Managing director Brian Ditchfield.
For many months up-Island has been a place of quiet, windswept beauty, the destination mostly for winter walks or slow drives through the country. This will change next weekend, though, as the Chilmark Community Center becomes the place to be on the Island for three days and nights of nonstop movie watching.
The crew will once again transform the community center into a cozy hive of activity.
Seated in a chair or couch watching these films, all of them independent movies from around the world and fighting, if you will, to find their place among the more traditional Hollywood fare, it is easy to get lost in the present and merely turn on the judgement switch. That film was great, that one turned me off or, better yet, that one made me change the way I think about the world and the way I want to live.
All reactions are possible and, according to the festival creators, desirable.
But perhaps just as important is a momentary pause to stop and pay tribute to the sheer amount of work that goes into creating a festival such as this.
When Thomas Bena, the producer and creative director of the festival, started out 11 years ago, he was just a guy who wanted to watch a more eclectic mix of movies than were available to him living on the Island. He had help from friends but mostly it was his project.
“Before, when I felt something strongly, I just put it on the screen,” Mr. Bena admitted.
Festival founder and creative director Thomas Bena.
Now there is a screening committee of five people which this year includes Mr. Bena, Anne Evasick, Michelle Mayhew, Lilian Robinson and the festival’s managing director, Brian Ditchfield.
“This festival would not be nearly as well attended or as good if it was just me programming,” Mr. Bena noted. “We keep each other honest.”
The process of choosing films is a year round effort. The committee begins by searching online to see what other festivals are showing, and they attend festivals too. This year Mr. Ditchfield covered the Toronto and Sundance film festivals.
“A lot about going to festivals is feeling the buzz,” said Mr. Ditchfield. “Everybody is all about a certain film. And it’s also about having the film festival experience elsewhere, which really helps us reflect on our own film festival.”
They also have a lot of help from their vast network of contacts built up over the years.
“Past filmmakers and friends say to us, ‘Hey, have you seen this film?’” Mr. Bena said. “Which is kind of cool because people are networking with us throughout the year and giving us tips.”
“And the other big place is the distributors we now have contacts with, like the Weinstein Company, Focus Features and IFC,” Mr. Ditchfield added.
Okay, on first glance the process of finding the films doesn’t sound so difficult. Traveling the country and talking to people about movies? Sign me up.
The screening committee would be the first to agree that their jobs are, in some respects, difficult to categorize as work because they are all film fanatics, first and foremost.
But consider what happens when all these films from around the world begin arriving at the office.
This past year Mr. Bena and Mr. Ditchfield screened over 150 films.
“Two years ago I watched 60 films in January,” noted Ms. Robinson.
And most often these are not easy films to watch.
“To be honest, light comedies, if they are good, tend to get national distribution,” Mr. Ditchfied said. “It’s hard finding great narrative comedies that no one has seen.”
So what type of movies does the screening committee usually see?
“So many films about horrible atrocities and injustice. There is a lot of violence on this planet, much of it against women,” said Ms. Robinson.
Hundreds of films detailing the horrors people continue to inflict on each other around the world do not make for an easy experience. In Mr. Bena’s case, it has grown more difficult these past few years.
“Having a daughter, being a new dad, I can’t watch the stuff I used to be able to watch, especially the ones about women,” he said.
“I think it affects my dreams more than my waking life,” Mr. Ditchfield added. “It hasn’t affected my world view yet, but I haven’t been doing this for 11 years like Thomas.”
Ms. Robinson offered a different view. “I love the darkness. I seek it out in my spare time. I don’t like happy endings or too much joy.” It should be noted she was laughing at the time.
But all agree that, although these films need to be made and seen, the festival cannot be comprised of just these types of films.
“One of those films I’m fine with; it’s when you do too many that something happens in the room,” Mr. Bena said.
A momentary pause is taken as the committee remembers the 2004 festival, sometimes known as the death year. Films about euthanasia, home burial, the list went on.
Mr. Bena reflected on his own evolution as a film screener. “I don’t mind going to the darkness, because we all have to deal with some darkness, but now I’m looking for the films that go through the darkness, ones that ultimately find examples of bringing the light there. I think we have to be careful. There is enough darkness right now out in the world. I want to be part of the change.”
“In some sense the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival is really the audience and the place for it,” he said.
Eleven years ago Thomas Bena decided he wanted to watch more movies. Over the years his vision has grown. His story is also one of someone doing something tangibly, creatively and productively with his life.
The Martha’s Vineyard Film festival opens on Friday, March 16 and continues through Sunday, March 18. For a complete list of film descriptions, schedules, prices and directions visit tmvff.org.