With fewer independent art-house cinemas these days in Miami and increasing competition from online streaming services, O Cinema’s Co-Founder/Director Vivian Marthell is thinking beyond the traditional movie theater model to offer new, engaging ways for the public to consume art and storytelling.
Learn more about how O Cinema is pushing the boundaries with experiential art and immersive film experiences.
Enjoy a NEW cinematic virtual reality experience at O Cinema
As South Florida’s first theater to offer a permanent cinematic virtual reality experience for movie-goers and filmmakers, O Cinema invites locals to check out “This is Not a Ceremony,” which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. While wearing VR headsets, participants sit at four corners of a medicine wheel and are immersed in a documentary-style short film about two indigenous men who faced systemic racism in Canada. The stunning cinematography includes a fiery buffalo, tricksters, matriarchs and other imagery from Niitsitapi filmmaker Ahnahktsipiitaa (Colin Van Loon’s) personal experiences of the darker side of indigenous life in Canada, including the story of an indigenous elder left to die in a wheelchair in an ER waiting room. Each participant receives ceremonial tobacco as a take-home memento.
Available Saturdays and Sundays, 1-8 p.m. through April (except on Jan. 28, Feb. 18 and Mar. 18 when it’s traveling to Miami-Dade Public Libraries as part of O Cinema on the Go). $5 per person; free for members. O Cinema South Beach is located at 1130 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, 33139. For tickets, visit https://www.o-cinema.org/event/ocvr-this-is-not-a-ceremony/
Tap into your wellness and spirituality at Awake & Aware events
O Cinema is proud to present Awake & Aware, a monthly brunch, film, and experience series centered around wellness and spirituality.
Sunday, February 26 @ 11 am: If you struggle with sleep, then you’ll want to check out O Cinema’s Awake & Aware event on February 26. O Cinema will host a special brunch followed by a documentary screening of, “The Quest for Sleep,” featuring several celebrity athletes and a retired-lieutenant general whose struggles with sleep threaten to unravel their waking lives. The film also includes interviews with sleep and medical experts.
Be sure to stick around for a special meditation called Yoga Nidra (which literally means yogic sleep) taught by Anamargaret Sanchez, who is one of Miami’s most sought-after yoga teachers and the founder of the popular Legion Park Community Yoga. Yoga Nidra is an ancient technique that helps to bring enthusiasts to a state of deep sleep where all senses, intellect and the mind relaxes.
Sunday, March 26 @ 11 am: O Cinema features the film, “ Walk with Me,” a tribute to Thích Nhất Hạnh, a Vietnamese Thiền Buddhist monk and global spiritual leader who was considered the father of mindfulness. Participants can indulge in a vegan brunch and special herbal tea, watch the film, meet the filmmaker and listen to a post-screening Q&A, plus participate in a walking meditation.
Tickets for Awake & Aware range from $20-$27 with brunch and $10-$12 without brunch. Purchase tickets at https://www.o-cinema.org/awake-and-aware/.