O Cinema announces second location, mainland expansion
O Cinema, Miami's beloved nonprofit indie theater, announced plans this week for expanding to Little River — and it's asking its fans to help.
The big picture: Since 2011, the theater has offered unique and accessible cinema programming to the 305 — from foreign-language and first-run films to the annual Oscar Nominated Short Films event.
Now, it's planning to once again bring its mission to the mainland with a second location.
Catch up quick: The cinema has been on the Beach since 2019, when its original Wynwood location was replaced by an apartment building.
It took over the former home of the Byron Carlyle Theatre in North Beach before settling into its current location in South Beach.
Driving the news: In a social media post Wednesday, the cinema announced a $2.75 million expansion campaign to complete the Little River project by June: "Will you join us in making O Cinema bigger and better?"
Money raised will fund three cinemas, a public gallery, and two spaces for community use, plus a lounge and concessions.
Funding will also support staffing and a reserve fund for a 10-year lease. A $750,000 grant from the Knight Foundation has already been secured.
Between the lines: Programming will continue at the South Beach location, as will its partnerships with the Miami Beach Bandshell, the Bass Museum of Art, and Fienberg-Fisher K-8, co-founder Vivian Marthell told Axios.
The intrigue: O Cinema's first location in Wynwood helped reshape the district into an arts hub. Its expansion into Little River could help cement the area as Miami's coolest neighborhood.
In the post, the cinema said it chose Little River because it's "meeting the community where it is."
"O Cinema Little River will thrive in a community already embracing creativity, collaboration and innovation."
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Axios
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O Cinema dodged eviction, but resolution renews censorship fears
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'No Other Land' co-director Hamdan Ballal is now free after being attacked and detained in West Bank, according to his fellow director Yuval Abraham. 'After being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base, Hamdan Ballal is now free and is about to go home to his family,' Abraham wrote on X early Tuesday morning. On Monday, witnesses said on social media that a stone-throwing fight broke out between Israeli settlers and Palestinians after an Israeli shepherd was attacked by Palestinians, Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom reported. The Palestinian filmmaker was arrested alongside two other Palestinians in connection to the fight. 'After the assault, Hamdan was handcuffed and blindfolded all night in an army base while two soldiers beat him up on the floor, his lawyer Leah Tsemel said after speaking with him just now,' Abraham shared earlier on Tuesday. 'He's still held in the Kiryat Arba police station.' The latest update comes a day after he first announced Ballal's detainment. 'A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co director of our film no other land. They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since.' Abraham later clarified his initial statement, adding, 'Note: Hamdan was assaulted and beaten up, not murdered. My use of 'lynched' was a mistranslation from Hebrew (English isn't my first language). He's injured and being held at a police station in a settlement. They did not let his lawyer speak to him yet so we don't know more.' 'No Other Land' from Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Ballal and Abraham won Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2025 Oscars. It chronicles the displacement of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta by Israeli military and settlers after a court ruling declared the area a 'closed military zone.' The movie was also recently in the news after a Miami Beach mayor, who is Jewish, tried to get O Cinema screenings of the doc pulled and the theater in question evicted. He has since dropped those plans. The post 'No Other Land' Co-Director Hamdan Ballal Freed After Being Attacked, Detained in West Bank appeared first on TheWrap.
