In 2004 director Shola Lynch’s first film premiered at Sundance. The documentary told the story of Shirley Chis-holm, the first black woman to run for president, and her 1972 campaign. Ms. Lynch was only three years old at the time of the campaign, yet as she grew up she found herself consistently drawn to the time period. The film won a Peabody award.

Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evening at the Chilmark Community center. The films begin at 6 p.m. but the circus — complete with jugglers, face painters, stilt walkers, food and music — gets underway at 5 p.m.

When Tonya Lewis Lee became a mother 17 years ago she could not find many picture books featuring children of color as everyday kids. So years later she and her husband Spike Lee wrote their own book, Please, Baby, Please, about a mischievous toddler.

Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evening at the Chilmark Community center.

A Place at the Table, narrated by Jeff Bridges and scored by T-Bone Burnett, is a documentary that places the spotlight on hunger here at home. It tells the stories of people struggling with food insecurity in the U.S., where 50 million people are unsure of where their next meal will come from. The Vineyard Committee on Hunger and Martha’s Vineyard Film Society will sponsor a showing of the film on Wednesday, August 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the film center at the Tisbury Marketplace in Vineyard Haven.

The Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs offers a free family movie night special event with the screening of The Watsons Go To Birmingham at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, August 20. The film stars Tony-winning actress Anika Noni Rose and three-time Tony nominee David Alan Grier.