The Miami Mayor’s Fight to Control a Movie Theater Isn’t Over Yet

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On Wednesday, Mayor Steve Meiner appeared somewhat remorseful at Miami Beach’s City Hall. He announced his intention to retract his own proposal, which aimed to end O Cinema’s existing lease and offer funding, due to their screening of the award-winning Palestinian-Israeli documentary “No Other Land.” At times, he seemed to express conflicting views, acknowledging that his resolution needed more open discussion while also stating it wasn’t beneficial to argue. Emotionally, he told the crowded chamber, “Please understand, from the depths of my heart, though some of you said things that were painful: I care for each and every one of you deeply.

The announcement about the proposal was made in an email newsletter dated March 11. In this email, Meiner criticized a film depicting the destruction of a West Bank village by Israeli soldiers from 2019 to 2023, calling it “extremely antisemitic.” He stated that he wanted the city, which leases space to the theater located at South Beach’s Historic City Hall, to terminate its contract with O Cinema and find a new cultural partner whose values align better with the community.

The threat made by Meiner garnered significant nationwide attention, prompting more than 700 filmmakers and creatives (including Barry Jenkins, Phil Lord, Laura Poitras) to sign an open letter in support of the single-screen nonprofit cinema. They labeled the proposed action as an act of censorship. The same sentiment of outrage was evident during a city commissioner meeting on Wednesday, where close to a hundred supporters of O Cinema criticized Meiner for various reasons – primarily for the potential harm to the theater and for declining to answer questions at a virtual town hall held the previous night.

A woman traveling from Broward County playfully dismissed the pink curlers in her hair and asserted that she only visits Miami Beach due to O Cinema. She declared, “O Cinema is the sole reason I endure coming here.” Later, a young admirer of O Cinema echoed this sentiment: “I woke up at 6 a.m., which I rarely do, just for this.” Those opposing Meiner’s proposal identified themselves as Zionists and disagreed with his assertion that he spoke on behalf of 90% of the Jewish community. Local filmmakers and members of Jewish Voice for Peace and the Miami DSA also participated. Filmmaker Monica Sorelle, whose work includes Mountains, utilized her allotted time to quote a statement from No Other Land co-director Yuval Abraham, and referenced a recent hate crime where a Jewish resident of Miami Beach shot two Israeli tourists because he mistook them for Palestinians – an example of how prejudice can spread indiscriminately.

The support for the mayor’s defense was minimal, with only a small number of people expressing approval for the proposal. One individual drew a comparison between “No Other Land” and D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation”. Apart from him, other supporters included Hialeah’s Esteban Bovo Jr., Miami’s Francis Suarez, and the consul general of Israel in Miami, Maor Elbaz-Starinsky. The mayor permitted these individuals to speak for more than a minute, but this extra time was ultimately overshadowed by constituents shouting “time’s up!” (Elbaz-Starinsky retorted by labeling the constituents as “antisemites.”). Elsewhere, the audience contested the mayor’s statement that O Cinema has never shown a film depicting the Israeli perspective. (“It’s co-produced and directed by Israelis!” someone yelled.)

It wasn’t unexpected that Meiner withdrew his proposal since most of the city’s commissioners suggested he should. Interestingly, he postponed a decision on another resolution too, one that aimed to persuade the theater to screen films presenting a neutral perspective on the ongoing war. On Friday afternoon, an email from O Cinema was sent out to friends and supporters, expressing their intention to continue discussions with the city until the matter is resolved.

Following our gathering on Wednesday, despite a few lingering uncertainties, Commissioner Joseph Magazine sparked an uplifting moment by proposing a group photo as a symbol of unity. Surprisingly, only commissioner David Suarez declined this invitation. Earlier during the meeting, Suarez had expressed strong criticism towards the movie “No Other Land,” labeling it as a platform for Hamas supporters. He further predicted that many present would be the first targets if such actions were carried out by Hamas. In a rather graphic manner, he warned about the violent treatment of women, suggesting they could be subjected to sexual mutilation, thrown from rooftops, or stoned to death. As a film enthusiast, I found his comments disturbing and off-topic for our discussion.

Despite maintaining a composed demeanor throughout the process, Vivian Marthell and Kareem Tabsch, co-founders of O Cinema, are elated with the outcome. After the meeting, Tabsch expressed to Vulture, “I believe we’re all moved by the strong community backing we received and inspired witnessing democracy in action and listening to differing opinions.” He further added, “I feel the commission made the correct decision today and that we emerged victorious simultaneously.

Marthell expressed a sense of optimism, stating, “We’ve been in Miami Beach for a full decade now.” He continued, “Our programming is self-explanatory. It’s broad, it’s inclusive, it resonates with our communities, it addresses our concerns, and it encourages dialogue.

The first movie theater in South Florida, O Cinema, premiered the film “No Other Land“. Upon learning this, Mayor Meiner requested they halt showings of the film, alleging it was a biased attack on Jewish people. However, Marthell and Tabsch refused, prompting Meiner to issue a potential threat regarding their lease and funding. Despite these warnings, the theater continued to screen the movie (even though it won an Oscar for Best Documentary yet lacks an American distributor). Tabsch explained, “If we had yielded to the mayor’s demands, it would have been a breach of our principles and our audience’s trust. We couldn’t let our freedom of speech be compromised because if we did, there would be no end to it. It wouldn’t just affect O Cinema; it could harm our entire community as well.

It’s not the first instance of South Florida politicians trying to meddle with movie screenings. Back in 2000, Miami city officials withdrew $50,000 of county funding from the Miami Film Festival for showing the Cuban film “La Vida Es Silbar,” but this decision was eventually overturned. More recently, in 2022, District 3 Commissioner Joe Carollo – known for using city departments against businesses in Little Havana – seized control of the Tower Theater from Miami Dade College and the Miami Film Festival. This theater, which is the only multi-screen art cinema in Miami showing first-run films, has been mostly closed since then.

In my role as a film enthusiast, I’ve noticed that various expressions of Palestinian art have been removed elsewhere in Miami during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. As the Miami New Times reported, establishments like the Institute of Contemporary Art and Oolite Arts have chosen to remove works related to Palestine from their displays. Artist Charles Gaines has shared that the ICA requested him to modify one of his pieces and exclude another from a retrospective showcasing his career-long work.

Tabsch and Marthell express relief that O Cinema hasn’t faced the same troubles as Tower Theater so far. However, they are mindful not to criticize those who posed threats to them. “Maintaining good ties with our political representatives is crucial,” Tabsch stated, “and I hope this is just a temporary setback, and we can restore the strong bond we had in the future.

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2025-03-21 23:55