Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner speaks during a press conference at Miami Beach City Hall on Monday, July 29, 2024. Alexia Fodere for The Miami Herald

The mayor of Miami Beach is proposing to terminate a lease agreement and discontinue thousands of dollars in financial support for an independent film theater after it screened an Oscar-winning documentary about the ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank.

In a newsletter sent to residents Tuesday night, Mayor Steven Meiner explained his objections over the documentary “No Other Land,” which has had several showings at O Cinema, an art house film cinema in South Beach, despite pressure from Meiner to cancel the screenings. He called the film, which won an Academy Award last week but has faced criticism from supporters of Israel, “a false one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our City and residents.”

Meiner is now introducing city legislation that seeks to terminate the lease agreement with the cinema, which rents space from the city at the old City Hall on Washington Avenue, and to immediately cut all city funding.

In recent months, the city agreed to fulfill two grant agreements with O Cinema — one for $25,831 and one for $54,071 — and has already paid half of those amounts, according to the proposal. Meiner is now moving to cancel the rest.

The mayor did not immediately respond to the Miami Herald’s request for comment on Wednesday, nor did representatives from O Cinema. City commissioners are set to vote on the proposed legislation at a meeting next Wednesday.

Last week, in a letter to O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell, Meiner urged the theater to cancel scheduled screenings of the film, citing critiques from Israeli and German government officials. According to Meiner’s newsletter, Marthell initially responded that the theater would not show the film.

“Due to the concerns of antisemitic rhetoric, we have decided to withdraw the film from our programming,” Marthell wrote in a letter to Meiner on March 6. “This film has exposed a rift which makes us unable to do the thing we’ve always sought out to do which is to foster thoughtful conversations about cinematic works.”

The next day, however, the O Cinema CEO reversed course.

Marthell confirmed to the Miami Herald on Friday that the film would continue with its scheduled screenings. After receiving media attention for the film controversy, the theater sold out screenings and added two more dates later in March.

“But let me be clear: 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, even, and perhaps especially, when it challenges us,” Marthell said in an email to the Herald late last week.

On social media, Meiner, who is Jewish, has received some backlash for trying to stop the film screenings, with the most vocal critiques pointing to censorship and free speech concerns. In his newsletter, Meiner said the film, which he called antisemitic, should not be shown because it conflicts with the city’s values.

“I am a staunch believer in free speech. But normalizing hate and then disseminating antisemitism in a facility owned by the taxpayers of Miami Beach, after O Cinema conceded the ‘concerns of antisemitic rhetoric,’ is unjust to the values of our city and residents and should not be tolerated,” the mayor wrote.

Miami Beach City Commissioner David Suarez, who has been vocal in the past about his support for Israel, indicated his support for the proposed legislation but did not explicitly say how he would vote.

“A religious Jew was voted as Mayor, along with a Zionist city council. Unlike other cities, we have zero tolerance for pro Hamas/ terrorist propaganda,” Suarez wrote in a text message to the Herald. “The City of Miami Beach will continue to stand up for our Jewish population, home to holocaust survivors, and while most people use ‘Never Again’ as a platitude, we mean it.”

Commissioner Kristen Rosen Gonzalez said in a newsletter Wednesday that she agrees with Meiner’s assessment of the film, which she called “a propaganda-driven, one-sided narrative that falsely depicts Israel as the aggressor.” But she said she opposes Meiner’s proposal to strip the theater’s funding and end its lease, noting O Cinema’s “longstanding commitment to the Jewish community.” In her newsletter to residents, she called Meiner’s moves “knee-jerk reactions” that will likely lead to “costly legal battles.”

“The Mayor cannot send a letter condemning a film and then cancel O Cinema’s contract days later,” Rosen Gonzalez wrote. “Doing so would result in an expensive lawsuit we will lose.”

Rosen Gonzalez proposed that instead of canceling the showings of “No Other Land,” the cinema could also show another film, “Screams Before Silence,” a documentary told through the perspective of Israeli women who were attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

Where the other city commissioners stand remains unclear. The four others did not immediately respond to inquiries about how they planned to vote on Meiner’s proposal.

The lobby of O Cinema in South Beach. Jennifer King [email protected]

Film controversy

Made over the course of nearly five years, from 2019 up until days after Oct. 7, 2023, “No Other Land” documents the destruction of Masafer Yatta, a group of Palestinian villages in the southern West Bank, at the hands of the Israeli military. The film garnered attention for its raw, unflinching look at the demolition of Palestinian homes and displacement of citizens in the West Bank.

It also highlights the alliance and blossoming friendship between two unlikely parties: Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, who are two of the film’s directors.

Last week, the film, which has won several international prizes, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and it has been widely acclaimed by film critics. But it has also been shrouded in controversy.

Israel’s top officials have condemned the film for amplifying narratives that “distort” Israel’s image. The Israeli culture minister, Miki Zohar, in a recent social media post called the film “sabotage” against the country, “especially in the wake of the October 7th massacre and the ongoing war.”

Some Palestinians have said that the film “uplifts our spirits,” according to reporting from NPR and that the attention brought by the film may even help prevent future displacement. In their Oscar acceptance speech, Adra and Abraham condemned the killing of Palestinians and Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

“We call on the world to take serious action to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” Adra said. “About two months ago, I became a father, and I hope for my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now.”

Abraham noted that he and Adra are friends but cannot live equal lives due to certain laws.

“We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger,” Abraham said from the Oscars stage. “We see each other in the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end, in the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7, which must be freed. When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are unequal.”

This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.

This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 4:20 PM.