Four short films — each exploring one unique facet of the state — will be screened at Shirley's during "Last Call Cinema: A Love Letter to South Florida Subcultures." A brief Q&A will follow the showings. A screening set for 7 p.m. quickly sold out, leading organizers to add a second screening for 9 p.m. That showing is now sold out, too.
"When you tell your friends, 'Hey, come to a bar to watch my short,' it tends to be a little bit more fun, maybe, than going into a movie theater," Solange tells New Times.
But she expects the subject matter will also be a strong pull. Two of the four documentaries set to screen at Gramps revolve around other famous Miami bars. Test of Time: Mac's Club Deuce profiles the oldest bar still open on Miami Beach — it's the first episode in a miniseries about longstanding Florida institutions. Churchill's, meanwhile, memorializes the now-closed bar in Little Haiti, the epicenter of much of Miami's rock music history.
"People are excited to see these films because it's something they feel an immediate connection to, because maybe they went to Churchill's, or they went to the Deuce," Solange says.
The short film Churchill's tells the story of the shuttered punk bar in Little Haiti.
Photo by Alexander Oliva
"I was really excited to learn this screening would be held at Gramps," he says. "I'm so accustomed to festival screenings taking place in theaters and auditoriums, but this honestly feels like the perfect venue to screen a documentary about a punk rock institution. It brings an added layer of authenticity to the film."
The other two films rounding out the block, Dear Florida and Keep On Rollin', are a love letter to the Sunshine State and an examination of the "boogie van" subculture that's endured since the '70s, respectively. Pete Russell, director of the latter, says the documentary was born out of a "chance encounter" with its protagonist at a Miami dive. Consequently, Gramps felt like the perfect backdrop for a showing of that film, too.
Julian Alicea, creator of the Mac's Club Deuce episode of Test of Time, says the event also provides Miami creatives a valuable opportunity to meet face-to-face.
"I hope to meet fellow Miami filmmakers and film enthusiasts who are interested in growing and building on the current state of the Miami creative scene," he says, adding these events can help "further push the boundaries of what's possible to accomplish for our city."
Ultimately, according to both organizers and participants, these screenings seek to spotlight the people and places that give our corner of the state so much of its personality — the weird, the wacky, and the wonderful.
"It's so strange that you move back home because you missed all the things that made you leave in the first place," says David Hamzik, director of Dear Florida. "You come back with an appreciation of where you're from. It opens your eyes to all the other interesting things that went over your head when you were younger, looking outward."
A Love Letter to South Florida's Subcultures: Doc Shorts. 7 and 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-699-2669. Tickets cost $12 via eventbrite.com.
