Taraji P. Henson, Keke Palmer and Uzo Aduba Turn Out to Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival

“Ready for the Supremes?” the Legendary Chris Washington called out from a D.J. booth inside the packed auditorium at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School on a recent August evening, as he played Motown hits for the crowd.

It was one of the biggest nights of the 22nd annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, a nine-day event devoted to celebrating Black filmmakers. The festival held on Martha’s Vineyard, the quaint Massachusetts island, has drawn luminaries like the actress Jennifer Hudson, the director Spike Lee and former President Barack Obama in summers past.

Wednesday night’s crowd of about 800 was there for the premiere of “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat,” the director Tina Mabry’s adaptation of the best-selling novel about a trio of lifelong girlfriends who call themselves the Supremes, after the 1960s girl group. Backstage, Uzo Aduba, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Sanaa Lathan, who star in the film, were posing for a row of photographers as they prepared for the debut screening.

Ms. Aduba, who grew up in Massachusetts and occasionally visited the island as a child, said it was her first time attending the festival.

“To see culture and art and our stories presented in this incredibly placid and elegant and green backdrop, which feels like it weds so many historic vacation moments for Black culture,” she said, “is wonderful.”

Floyd and Stephanie Rance, a husband-and-wife team, started the film festival in 2002. At the time, he was a filmmaker running the production company Run & Shoot Filmworks, and she was working in marketing and looking for a role that would allow her to balance a career and children. They had visited the island when they were dating, and had long been drawn to it.

“Martha’s Vineyard is such a special place to everyone, and it has a special history for African Americans,” Ms. Rance said, “And I find that when people come to the festival, they’re just like, ‘Oh, my God, this is amazing. It’s our happy place.’”

They booked the local high school to hold the first festival, and as Ms. Rance tells it, only about 10 people showed up. But they weren’t deterred: The next year, the couple pivoted to a smaller venue, a conference room at the Mansion House Inn, and kept going.

“They had a little room in the back with those old five-disc players, and that was the projection,” Mr. Rance remembered.

“The mission is always to showcase the best of the best filmmakers of color,” Ms. Rance added.

As the crowds grew, the screenings returned to the high school, and for Ms. Rance, running the annual operation became a full-time job. Over the years, the event has shown both indie films and big studio productions, and several years ago, it received accreditation as a qualifying festival for the short film category at the Oscars. In 2022, “Descendant,” the Netflix documentary produced by the Obamas’ production company, Higher Ground, opened the festival with a surprise appearance from the former president and first lady.

“There was a void that we were filling,” Mr. Rance said. “Thankfully, it’s just kind of kept going and kept going and kept going. It’s like ‘The Little Engine That Could.’”

On Aug. 2, the festival opened with the new A24 film “Sing Sing” and an appearance from Colman Domingo, the film’s star, alongside Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. This year, the festival screened about 70 films, including shorts, features and documentaries. Between screenings, there were panels, parties and high-profile networking events around the small island.

On Thursday morning, about a 130 women, many of them clad in brightly colored daytime dresses, walked by pastel hydrangeas and into the Harbor View Hotel, overlooking the Edgartown lighthouse. Inside, Ms. Rance was hosting a networking event for C-suite executives and other powerful figures.

“My ultimate goal is to get more Black women on corporate boards because that’s where the power lies, right?” Ms. Rance said, explaining her vision for the day.

As attendees mingled, waiters offered trays of raspberry spritzes and mini lobster rolls. Ms. Aduba chatted with Ms. Mabry. Abby Phillip, the CNN anchor, took a selfie with Nicole Avant, a former U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas and the wife of Ted Sarandos, the co-chief executive of Netflix.

Marsha Cooke, the vice president and executive producer for ESPN Films and 30 for 30, the presenting sponsor of the festival, said that guests were talking about “joy, community, friendship and Kamala.”

Over lunch, several executives including Melonie Parker from Google; Liliahn Majeed from L’Oréal; Tinisha Agramonte with the Walt Disney Company; and Stephanie Oueda Cruz of Tiffany & Company shared tips for navigating corporate America during a panel discussion. Sunny Hostin, a co-host on the View, interviewed Keke Palmer, the actress and singer, who made a surprise appearance.

“You are surrounded by folks that are engaged, that have had the same life experiences as you,” said Trudy Grant, who works for a civil rights nonprofit and had come from Charleston, S.C., for the festival. “So it’s almost like going to the movies at a family reunion.”

Black vacationers have traveled to Martha’s Vineyard for generations, many drawn by its reputation as a haven. In the early 20th century, Black Americans were barred from many beaches, pools and resorts in the country, but the island town of Oak Bluffs was an exception. The destination attracted Black families as well as prominent political figures and artists including Martin Luther King Jr.; Edward W. Brooke, the senator from Massachusetts; and the writer Maya Angelou.

The first few weeks of August are now some of the busiest for tourism there, and the summer social calendar includes Martha’s Vineyard Black Book Festival and Martha’s Vineyard Comedy Fest.

“What the festival has done is it has created an institution of creativity and gathering based on a 150-year history of gathering,” said Kahina Van Dyke, who grew up visiting the island, and operates several inns in Oak Bluffs including Dunmere by the Sea. “And the people who have been gathering here have been artists and writers and politicians and academics and business people, and they came in the summer.”

On Saturday, the closing night of the film festival, the Loft, a local nightclub in Oak Bluffs just past the beach, was transformed into a lavish lounge filled with roses, disco balls and plush red carpets.

More than 350 people turned out to celebrate “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist,” a new series from the executive producer Will Packer, which premiered earlier that night for a sold-out crowd.

The show, which will be released Sept. 5 on Peacock, is set in Atlanta. It tells the story of a brazen armed robbery, which took place on the night of Muhammad Ali’s famous return to the ring in 1970. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, stood by the nightclub’s red couches near several of the show’s stars, including Don Cheadle, Taraji P. Henson and Chloe Bailey, as caterers circled with trays of pizza and macaroni and cheese.

D.J. Trauma, playing a mix of hip-hop and R&B, quickly pulled a crowd to the dance floor that included Mr. and Ms. Rance, as well as Alex Tyree and Nick Arrington, cast members of Bravo’s “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard.”

Ms. Henson, who had arrived after trips to Bali and Paris, said she enjoyed watching the premiere episode of “Fight Night” with the audience.

“In a community like this, they want to see you succeed, that’s what I love about festivals,” Ms. Henson said. “This place is very charming. But I want to know: Who is Martha?”