Critically Acclaimed Films this Summer on
Martha's Vineyard...(scroll down please)

Check out our entire schedule by downloading our Summer Film Calendar - click here

THE SHARK IS STILL WORKING
Q&A with local cast members of JAWS

Director & Producer: Erik Hollander
Cast: Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider, John Williams, Lorraine Gary, Joe Alves, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Benchley and others.



Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 8:00 pm

The Tabernacle
Camp Meeting Association campground/Cottage City/Oak Bluffs

Admission: $8.00/$5.00 for Film Society members

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening (no advance sales)


Click Here To View Trailer

Read - Megan Dooley's MV Gazette Article

The Shark is Still Working (TSISW) is a fan-made documentary about the impact and legacy of JAWS. The creator of JAWSmovie.com, Jake Gove, is one of the producers, along with Erik Hollander, James Gelet, and Michael Roddy, three JAWS fans. The score was composed by Michael McCormack. TSISW is highly regarded, with a perfect 100% rating on RottenTomatoes.com

Wisely, the makers of TSISW don't dwell too long on what has been done elsewhere. Instead, they quickly move on to look at other aspects of the production, including the trailer, the music and the creation and exploitation of the iconic movie poster.
Two contrasting impacts of Jaws are shown in TSISW. There are some people who say that the film made them scared to go in the water and others who were inspired by it to become marine biologists. In one particularly enjoyable anecdote, Spielberg describes an occasion where he was berated by a frustrated mother whose child wouldn't go in the sea after his father had allowed him to watch Jaws. Another sequence relates a case of life imitating art when a real great white shark swam close to Martha's Vineyard, where Jaws was filmed.

Featuring all-new interviews with many people involved in the production of JAWS, including Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider, John Williams, Lorraine Gary, Joe Alves, Carl Gottlieb, Peter Benchley and others. The documentary is narrated by Roy Scheider in what would sadly be one of his last performances. Mr. Benchley’s interview would also sadly be his last.

TSISW also features interviews with Hollywood insiders that were inspired by JAWS, including M. Night Shyamalan, Kevin Smith, Bryan Singer, Robert Rodriguez, Eli Roth and others. Also covered are JAWS fans, including the 2005 event – JAWSFest.

USA * 2010 * 98 mins. * Documentary * Not-Rated (suitable for all ages)

RACING DREAMS


Director/Producer: Marshall Curry
Cast: 11-year-old Annabeth Barnes, 12-year-old Josh Hobson, and 13-year-old Brandon Warren



Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 8:00 pm

The Tabernacle
Camp Meeting Association campground/Cottage City/Oak Bluffs

Admission: $8.00/$5.00 for Film Society members

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening (no advance sales)


Click Here To View Trailer

“The best film of the year so far… an instant classic.”
- Scott Feinberg, L.A. Times

“an exciting, poignant tale of growing up fast with adult ambitions.”
- Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine

“Among those not to miss: “Racing Dreams,” Marshall Curry’s absorbing portrait of young go-kart racers…”
- Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

WINNER, BEST DOCUMENTARY, TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

From Academy Award nominated documentary filmmaker (Street Fighter), Marshall Curry's documentary follows 11-year-old Annabeth Barnes, 12-year-old Josh Hobson, and 13-year-old Brandon Warren as they prepare for and compete in the championship in their divisions at the World Karting Association's National Series. Zooming around the track at speeds up to 70 miles per hour, these racers risk their safety - and to some extent sacrifice their childhoods - in order to make their racing dreams come true.

A sensitive director, Marshall Curry provides access into their personal lives as well as their professional endeavors, examining Annabeth's blossoming womanhood, Josh's perfectionist work ethic, and Brandon's fearlessness in spite of family troubles. While sometimes the personal reasons fuel their desires to succeed, these same reasons also create interesting obstacles in the youngsters' lives.

