A Place of Our Own

NEW DOCS

The town of Oak Bluffs, on Martha’s Vineyard, has long been a summer resort destination for generations of upper-middle-class black Americans, filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s family among them. In this intimate, heartfelt documentary, Nelson deftly balances the personal, political, and historical as he examines how Oak Bluffs became a haven for affluent black Americans, particularly during the tumultuous ‘60s; how the community has changed; and how Nelson’s family has changed since the death of his mother. Though wistful, Nelson’s clear-eyed look at conflicts of class, race, and age transcends mere nostalgia through its unsentimental honesty and richly textured complexity.  TL

Director

Stanley Nelson

Producer

Stanley Nelson

Release Year

2003

Festival Year

2004

Country

United States

Run Time

56 minutes