Miami Beach withdraws call to end lease of theatre that screened Israeli-Palestinian documentary
Florida mayor backtracks after majority of city commissioners oppose resolution against local theatre
The mayor of Miami Beach, Fla., is backing off a proposal to terminate an independent theatre's lease and financial support after it screened No Other Land, an Oscar-winning documentary about the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.
The move came after multiple rights advocates and artists in recent days criticized Mayor Steven Meiner's threat and said it would violate free speech.
Meiner said earlier he sought to evict and halt future grant payments to the non-profit O Cinema in South Beach.
City commissioners were scheduled to vote on Wednesday on a resolution formally stating those intentions, which were introduced by Meiner and made public last week. A majority of those city commissioners said they opposed that resolution, as did dozens of people who gathered there.
Meiner said he would instead introduce another resolution aimed at encouraging O Cinema to show movies highlighting "a fair and balanced viewpoint of the current war" and it would be deferred to a later meeting.
No Other Land opened earlier this month at O Cinema, located at the Miami Beach Historic City Hall. Meiner had reached out several days before the premiere to discourage O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell from showing the film.
Marthell said she initially agreed not to screen it, but later changed her mind after reflecting on the broader implications for free speech and O Cinema's mission of sharing films that not only entertain but also challenge, educate and inspire meaningful dialogue.
She has threatened legal action against the city if it moves forward with the eviction.
No Other Land, which was shot between 2019 and 2023 and released last year, was directed by a group of Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
The film documents the destruction of Palestinian villages in the West Bank by the Israeli military. Production on it wrapped days before Hamas launched its deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that resulted in the current war in Gaza.
The film won the Academy Award for best documentary feature earlier this month, as well as previous awards.
With files from Reuters