Can Annabeth juggle her crush on Brandon and her desire to fit in with the other girls at school with her simultaneous desire to be a successful woman racer? Can Josh's family raise the funds necessary to continue his driving or can he attract a lucrative sponsorship with his charm and racing skills? Can Brandon keep a cool head and a steady eye despite mounting pressures at home? Ranging from laugh-out-loud funny to throat constricting poignancy, Racing Dreams makes viewers care about these three kids and the outcome of this pivotal competition.

USA * 2010 * 96 mins. * Documentary * Rated PG (for some thematic elements and brief language)

DANCING ACROSS BORDERS
A documentary of a ballet odyssey. Presented in partnership with The YARD

Q&A with Director/Producer Anne Bass



Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 4:00 pm

The CAPAWOCK Theatre
Main Street, Vineyard Haven

Admission: $15.00 - BUY IN ADVANCE - CLICK HERE

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening


Click Here To View Trailer

Join filmmaker Anne Bass at a showing of her new documentary, which the Village Voice calls “dazzling to behold.” From the serene countryside of Southeast Asia to the halls of New York's School of American Ballet to the stage of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, Dancing Across Borders peeks behind the scenes into the world of dance and chronicles the intimate and triumphant story of a boy who was discovered, and who only much later discovered all that he had in himself.

On a trip to Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia in January 2000, filmmaker Anne Bass came across a sixteen-year-old boy who moved her immensely with his amazing natural charm and grace as a dancer. A longtime devotee of the world of dance, Bass felt compelled to give this young boy the opportunity to leave his home and follow a dream that he could not yet have fully imagined. From the serene countryside of Southeast Asia to the halls of New York’s School of American Ballet to the stage of the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, DANCING ACROSS BORDERS peeks behind the scenes into the world of dance and chronicles the intimate and triumphant story of a boy who was discovered, and who only much later discovered all that he had in himself.

USA * 2010 * 88 mins. * Documentary * Not-Rated

SHOOTING BEAUTY
Preceded by screening of BRUCE, a short film by Ruth Sergel
A duet that challenges expectations of grace and disability.

Q&A with filmmakers Courtney Bent and George Kachadorian



Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 8:00 pm

The Tabernacle
Camp Meeting Association campground/Cottage City/Oak Bluffs

Admission: $8.00/$5.00 for Film Society members

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening (no advance sales)


Click Here To View Trailer

“Miraculous”
- Tim Miller, The Cape Cod Times

“Groundbreaking”
- The Scottsdale Chronicle

“Heartwrenching”
- Ty Burr, The Boston Globe


Winner, Audience Award - IFFBoston, Phoenix Film Festival, Moondance Film Festival, Woods Hole Film Festival

When your entire career, enforced from childhood, is about photographing people of physical beauty, one wouldn't think that you would stray from that world. But director Courtney Bent did just that, and took us along for the ride as well with her documentary, co-directed with George Kachadorian, SHOOTING BEAUTY.

Courtney and George take us into a world inhabited by people with severe physical disabilities who have been relatively alienated by the world outside their apartments or group centers. Typically they have to deal with not only their own handicaps but also the scorn and derision of the average people on the street. What the directors of this documentary do however is two-fold. First they show you the world that these people have carved out for themselves. They show a world of love, laughter, heartache, longing, and sometimes sadness. But rarely do any of these people come off as angry, bitter, or resentful of their situations, in fact many of them seem to embrace their lot in life and life like everyone else. They have setbacks, but that doesn't stop them from falling in love, getting married (or divorced in some cases), and going out to shows. The other half of what this movie shows is the camera flipped on us, the general populace. They take pictures of our reactions to them, our stares and ultimately our shame. They also turn the cameras on each other, ultimately bringing out each of their unique personalities and standing in a stark happy contrast to how they are viewed publicly.

The directors certainly took an interesting subject that would make many people uncomfortable and turned it into a snapshot into the lives of who aren't living with handicaps, but living despite their handicaps. It's a film that asks the viewer not to think, but to feel, something which is fairly uncommon in most films.

