On Wednesday, August 10, at 5 p.m. there will be a screening of the short film The Barber of Birmingham at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven. The film is part of the ninth annual Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival taking place here on the Island, beginning today, August 9, and running through Saturday, August 13.

We’ve waited 72 years to meet a princess like Tiana. In the history of Disney’s animated fairy tales, we all know Snow White, Princess Aurora and Cinderella. Belle and Ariel came later, their fair-skinned complexions falling in line with their princess predecessors. In 1992, Disney integrated their princess line-up with the Middle Eastern Jasmine, followed closely by Native American Pocahontas and the Chinese Mulan.

Stephanie and Floyd Rance are parents of six-year-old, though their child is a film festival. And this year, their Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival is pitching a family-friendly theme: there will be a new focus on children’s entertainment, and new limits on language in the selections.

The Rances, who own Run and Shoot Filmworks in New York city, are the organizers of the film festival which begins today and runs through Saturday. Films will be shown in Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven.