South Florida is best known for the numerous outdoor activities available year round. But if your feet grow weary from walking on the beach week after week, there are plenty of cozy, independent theaters that provide patrons with films not found at your local multiplex.

Miami and Ft. Lauderdale have become havens of film culture thanks to the several film festivals that call South Florida home, and independent theaters that host regular programs, special events and more. From series that spotlight famous directors to special screenings accompanied with guest speakers, there is enough film culture to satisfy the most ravenous film buff.

This week the Miami Beach Cinematheque spotlights renowned Italian director Federico Fellini, the Cosford hosts the Miami Jewish Film Festival, and Cinema Paradiso presents an HDTV recording of "Tristan Und Isolde" from the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan, Italy.

This Week’s Screenings

Miami Beach Cinematheque: 512 Espanola Way, Miami Beach; 305-67-4567. Tickets for non-member are $10; $6 for members and students.

Located in the heart of Miami Beach on Espanola Way, the Cinematheque is home to the Miami Beach Film Society. Its regular film series include the Independent Lens Series, which screens award-winning documentaries before their broadcast on PBS, and the Judaica on Film series, which features films about Judaic culture and issues facing the Jewish people. This January they are spotlighting Italian neo-realist director Federico Fellini with films by him and about him.

On Thursday the 17th the Hands on Miami Citizen’s Academy presents Banished, a documentary by Marco Williams that examines a wave of racial purging which caused the disappearance of three Southern African-American towns at the turn of the last century. Admission is free but donations to aid the Independent Lens series are welcome. The movie starts at 8:30 pm.

On Friday the 18th Amarcord, Federico Fellini’s film about his hometown of Rimini screens at 8:30 pm. Regular ticket prices apply.

On Saturday the 19th at 8:30 pm the Cinematheque will screen Fellini: I’m a Born Liar. This documentary features unprecedented access to the master director including the last major interview of his life. Regular ticket prices apply.

On Sunday the 20th at 7pm, the Judaica on Film series presents, The Portrait of Adele an exploration of a family’s reclamation of the Gustav Klimt portrait of the same name and their campaign for restitution for the Holocaust. After the film a discussion will be held with Executive Producer Robert Krakow and Larry Krakow, President of the Global Financial Group, philanthropist and former member of the elite Golani Brigade of Israel Defense Forces. Admission is free but donations are accepted.

Cinema Paradiso in Ft. Lauderdale: 503 SE 6 Street, Ft. Lauderdale; 954-525-3456. General Admission is $8; $7 for seniors and students pay' $5 for FLIFF Members.

Cinema Paradiso works in conjunction with Emerging Cinemas to feature a variety of regular programs and special events. Their monthly film and discussion series, Cinema Verite, shows an eclectic mix of independent films. The theater also screens HDTV recordings of the La Scala Opera from Milan, Italy.

On Saturday the 19th, Cinema Paradiso presents a special screening of American Blackout at 7 pm. This documentary explores the disenfranchisement of African-American voters through the lens of former democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Ms. McKinney recently launched her campaign for the Green Party’s presidential nomination and will hold a Q&A after the film. Regular ticket prices apply.

Former New Kids on the Block singer Joe McIntyre stars in the film version of Tony and Tina’s Wedding, and you can catch the live presentation of this play at the Broward Center of the Performing Arts in February. The film will show on January 19th at 1 pm, 3pm, and 5pm and on Sunday the 20th at 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm. $5 tickets are available for anyone who presents their ticket to the BCPA production.

The Cinema Verite Series will screen director Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia on January 21 at 7pm. Regular ticket prices apply.

On Tuesday January 22 at 6 pm Cinema Paradiso presents a recorded version of the opera “Tristan Und Isolde”, originally performed at the Teatro Alla Scala in Milan, Italy. The opera will run over 4 hours. Tickets are $20 to the public and $18 for Florida Grand Opera members.

Cosford Cinema: 1111 Memorial Drive, Coral Gables; 305-284-4861. Admission is free for University of Miami Students, $8 for the general public and $6 for seniors and students from other universities.

Located on the University of Miami’s Coral Gables campus, the Cosford is home to regular screenings of independent films, special programs and student film festivals.

On Friday, January 18 at 7:30 pm the Cosford cinema is presenting a special screening of The Inner Life of Martin Frost, a fiction film about a celebrated American novelist who one day discovers a beautiful woman who will serve as his muse. Written and directed by celebrated author Paul Auster, the film has simultaneously been published as a paperback novel. South Floridda Sun-Sentinel book critic Chauncey Mabe will interview Auster on stage after the 90-minute screening. Free tickets for this event are available at all Books & Books locations while supplies last.

On January 20th starting at 1 pmm the Cosford will screen four films as part of the Miami Jewish Film Festival. General admission is $11; students and seniors pay $8.

Upper Eastside Garden: 7244 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami: 305-984-3231. Tickets are $7.

The Upper Eastside Garden screens outdoor films on Thursday nights as part of their Janus Films Night. Admission includes picnic mats or seats in the garden, a bag of popcorn and a drink. On Thursday the 17th, Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Avventura screens at 8 pm.

Tower Theater: The Intersection of SW Eighth Street and Fifteenth Avenue: 305-642-1264.

Located on “Calle Ocho”, the Tower is a historic Miami theater that first opened in1926. Currently managed by Miami-Dade College, the Tower promotes the arts in all their forms and provides special screenings to South-Florida’s diverse community.

This week the Tower is screening two classic Italian from the 1960’s. Divorzio all’Italiana (Divorce Italian Style) starring Marcello Mastroianni screens on the 18th at 8 pm, and Luchino Visconti’s Gattopardo (The Leopard) screens at 19th at 6 pm.

Roberto Benigni, the director of the Academy Award winning film Life is Beautiful, addresses the war in Iraq with Il Tigre e la Neve (The Tiger and the Snow). The film will screen on the 19th at 8pm.

Pane e Cioccolata (Bread and Chocolate) is a 1973 comedy about an Italian immigrant’s attempts to become a member of Swiss society. The film screens on the 20th at 5pm.

Additional Screenings:

MadeInUSA, a fiction film about a girl lost in a forgotten village in a Peruvian mountain range where sin is ignored during the week of Easter, is being presented by the Sunrise Cinemas’ Senses Cinema series. The film will screen at 7:30 pm at Intracoastal 8 on the 18th, at Sunrise 11 at 7:30 pm on the 19th and at Mizner Park at 7:30 pm on the 20th. Tickets to all showings are $10 and include a post-film discussion with film lecturer Shelly Isaacs.

The Café Cinematheque Film series presents Bamako on January 20th at 10am at Mizner Park. The film about a group of African families who live their lives while observing court proceedings in which African civil society spokesmen seek reparations from the IMF and World Bank, whom they blame for Africa’s woes. Tickets to the screening are $10 and include a post-film discussion with Shelly Isaacs.