at the film center in Vineyard Haven, and will feature more than a dozen features from around the world, as well as short films and a showcase of animated work.
There will also be an opening reception on Sept. 4 on the grounds outside the film center.
Richard Paradise, the executive director of the film society, said that while the festival has changed over the years, the goal has remained the same.
“Over the years, the mission has always been to present films that represent the world we live in from areas, cultures and places we aren’t necessarily familiar with,” he said.
When the festival began in 2006, Mr. Paradise set up projectors and sound systems in different locations around town, including the Mansion House, the Katharine Cornell Theatre and the Hebrew Center, Mr. Paradise recalled. He also screened films at the Capawock Theatre.
“Back in the early days, there was no MV Film Center. We had to create screening locations in odd locations,” he said. “It was quite an undertaking to put locations together.”
Bill Plympton, an Oscar-nominated animator who will be presenting a showcase of animated shorts, was a mainstay of the festival for many years. He and his family came to the event every summer, but stopped after the Covid pandemic. He will be returning for the 20th festival.
“That’s a little bit nostalgic, a little bit of a throwback to the initial founding and running of the festival,” Mr. Paradise said.
Among the feature-length films are Checkpoint Zoo, a documentary from Ukraine about evacuating a zoo and animal sanctuary in Kharkiv during the early days of Russia’s invasion, and Dreams, a Norwegian drama which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year.
Mr. Paradise said he is excited to bring two films to the festival from Africa: On Becoming a Guinea Fowl from Zambia and Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight from Zimbabwe.
“These films don’t get the same distribution American films get. This is my opportunity to share these great international films with our community,” he said.
For tickets and a full schedule of films, visit mvfilmsociety.com.