O Cinema South Beach, an independent, non-profit movie theater, is facing backlash from Miami Beach’s mayor for showing the controversial, Oscar-winning film No Other Land. The documentary, which depicts the ongoing conflict in the Masafer Yatta community on the West Bank, has been labeled as “anti-semitic” by the mayor. Despite the criticism, O Cinema’s co-founder is standing by their decision to show films that spark strong opinions and is calling the mayor’s actions censorship. The film, made by Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers, has been praised by critics but also faced boycott calls. The filmmakers are independently distributing the film as it has no U.S. distributor, with art house theaters like O Cinema screening it. The mayor has requested O Cinema to cancel the screenings, calling the film a “one-sided propaganda attack.”
