Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival set for record attendance despite macro challenges

The Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival kicks off on Friday — and organizers expect their biggest turnout ever, despite a changing consumer and lingering economic challenges.

Rising gas prices, sticky inflation and rising unemployment in the Black community threaten many small businesses that serve Black consumers. But the film festival is finding its audience is both able and willing to spend.

"We've survived so much over the past 24 years, from actor strikes to Covid [to] venue changes," said co-founder Floyd Rance. "We always say people have money to spend on what they want to spend it on."

Floyd and Stephanie Rance founded the event in 2002 in a conference room at a Martha's Vineyard hotel. That inaugural event hosted just 10 films and dozens of attendees.

The Rances originally planned to hold the event in Barbados, but changed course after the events of 9/11. They now say the scaled-down plans allowed the film festival to find a sustainable audience.

"Our demographic is from [ages] 35 to 65 — and heavier on the back end. So they have a lot of expendable income," said Floyd Rance. "A lot of retirees or people approaching retirement. Their kids are in college and they're done with raising their children, so they want to get out, have a good time."

The week-long MVAAFF includes films, panels and social events. Hollywood stars such as Viola Davis, Spike Lee and Dave Chappelle frequently attend to show films or take part in discussions.

"A-list celebrities attending, that definitely helps attract folks and gets them to spend their money," Rance said.

But Rance, a cinematographer himself, attributes the longevity of the event to a clear mission of presenting and supporting Black art.

"We wanted to keep the focus on the independent films as much as possible. Creators need an opportunity to show their content and to get feedback," he said. "This event is critical in their journey in terms of them getting the feedback, seeing what worked, what didn't work and hearing directly from their future consumers and also from their future employers as well."

The term "creator" in its modern context didn't exist when the Rances founded the MVAAFF and neither did many of the other events on the tight-knit Massachusetts island, including the Martha's Vineyard Comedy Fest, Martha's Vineyard Soul Fest and Martha's Vineyard Black Book Festival.

Rising competition among these types of events, as well as increased tourism for Martha's Vineyard, has driven up costs and expectations for attendees.

The average nightly rate for a short-term rental on the island was $930 in 2023, according to Massachusetts state data. In 2014, it was approximately $519 per night, according to estimates from local rental platform WeNeedAVacation.

A growing number of attendees discover the event through apps like Instagram and TikTok. Rance said the key for businesses today is to create an in-person experience that equals or exceeds what customers see online.

"A lot of them have never been to Martha's Vineyard," he said. "The public can be very fickle. It's kind of like you're serving a meal to all these different people. So you're going to have different variations. Some people want thin spaghetti. Some people want thick spaghetti, al dente, etc. ... You got to find that middle ground to serve that meal so that everybody is happy."