The Martha’s Vineyard Film Society is one of the Island’s year-round treasures. Founder/executive director Richard Paradise says, “We never close. We’re open every week, and we’re really proud of that. It’s been my idea that a cinema always has to stay open because it’s a community center — the lifeblood of the Vineyard.”
Paradise began the Film Society on a volunteer basis in 1999. The early years were rather nomadic with screenings at various locations around the Island.
As the years accumulated, so too did the enthusiastic audience, and Paradise found the perfect permanent home in 2012 in the Tisbury Marketplace in Vineyard Haven.
There are also a multitude of festivals with panel and after-screening discussions throughout the year. This year’s final one is the 6th annual Women in Film Festival (WIFF) in October.
Although women comprise over half the country’s population, less than 20 percent of Film directors are female. Women comprise a minority of film producers, composers, editors, and writers. WIFF seeks to shed light on the work of female creators in front of and behind the camera, telling stories that are not usually portrayed from a female perspective.
Paradise presents live events as well. Just a few this fall include a screening and live performance “Jimmy Tingle: The ‘Radical’ Middle — Why Would a Comedian Run for Office?” Tingle’s autobiographical film challenges audiences to move beyond the politics of tweets, sound bites, and the nightly — or hourly — news cycle … and into the realm of long-term thinking and life-affirming possibility as the United States faces the election of 2024.
The laughter continues on Thursday, Oct. 17, with live stand-up in Women of Comedy with some of the rising stars of the Boston and New York comedy scenes.
November 30 brings the ultimate girl’s night out with the “Ladies Only Psychic Party,” hosted by Jon Stetson. Stetson injects uproarious comedy into each program, creating a hilarious and unique presentation that never fails to blow the audience away.
The ever-popular 2024-2025 Met Opera Live season is fast upon us, running from October through May 2025. The nine simultaneous live broadcasts include Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” and Jeanine Tesori’s new opera “Grounded.” There are new stagings of Strauss’s “Salome,” Verdi’s “Aida,” and the first-ever Met Live in HD transmission of Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” There is Puccini’s “Tosca,” Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” “Le Nozze di Figaro,” and finally, Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.”
Later this fall will be National Theater Live’s “Nye” with Michael Sheen leading a surreal and spectacular journey through the life and legacy of the man who transformed Britain’s welfare state and created the National Healthcare System.
Exhibition on Screen, a documentary series exploring the history behind works of art, will begin in November. Each episode focuses on a particular iconic piece, revealing the background that led to its creation and the incredible stories that followed it. Cameras capture the masterpieces in high definition, bringing galleries and exhibitions from around the world straight to the screen.
Paradise also plans to hold the Film Center’s gleefully anticipated annual interactive kids’ show during the holidays, along with a family-oriented Christmas film.
The Film Society collaborates with other Island non-profits to screen films particularly applicable to Martha’s Vineyard and related to the arts, music, education, farming, social services, and the environment. It also programs special films and events with the schools and local filmmakers.
In addition to films and live events, patrons, upon entering the theater, are treated to the Feldman Family Artspace, which is curated by Featherstone Center for the Arts with a rotating roster of artists throughout the year.
Paradise says about the upcoming season, “There are always a few surprises that we throw in depending on what comes my way. I’m constantly looking for interesting things to draw people out of their homes when it starts to get darker sooner.”
With delicious snacks, roomy and comfy seats, and a warm theater, there is every reason to want to brave the cold.
For information and tickets, visit mvfilmsociety.com.