5 Questions with MBC's Dana Keith

Monday, April 14

By Kevin Craft (kevcraft@yahoo.com)

Dana Keith founded the Miami Beach Film Society and the Miami Beach Cinematheque to provide our city with a "cultural alternative to the film going experience." MBC has accomplished this goal through an array of film series that spotlight great directors, screen documentaries from around the world and present viewers with films that demonstrate the latest developments in digital filmmaking.

Recently I sat down with Dana to get his take on the Indie film scene in Miami. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this May MBC is partnering with Emerging Pictures to screen first run art and independent films in high-definition. One of Miami's most beloved cultural institutions just got better.

What is your favorite movie and why?
As an enthusiastic supporter of the art of cinema, I have hundreds of favorites. It is impossible to choose just one or two in the entire history of cinema. I do prefer “auteur” works, however, those where the artist’s (director’s) creative input is obviously their own vision, and reflects a style that is recognizable and strong. I also love the various movements and genres in history, representing a wide spectrum of qualities, from the silent pioneers to the new digital experimentalists. I have a list of ten or so films per year (starting in 1895 when it all began…OK, not quite ten from those first years!) which are my favorites, and they usually tend to be films that are considered “art” films, because that is what they are to me, works of art, rather than simply examples of great entertainment. Sometimes, art and entertainment coincide, but art is a main part of the entertainment for a film connoisseur!

Both the Miami Beach Cinematheque and Cosford Cinema do a fantastic job of screening a wide array of previously released films, yet Miami does not have a theater dedicated to screening current independent films. As someone who is involved with the Miami Film Community, what is preventing a theater chain such as Landmark Theatres or an independent, entrepreneur from opening up a theater dedicated to independent cinema?
Surprise, The Miami Beach Cinematheque is becoming that very soon! MBC started as a venue mainly presenting retrospectives, but starting in May we will be officially HD in collaboration with one of the largest distributors of digital media in the world, Emerging Pictures. So we will present more first run art and independent films, as well as our regular diverse programming. Distributors have discovered that dedicated and intimate venues such as MBC are the perfect platform for the release of specialty films, and now with technology changing, the high definition results are even better than 35mm. Miami has been a particularly tough market for art and independent films (mainly due to the beach culture and weather), but that is changing. It all depends how it is presented and marketed. In Miami, MBC’s not-so-easy job is to present and promote art film as cool and fun (plus challenging and insightful) again, and we have done very well in developing audiences on a grass roots level. Now it is time to go to the next step of presenting more first run films, and soon MBC will grow to the major institution you and others are hoping for, with help from the community.

This year the Miami International Film Festival was very impressive, yet the festival does not seem to be placed in the same category as top American festivals such as Tribecca, Sundance or South by Southwest. As the festival grows and aspires for more relevance both internationally and the United States, how can the festival improve itself?
MIFF is considered a regional festival because it is mainly for the local audiences rather than for the industry selling and buying strategies. For example, there is no major film market where film rights are sold to distributors, which makes festivals like Cannes and Sundance so internationally prominent and attended. MIFF’s Director Patrick de Bokay did an excellent job at outreach this year, involving the local community and film organizations, such as the film industry oriented “REEL Seminars” at MBC. These steps are also in the direction of involving more industry influence, so if the festival develops this further, such as adding a marketplace for the Hispanic and eventually international “product”, (since Miami is “Gateway to the Americas”) then MIFF would be known as a festival on a different level. More connection to the entire film community (both local and international) is a way for the diverse Miami community to support it.

What is the goal of the Miami Beach Cinematheque and the Miami Beach Film Society?
MBC’s mission is to present, promote, preserve, and create the art of cinema (as well as its related components such as new digital media, photographic arts, and video). So with that in mind, imagine the possibilities in Miami’s new direction in appreciation for the arts! As described above, MBC’s role is becoming more prominent and respected, and eventually the “Jr. Anchor” of the Miami Beach Cultural Arts scene will become an “Anchor”. Miami needs a larger film center doing exactly what MBC does already, and with the addition of our HD projection, we are on our way in accomplishing that. So our goal is to grow into the natural role that all of your questions lean towards: The Miami Beach Cinematheque as a world class venue and institution, because South Florida needs and deserves it.

Miami has several film institutions (MIFF, the Cinematheque, UM’s Film School) that are impressive in their own right but are not as integrated as they could be. How can our film community bond together to better support independent film in Miami?
What is needed is a central base (The Miami Beach Cinematheque, with more funding, and a larger proper venue), to organize all the creative energy and provide a real platform and home for all the amazing new local and international activity. MBC already collaborates with just about every film festival in South Florida, and serves as an incubator for the new ones, but it is time to provide a full service home base for all of them to utilize.