The mayor of Miami Beach has proposed terminating the lease of an independent cinema operating on city-owned property after it screened “No Other Land,” a documentary about Palestinian displacement in the West Bank that recently won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Mayor Steven Meiner’s proposal, scheduled for a commission vote next Wednesday, would end O Cinema’s lease and withdraw $40,000 in previously promised grant funding. In a newsletter distributed to residents on Tuesday, Meiner characterised the film as “a false one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our City and residents.”
According to Meiner’s newsletter, he had urged the cinema to cancel scheduled screenings, citing criticisms from Israeli and German officials. The mayor claimed O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell initially agreed to withdraw the film citing “concerns of antisemitic rhetoric” but reversed her decision the following day. The screenings ultimately sold out, prompting the venue to add additional dates in March.
Marthell defended the cinema’s programming decision in comments to the Miami Herald, stating: “Our decision to screen NO OTHER LAND is not a declaration of political alignment. It is, however, a bold reaffirmation of our fundamental belief that every voice deserves to be heard.”
The documentary, co-directed by Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, chronicles the destruction of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank and the unlikely friendship that develops between the two filmmakers.
Legal and civil liberties organisations have raised concerns about potential First Amendment violations. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida called the mayor’s actions unconstitutional, with branch legal director Daniel Tilley telling Axios: “The government does not get to pick and choose which viewpoints the public is allowed to hear, however controversial some might find them.”
Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, criticized the proposed action: “Screening movies to make sure they conform to local censors’ tastes is a practice we left behind with the red scare. If the First Amendment doesn’t mean that a movie theater can show an Oscar-winning film, something is seriously wrong.”
Not all city officials support the mayor’s position. Miami Beach Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez acknowledged sharing Meiner’s negative assessment of the film but cautioned against a “kneejerk reaction” that could trigger “costly legal battles,” also noting O Cinema’s “longstanding commitment to the Jewish community.”
The controversy also follows Miami Beach’s 2019 removal of a portrait of Raymond Herisse, a Black man fatally shot by local police, from a city art project.
Read more:
