{"id":2298571,"date":"2026-02-25T01:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2298571"},"modified":"2026-02-25T01:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T01:02:10","slug":"colorados-ties-to-black-cinema-include-a-world-renowned-festival-movie-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/colorados-ties-to-black-cinema-include-a-world-renowned-festival-movie-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado’s ties to Black cinema include a world-renowned festival, movie stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For nine days in August, the area just south of Cape Cod becomes filled with thousands of film lovers, flocking to a Massachusetts island for the fun-filled, film-filled week and a half-long Martha\u2019s Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAAFF).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s beautiful, it’s our happy place,\u201d Stephanie Tavares-Rance, co-founder of the MVAAFF, said.<\/p>\n

Tavares-Rance, who now calls Colorado home, works with her husband year-round to produce the festival.<\/p>\n

\n \"Stephanie<\/p>\n

KMGH photojournalist Jim Waltz <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Denver7 Anchor Micah Smith interviews Stephanie Tavares-Rance, co-founder of the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival <\/p>\n

While it\u2019s grown into one of the most popular annual events in the region, it didn\u2019t start out that way.<\/p>\n

A festival is born<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband Floyd was working on a film in Barbados. And of course, I was like, ‘I want to go hang out in Barbados.’ So, I went to hang out with him in Barbados. And while I was there, I was thinking, \u2018Wow, it’d be kind of cool to do some sort of activation,’\u201d Tavares-Rance said. \u201cI went to the tourism authority, I reached out to them, and I said, \u2018Hey, I would love to do some stuff with you all.’ And at the time, they were looking to get more African Americans to come to Barbados. I came up with three ideas. One was a big New Year\u2019s Eve event, because I was in the music industry. The other was a bike tour around the islands. And the third was a film festival.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barbados chose a film festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarbados is all in. 9\/11 happens. Barbados pulls out, and we’re like, \u2018Oh my God, what do we do?\u2019 Prior to that, Floyd and I had done events on Martha’s Vineyard. So I’m thinking, ‘Okay, you know what? We’re gonna do it on Martha’s Vineyard.’\u201d<\/p>\n

For well over a century, Martha\u2019s Vineyard has been a vacation destination and haven for Black families and community members. The town of Oak Bluffs was especially welcoming to Black vacationers, with Charles Shearer, <\/a>the son of an enslaved woman and a slave owner, opening the first Black-owned inn there in 1912.<\/p>\n

\n \"Stephanie<\/p>\n

MVAAFF<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Stephanie Tavares-Rance and her husband Floyd Rance <\/p>\n

With all of that in mind, and the many memories they made on Martha\u2019s Vineyard, Tavares-Rance, alongside her husband Floyd, moved forward with the festival, but the first year, in 2002, didn\u2019t turn out as planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was horrible. Ten people came. I didn’t know what I was doing,” Tavares-Rance said. \u201cIt was the 4th of July weekend, and we went out there, and we did it at this park across from the Inkwell Beach. It was totally disconnected.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the couple quickly learned from their mistakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cFloyd was like, ‘You’re not going to spend the whole weekend crying. You’ve got 10 minutes to cry. We\u2019ve got to figure it out. Don’t feel sorry for yourself.’ We did it. We tried. And thank God I decided to figure it out, because here we are, 24 years later,\u201d Tavares-Rance said.<\/p>\n

These days, the Martha\u2019s Vineyard African American Film Festival attracts thousands of attendees.<\/p>\n

\n \"Inkwell<\/p>\n

MVAAFF <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Inkwell Beach in Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard.<\/p>\n

The festival also attracts little-known and highly sought-after films, highlighting Black filmmakers and stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnita Hill came, and there was a documentary done on her, and the island swelled up, and the island came and supported Anita Hill. Another time was when we had a documentary from HBO and Moms Mabley, and Whoopi Goldberg was, I think, the producer, but she couldn’t make it at the last minute. We were freaking out, because HBO was our big sponsor, and we’re thinking, ‘Who’s going to come to this?’ It was sold out, and all of these women came in their Moms Mabley hats to support this documentary. It was absolutely fantastic,\u201d Tavares-Rance said.<\/p>\n

The festival attracts everyday Americans and A-list celebrities.<\/p>\n

\n \"The<\/p>\n

MVAAFF <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Stephanie Tavares-Rance and Floyd Rance with former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe creme de la creme is having Barack and Michelle Obama at our festival. That was just amazing. And (them) knowing who we were and speaking. It was great,\u201d Tavares-Rance said. \u201cA huge Denver contingency comes to the Vineyard as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denver\u2019s ties to Black film history<\/b><\/p>\n

Denver has several strong connections to Black film history.<\/p>\n

\u201cHattie McDaniel <\/a>was the first African American to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Gone with the Wind. She went to East High School here,\u201d Adam Dempsey, a media producer who\u2019s worked for decades in the industry, said. \u201cYou also have Don Cheadle Jr., and ‘Devil in the Blue Dress.’ But everybody knows his Academy Award nomination for ‘Hotel Rwanda,’ and I think he graduated from East High School here; I sing in the same choir with his father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \"Pam<\/p>\n

Denver Public Library<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dempsey said Pam Grier also went to East High School.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the people who did a lot of the action movies was Pam Grier, Foxy Brown,\u201d Dempsey said. \u201cAnd probably the biggest Denver connect that I was a part of was the production of the Black Movie Channel, BET Movies Starz!. Everybody thinks that it started in D.C. No, it didn’t. Starz found it had all these films because Starz was trying to expand and have these multiple channels: action, mystery, love stories, and all that. And they saw they had all these films with African American actors in them. He said, \u2018Oh, well, maybe we can make a black movie channel.’ It was a blessing to be able to do a black film channel in Denver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creating and cultivating an intentional space<\/b><\/p>\n

Tavares-Rance said creating spaces that celebrate and honor Black contributions to film is so important, but the festival does more than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s important to tell our stories, because sometimes I feel that the world thinks we’re a monolith and we’re not, and Black people have so many different experiences. One of the things I love about our festival is that we try our best not to show \u201cstruggle porn,\u201d that is not something that I am a fan of. We try to show joy, Black joy. We also show mental health stories. We show LGBTQ stories. We show everything, and I love it. It’s really important for the world to see that this festival is for everyone. It’s not just for Black people, it’s everybody who loves film, and to see the diverse stories and diverse experiences we have as a people,\u201d Tavares-Rance said.<\/p>\n

The Martha\u2019s Vineyard African American Film Festival<\/a> will take place this year from August 7 through August 15.<\/p>\n

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Black History Month 2026 | Denver7 stories<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n \"micah<\/p>\n

Denver7<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Micah Smith<\/p>\n

Micah Smith anchors Denver7\u2019s 4 and 5 p.m. newscasts, and reports on issues impacting all of Colorado\u2019s communities. She specializes in telling stories centered on social equity and hearing voices that are unheard or silenced. If you\u2019d like to get in touch with Micah, fill out the form below to send her an email.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n