O Cinema’s projectors will keep rolling after Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner relented on his attempt to evict the theater for screening an Oscar-winning documentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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Meiner had asked the Miami Beach City Commission to terminate the theater's lease at a city-owned building and cut $40K in grant funding over its decision to screen No Other Land, citing concerns the film could stoke antisemitism. His proposal was up for debate at the commission's meeting on Wednesday, but he withdrew the item after it became clear it didn't have the votes to pass.
He also deferred an alternative proposal that would have urged O Cinema to screen films offering what he called a more balanced perspective on the war in Gaza.
“I legitimately viewed this as a public safety threat,” Meiner said at the meeting.
Miami Beach Commissioners Tanya Katzoff Bhatt, Laura Dominguez, Alex Fernandez, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez and Joseph Magazine were prepared to reject Meiner’s proposal to terminate the theater’s lease.
While the majority of the board opposed the proposal, Commissioner David Suarez showed support for the motion. During the meeting's public comment period, Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez also backed Meiner's eviction request.
The mayor's attempt to terminate O Cinema's lease made national headlines this month, with critics calling the effort censorship and a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The measure prompted more than 600 filmmakers, including Moonlight director Barry Jenkins, to sign a letter urging Miami Beach commissioners to reject the resolution, Axios reported.
“I don’t want to say that I am shocked by what’s transpired and the attention that it's got. I wouldn’t say that. I expected there to be a bit, but certainly nobody can predict this level,” Meiner said at the meeting. “But I think it's, for the most part, a healthy discourse.”
Miami residents attended the meeting in support of the theater, prompting the commission to extend the public comment period to accommodate additional speakers. Some attendees held posters reading “No Censorship” and “We Stand With O.”
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O Cinema moved into Old City Hall at 1130 Washington Ave. in 2019. The structure was home to the municipal government from 1928 to 1977 and was utilized by the fire department and city clerk after that, according to the Miami Beach website.
The nonprofit art house cinema originally operated in Wynwood at 90 NW 29th St. when it was founded in 2011. The theater moved to Miami Beach after eight years to make way for Wynwood Green, an 11-story, 189-unit apartment complex developed by a Lennar subsidiary, the Miami Herald reported at the time.
The film, which won this year’s Academy Award for best documentary feature, was directed by two Israelis and two Palestinians — Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal. No Other Land documents the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers.
“It has been very emotional,” O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell told the Miami Herald. “I’m feeling supported by the community I serve and feel supported by my cultural colleagues, and I feel supported from the commission that feels and understands the right to free speech.”
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