ALBAWABA - Miami Beach Mayor Proposes Legislation to End Funding and Lease Agreement with O Cinema Over Controversial Documentary Screening.
Miami Beach Mayor Proposes Legislation to End Funding and Lease Agreement with O Cinema Over Controversial Documentary Screening.
Following the screening of an Oscar-winning documentary about the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank, the mayor of Miami Beach is attempting to dissolve a leasing agreement and stop providing thousands of dollars in financial support for an independent movie theater.
Mayor Steven Meiner addressed his concerns about the documentary "No Other Land" in a newsletter distributed to locals Tuesday evening. The video has been screened multiple times at O Cinema, an arthouse movie theater in South Beach, despite Meiner's insistence that the screenings be canceled. He described the movie, which received praise from pro-Israel advocates despite winning an Academy Award last week, as "a false, one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is inconsistent with the values of our city and residents."
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Meiner is now proposing city legislation that would immediately cut off all governmental funding and end the lease with the movie theater, which leases space from the city at the former City Hall on Washington Avenue.
According to the request, the city has already paid half of the $25,831 and $54,071 grant agreements it pledged to fulfill with O Cinema recently. Meiner is now taking action to cancel the remaining ones.
Representatives from O Cinema and the mayor did not immediately reply to the Miami Herald's request for comment on Wednesday. At a meeting scheduled for next Wednesday, city commissioners will cast their votes on the proposed legislation.
Citing criticism from German and Israeli government authorities, Meiner wrote to O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell last week, urging the theater to postpone planned showings of the movie. Meiner's email claims that Marthell's immediate response was that the movie will not be shown in the cinema.
On March 6, Marthell replied to Meiner, "We have decided to withdraw the film from our programming due to the concerns of antisemitic rhetoric." "This movie has revealed a gap that prevents us from doing what we've always tried to do, which is to encourage critical discussions about films."
However, the CEO of O Cinema changed his mind the following day. On Friday, Marthell told the Miami Herald that the movie would go forward with its planned showings. The movie theater sold out its showing and added two additional nights later in March when the issue around the film garnered national attention.
To be clear, however, our choice to screen NO OTHER LAND does not indicate that we share any political views. However, in an email to the Herald late last week, Marthell stated, "It is a bold reaffirmation of our fundamental belief that every voice deserves to be heard, even and perhaps especially when it challenges us."
Meiner, who is Jewish, has faced criticism on social media for attempting to halt the movie screenings. The most outspoken criticisms have focused on issues of free speech and censorship.
Meiner stated in his newsletter that the movie, which he referred to as antisemitic, ought not to be screened since it goes against the city's principles. "I firmly believe in the right to free expression.
However, although O Cinema acknowledged the "concerns about antisemitic speech," tolerating hate and then spreading antisemitism in a building owned by Miami Beach taxpayers is unfair to our city's values and its citizens and should not be allowed," the mayor wrote.
Although he did not specifically state his vote, Miami Beach City Commissioner David Suarez, who has previously been outspoken about his support for Israel, stated that he would support the proposed law.
