Dana Keith, Director and Founder, Miami Beach Cinematheque

As the first year in our new location comes to a close, I am happy to report that the Miami Beach Cinematheque, with the help of Knight Foundation and many other foundations, individuals, and sponsors, has remained true to our mission of promoting and presenting film as an art-form, and is moving on to the next step in our progress.

MBC has an exciting new home, beautifully renovated and lovingly restored in Carl Fisher’s Historic City Hall building of Miami Beach. Within that structure we have created a new center for film in Miami that allows for partnerships and collaborations, and gives opportunities to experience and enjoy cinema in exceptional ways. Our programming, with an emphasis on auteur directors and their works (such as our “Great Directors” and “Cinephile’s Choice” series), along with the best of international documentaries and local filmmaking showcases (such as our “Electric Wedding” event during Art Basel, which combined Miami video artists with works from LA in collaboration with the Los Angeles Art Association, curated by Miami’s Grela Orihuela), has been supplemented by exhibitions on local and international photographers and artists such as Frank Worth, Leonardo Casali, Vladimir Banjanac, Aranza Gayosso, and Bunny Yeager, and displays of my own collection of rare vintage film memorabilia.

We have also had a long list of partnerships such as with festivals like MIFF, ABFF, MGLFF, and BFF, and with support of entities such as the French and German Consulates. The venue itself has been utilized and enjoyed by a variety of community organizations such as the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, and the Miami World Cinema Center. So, a world class cinematheque is taking shape, a true “art house” for Miami and Miami Beach, dedicated to making “the seventh art” as accessible, important, and respected as the other art-forms.