The Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival returns for its 19th year to promote cross-cultural understanding through the world of film. 

Jokes & Cigarettes, a Spanish film, will be shown on Sept. 4.

The festival is organized by Richard Paradise and takes places at the Film Center in Vineyard Haven from Sept. 3 to 8. For five days it will showcase nine feature films, two documentaries and nine short films from a variety of countries including Senegal, Bangladesh and Mexico.

“We have a comedy, we having coming-of-age films — these are universal themes, but you get a non-American viewpoint,” said Mr. Paradise. “I love seeing films set in [different] countries and how people react. Sometimes it can feel very familiar because there’s certain universal truths, but you also get a different nuance because of the country and because of the culture.”

Mr. Paradise said he takes pride in the fact that over the years the festival has helped audience members become more curious about other parts of the world.

“I’ve had many people say after watching a film about a particular country, I’m really motivated to go see that part of the world myself, face to face, and that’s very satisfying,” he said.

Sabbath Queen is a documentary that filmed for more than 21 years and follows the journey of a rabbi becoming a drag queen.

The nine short films were curated by festival programmers from nearly 300 entries from around the world. A winner will be selected after all nine are screened on Friday, Sept. 6.

Mr. Paradise does not choose a specific theme for the festival, he said, instead focusing on finding films with authentic voices and characters. During the year, he attends a variety of festivals, including Berlinale and Sundance, and also sifts through submissions. Through the process, however, universal themes are often revealed.

“Human interest stories are always strong, dealing with past sins, so to speak, of humanity,” Mr. Paradise said. “There’s a renaissance of films that are dealing with sorts of things like genocide worldwide.”

He has also observed an increasing number of international films that feature LGBTQ+ characters. Two of the feature length films in the festival — the documentary Sabbath Queen directed by Sandi DuBowski and Crossing directed by Levin Akin) — focus on LGBTQ+ identity. 

Quiet Maid, a Spanish film, follows a maid from Colombia who works at a luxurious mansion on the Costa Brava.

“Over the years, there are certain threads that do arise around the world all at the same time,” Mr. Paradise said. “The normalization of queer characters in films is more prevalent there.”

No matter the subject of a film, Mr. Paradise wants audiences to see the humanity displayed in each of the films and where they are set.

“Character-driven films, strong, multi-dimensional characters are always going to be something that I’m looking to put to the forefront,” said Mr. Paradise. “They cover a wide swathe of topics and locations, but they’re all worth watching.... The audience will come away with something from those films.”

For tickets and more information, visit mvfilmsociety.com.