Seahorse shown at the 2026 MVAAFF
Seahorse
This year’s Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival once again proved that some of the most compelling stories in cinema are being shaped by women who are refusing to stay within the lines. From a Black Canadian filmmaker making history with her debut feature to a psychological thriller confronting the stigma surrounding women’s reproductive health, and a sweeping documentary bringing W.E.B. Du Bois’ words to a new generation, these films showcase the range, ambition, and cultural impact of women behind the camera.
During my time at MVAAFF, I watched three films that stayed with me long after the credits rolled. Seahorse, H.P.V., and W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause are vastly different in subject matter and style, but each is driven by a filmmaker with something urgent to say—and a commitment to putting stories that are too often overlooked at the center of the frame.
Here are three women-led films from MVAAFF that deserve to be on your radar.
Seahorse: Aisha Evelyna’s debut feature Seahorse tells the story of building a women-led independent production—and the belief that commercial ambition and an equity-centered creative process can, and should, coexist.
Evelyna is believed to be the first Black Canadian woman to write, direct, and star in a Canadian feature film. She built the project alongside a team largely led by women and women of color, including producer Natalie Remplakowski and associate producer Nancy Morski. Together, they created a model of filmmaking where women are not only represented on screen but also drive the creative decisions behind it.
The film is about a sous chef’s pursuit of stability is tested by the return of her estranged father, now living on the streets of Toronto. Seahorse premiered as one of eight films in the Narrative Feature Competition at SXSW 2026 and screened at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival on August 10, where it was nominated for Best Feature Film.
Evelyna stars opposite Joseph Marcell, best known as Geoffrey Butler on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The film also introduces Rowan Sutherland, Sidney Poitier’s great-grandson, in his feature debut.
H.P.V.: Directed by Kiah Clingman
Reasonable Doubt stars reunite on Provocative Film, H.P.V., at MVAAFF. H.P.V. is a psychological thriller starring Taylor Polidore Williams that explores women’s health, intimacy, and the often-unspoken realities of navigating HPV, endometriosis, and the healthcare system.
Writer and director Kiah Clingman created the film to confront the shame and stigma that can surround women’s reproductive health, transforming a deeply personal experience into a story designed to make women feel seen and less alone.
“I made H.P.V. because I was tired of how much shame, stigma, and silence can surround women’s reproductive health. I wanted to turn one of the most vulnerable experiences of my life into something that could make women feel seen and hopefully feel a little less alone,” Kiah Clingman, Writer/Director, tells me.
HPV shown at the 2026 MVAAFF
HPV
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With A Cause: Directed by Rita Coburn
In W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause, filmmaker Rita Coburn offers an intimate portrait of the visionary scholar, activist, and global thinker whose work reshaped the fight for racial justice. Coburn’s interest in Du Bois began after Maya Angelou introduced her to his work while they worked together from 2006 to 2010. Years later, after completing a documentary on Marian Anderson, Coburn felt compelled to return to Du Bois and tell his story.
For Coburn, the documentary is also an opportunity to challenge the simplified narratives often attached to Du Bois. Rather than reducing him to labels like “elitist” or focusing solely on his disagreements with figures such as Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey, she wanted audiences to understand the breadth of his activism and his commitment to marginalized people worldwide.
The title W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause speaks directly to Coburn’s understanding of the legendary scholar. Du Bois refused to conform to the social and political limitations of his era, using his education and access to fight for Black equality rather than distancing himself from the communities he represented.
“He was a rebel, and he had a cause,” Coburn explains. From traveling to Europe in 1899 to challenging political leaders and advocating for Black people, poor white people, Asian communities, and other marginalized groups, Du Bois consistently pushed against systems that sought to keep people confined to predetermined roles.
Rather than relying exclusively on historians and scholars to explain Du Bois, Coburn took an unconventional approach: she let Du Bois speak for himself.
After discovering that Du Bois had written at least 21 books—far more than the 16 she initially understood him to have authored—Coburn and her team immersed themselves in his extensive body of work. They searched for what she calls “crystallizing moments,” passages that could illuminate his ideas, personality, and worldview.
The result is a documentary largely shaped by Du Bois’ own words, brought to life by contemporary voices including Common, Jeffrey Wright, Courtney B. Vance, and narrator Viola Davis.
Coburn’s casting choices were deeply intentional. Jeffrey Wright’s longstanding interest in history made him a natural fit, while Common had previously worked with Coburn on a Maya Angelou project and brought a deep connection to the culture. Courtney B. Vance came recommended by Pulitzer Prize-winning Du Bois biographer David Levering Lewis, whose extensive biographies Vance had previously narrated.
And then there was Viola Davis. Coburn says she thought of Davis early in the process because of the actress’ own journey and her connection to the people Du Bois fought for. Davis ultimately became the documentary’s narrator, bringing a contemporary emotional dimension to Du Bois’ words.
More than a historical portrait, W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause asks audiences to consider how much of Du Bois’ vision remains unfinished.
Coburn points to one of his central ideas: “Democracy is the broadest form of justice.” Written nearly a century ago, the statement remains strikingly relevant, particularly in conversations about economic inequality, privilege, caste, education, and poverty.
For Coburn, Du Bois’ work challenges audiences to ask whether society is truly structured to support everyone’s prosperity—or whether privilege still determines who has access to opportunity.
Coburn hopes younger audiences will see Du Bois not simply as a historical figure, but as an essential part of the lineage of Black thinkers and activists they already know. She believes Du Bois belongs in the same cultural conversation as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Maya Angelou—and that his ideas deserve to be quoted, debated, and applied to the present.
“Poverty is unnecessary,” is one of the ideas Coburn wants audiences to reconsider through a contemporary lens. For her, revisiting Du Bois is ultimately about asking what kind of society future generations deserve and whether America is willing to rewrite the systems that prevent people from thriving.
For aspiring filmmakers, Coburn’s message is simple: do it anyway. She encourages emerging documentarians to learn the craft, pursue grants, attend festivals, use social media to build an audience, and keep creating even when the industry tells them they can’t.
Coburn describes Du Bois as a “do it anyway” kind of person—and says that philosophy has guided her own career. Her advice to the next generation is to keep going until the work that began as a passion becomes the work people are willing to pay for.
Coburn describes herself as a “frustrated librarian” because she loves immersing herself in books, research, and the lives of historical figures—but ultimately wants to bring those stories to life visually. She also sees herself as a griot: someone who carries history forward and tells the community what happened generations before. For Coburn, documentary filmmaking ensures that the sacrifices, accomplishments, and lessons of figures like Du Bois, Marian Anderson, and Maya Angelou continue to strengthen the people who come after them.
“I get to tell the whole village what was happening so many years ago,” she says. “And that has to strengthen you today.”