USA * 2009 * 62 mins. * Documentary * Not-Rated (Suitable for All Ages)

RESCUING EMMANUEL

Q&A with filmmakers Len & Georgia Morris
Panel with Local Children's Rights Activists



Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 8:00 pm

The Tabernacle
Camp Meeting Association campground/Cottage City/Oak Bluffs

Admission: $8.00/$5.00 for Film Society members

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening (no advance sales)


Click Here To View Trailer

“ Absolutely Inspiring”
--Armand Pereira, Director of the International Labour Organization

“ Testament to the resilience of children, a remarkable film”
--Jennifer Delaney, Director of Global Action for Children.

Presented in partnership with Media Voices for Children, a non- profit Internet News Agency for Children's Rights, www.mediavoices.org presents a unique summer offering at the Historic Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs. The program begins with a showing of the Galen Films documentary, RESCUING EMMANUEL, the story of a 13 year old Kenyan street boy who beguiled filmmakers Len and Georgia Morris into abandoning their original film project to focus their time in Nairobi on helping him leave the streets and fullfill his life-long dream of going to school. Emmanuel, whose name ironically means, “God Among Us” in Kiswahili is one of an estimated 100 million children who live and die on the streets of the world, fending for themselves and dealing with hunger, homelessness and abuse. www.rescuingemmanuel.org

Following the hour-long film, there will be a panel discussion with Vineyard activists, both year-round and seasonal, who direct organizations that work to advance educational opportunities for children in the developing world and who have many years of hands-on experience with the impacts of poverty on children. The panel will be moderated by Laurie Perry-Henry, Director of the Martha's Vineyard Chapter of the NAACP.

RESCUING EMMANUEL premiered at the 2009 Santa Barbara Film Festival and has been called, “ Absolutely Inspiring” by the Director of the International Labour Organization and a “ Testament to the resilience of children, a remarkable film”, by Jennifer Delaney, Director of Global Action for Children. It contains interviews with Nobel Peace Laureates. Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and Wangari Maathai.

USA * 2009 * 60 mins. * Documentary * Not-Rated (Suitable for All Ages)

ALAMAR (aka To The Sea)


Director/Cinematographer: Pedro González-Rubio
Cast: Jorge Machado, Natan Machado Palombini, Nestor Marin, Roberta Palombini




Tuesday, August 10, 2010 at 8:00 pm

The Tabernacle
Camp Meeting Association campground/Cottage City/Oak Bluffs

Admission: $8.00/$5.00 for Film Society members

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening (no advance sales)


Click Here To View Trailer

A lovely, soulful feature from multihyphenate Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio that plays on
the border between documentary and fiction.
--Jay Weissberg, Variety

Elegantly photographed by Mr. González-Rubio, Alamar makes every shot a composition.
-- Stephen Holden, New York Times

A film full-to-bursting with vitality and generosity
-- Chris Cabin, Filmcritic.com

WINNER - Tiger Award - Rotterdam Int'l Film Festival

Jorge and Roberta have been separated for several years. They simply come from opposite worlds: he likes an uncomplicated life in the jungle, while she prefers a more urban existence. He is Mexican and she is Italian, and she has decided to return to Rome with their five-year-old son, Natan. But before they leave, Jorge wishes to take young Natan on a trip, hoping to teach him about his Mayan origins in Mexico. Jorge takes him to the pristine Chinchorro reef, and eases him into the rhythms of a fisherman's life. At first the boy is physically and emotionally uncomfortable with the whole affair, and gets seasick on the boat taking them to their destination. But as father and son spend more time together, Natan begins a learning experience that will remain with him forever.

A film of moments, beautifully conceived, and shot with sea and sky important elements of its composition.

