This weekend the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival continues at venues throughout Vineyard Haven. The opening night ceremonies heralded in a new era as the first-ever film was screened at the new festival center located at 72 Beach Road in the Tisbury Marketplace.
The movie lineup continues through Sunday, at which point 22 films from around the world will have been showcased. A full schedule can be found online at mvfilmfest.com
This Saturday night, perhaps of particular interest to Vineyarders, is Marley, a documentary about Bob Marley which screens at 9 p.m. at the Capawock Theatre. The film traces the roots of the late reggae singer and highlights numerous live performances.
Peter Simon, the photographer for Reggae Bloodlines, published in 1977, has “about 12 or 13” of his pictures in the movie. “They are more from the cultural side of Jamaica when Bob hit his prime,” Mr. Simon said.
Most of the photos are taken from the ghettos of Kingston where Bob Marley grew up rather than of the singer himself.
Mr. Simon, who spent time with Bob Marley on numerous occasions during his career, gives the movie a high mark, but said he wished it had revealed more of Mr. Marley’s youth, in particular that Bob had been abandoned by his mother at a young age and put under the care of his enfeebled grandfather. Essentially, as a young boy, he was left to fend for himself, an upbringing that helps explain the message of his music and art.
That said, Mr. Simon said the movie is “a must see for anyone who has an interest in reggae and Bob.”
In 1981, Mr. Simon interviewed Bob Marley for the last time after a concert in Providence, R.I. The singer had already been diagnosed with a malignant melanoma and looked very sick, Mr. Simon said. Six months later, May 11, 1981, Bob Marley died.
“The movie made me miss him,” Mr. Simon said.
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