In the movie Swimming with Sharks, a beleaguered young film executive played by Frank Whaley is asked why he entered the movie business. His answer; because of memories. Not those of the movies themselves, but the actual experience of watching them. He charted the course of his development as a person through this simultaneously very public and very private activity; where he was, at what stage of his life, and with whom he watched each film.

Beginning tonight and continuing throughout the weekend, Vineyard audiences will once again be able to chart their own development at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival held at the Chilmark Community Center. The festival is now in its twelfth year and has become yet another harbinger of spring as warmly welcomed as the date night revelry of lusty pinkletinks and strut of the first snowdrop.

In an age of the ever-shrinking screen, palm size may yet lead to thumb size, going out to the movies may seem slightly archaic. It is cheaper and easier to stay at home and have just a personal experience rather than a communal one. But watching a movie at home will never compare to the combined energy of watching a story unfold with a roomful of strangers, acquaintances and friends coming together as myriad individuals with varying tastes and opinions.

“That movie was wonderful.” “Awful, middling at best.” “It was no Bicycle Thief.” “Foreign films give me a headache.” “She took my breath away.” “You call that acting?” “Remember when De Niro was cool?”

The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival is not alone in bringing the gift of cinema to these shores. The Martha’s Vineyard Film Society holds its festival each September, curating a showcase of both foreign and domestic films one could not see elsewhere. True, the Capawock and Edgartown cinemas stay open all year long, offering Hollywood fare and more, but there is something about being immersed in a film festival, complete with question and answer sessions with the principals involved, that changes the nature of the experience.

For those working behind the scenes at these festivals, their job continues all year long, sifting through hundreds of film titles to create a program of the year’s best films. By comparison, our role as audience members is quite easy, we need only to show up. Who can say, though, which film may become yet another touchstone in the trajectory of our lives?