Mexico * 2010 * 73 mins. * Family-Drama * Spanish & Italian with English Subtitles

LAST TRAIN HOME


Director: Lixin Fan
Subjects: Zhang Changua, Suqin Chen, Qin Zhang, Yang Zhang




Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 8:00 pm

The Tabernacle
Camp Meeting Association campground/Cottage City/Oak Bluffs

Admission: $8.00/$5.00 for Film Society members

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening (no advance sales)


Click Here To View Trailer

“Filmmaker Lixin Fan may very well be one of modern-day China’s great non-fiction storytellers. His Sundance World Cinema Documentary competition film, LAST TRAIN HOME is a documentary masterpiece!”
-- Brian Brooks, INDIEWIRE

“A fascinating family documentary that follows the amazing Chinese New Year migration. Epic in scale, but intimate in focus and unforgettable overall!”
-- Andrew O’Hehir, SALON

“A beautifully shot, haunting and haunted large-scale portrait by Lixin Fan about an astonishing migration involving 130 million Chinese workers who each year travel by train, boat and foot to return home for New Year’s.”
-- Manohla Dargis, THE NEW YORK TIMES

WINNER - Documentary - Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival

Every spring, China’s cities are plunged into chaos as 130 million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the New Year’s holiday. This mass exodus is the world’s largest human migration—an epic spectacle that reveals a country tragically caught between its rural past and industrial future.

Working over several years in classic verite style Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Lixin Fan (with the producers of the award-winning hit documentary Up the Yangtze) travels with one couple who have embarked on this annual trek for almost two decades. Like so many of China’s rural poor, Changhua and Sugin Zhang left behind their two infant children for grueling factory jobs. Their daughter Qin—now a restless and rebellious teenager—both bitterly resents their absence and longs for her own freedom away from school, much to the utter devastation of her parents. Emotionally engaging and starkly beautiful, Last Train Home’s intimate observation of one fractured family sheds light on the human cost of China’s ascendance as an economic superpower.

China * 2010 * 85 mins. * Family-Drama * Chinese with English Subtitles

CARNAL KNOWLEDGE
Q&A with Jules Feiffer

Director: Mike Nichols
Writer: Jules Feiffer
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Ann-Margret, Art Garfunkel, Candice Bergen



Saturday, August 21, 2010 at 8:00 pm

The Katharine Cornell Theatre
54 Spring Street, Vineyard Haven

Admission: $15.00/$12.00 for Film Society members

Doors Open for admissions 30 min. prior to screening (no advance sales)


Click Here To View Trailer

In addition to being the toughest comedy since "Little Murders", and the most imaginative comedy since "Catch 22", Carnal Knowledge represents a nearly ideal collaboration of directorial and writing talents.
-- Bosley Crowther, New York Times

Misunderstood by critics and viewers, Nichols' satire of male chauvinism is by turns witty, provocative, funny, and depressing. The film was so controversial in 1971 that it went all the way to the Supreme Court for obscenity charges.

Still hot from the success of Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, Jack Nicholson solidified his reputation as the brightest star of the New Hollywood movement when he appeared in this 1971 drama, written by Jules Feiffer and directed by Mike Nichols. The film received mixed reviews, but remains fascinating for its subject matter--the sexual attitudes and activities of two male friends from their college days to middle age--and the performances of its stellar cast.

Nicholson is the former athlete-turned-tax-lawyer with a fetish for well-endowed women (which explains why Ann-Margret plays his mistress), and Art Garfunkel is the shy, mild-mannered one who becomes a doctor, marries Candice Bergen, and has an affair with Carol Kane. Over the course of nearly 30 years, we see how their lives and attitudes are reflected through their sexual histories, and it's not pretty. The film deals frankly (and some will say depressingly) with the ways in which people use each other for sex, and this doesn't exactly make for rousing (or even arousing) entertainment. But with Nichols directing a cast of this caliber, Carnal Knowledge remains one of the signature films of the early 1970s, when established Hollywood traditions were giving way to the emergence of more daring films with bolder "adult" themes.

USA * 1971 * 98 mins. * Drama, Comedy * Rated R

Check out our entire schedule by downloading our Summer Film Calendar - click here