George Zimmerman vs. Coral Gables mayor? Canceled movie screening sets off uproar
Coral Gables Art Cinema has canceled a Thursday afternoon screening of a new film documentary from George Zimmerman’s perspective on the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
The art house on Aragon Avenue had rented its space to a private party that on Wednesday announced it had intended to hold a news conference and screening of the film. Advertised as attending: Zimmerman, his attorney Larry Klayman, and Joel Gilbert, the director of “The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America.“
On Wednesday, Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer acquitted of homicide charges in the 2012 fatal shooting of an unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, announced he was suing Martin’s family, prosecutors and others involved in the case he claims rested on false evidence, according to a copy of the suit sent to the media Wednesday.
Zimmerman is represented by Larry Klayman, a high-profile legal crusader tied to conservative causes and the founder of Judicial Watch before splitting with the activist group.
The art cinema tweeted its reasons for canceling. “Coral Gables Art Cinema was not aware of all of the details surrounding this event and has made a decision to cancel it.”
The tweet, however, has caused confusion — and angry back-and-forths — on social media. Some have blasted the independent movie theater for booking the film — and, worse, for booking it without being aware of its content and only afterward canceling it a day before it was to show.
But that was not what the theater did, said Coral Gables Art Cinema’s Co-Executive Director Brenda Moe.
“The Trayvon Hoax” was a private screening. Tickets were not sold for a showing at the venue.
“This was not a cancellation of a film. This was a cancellation of a private event,” Moe said. “This was a private rental and we were contacted by a private party wanting to rent the cinema. And then a press release was put out by the party and the moment we read that we said we were not aware of the details and canceled the rental.”
Nonprofits like Coral Gables Art Cinema and other theaters often rent out their venues to individuals or school groups or houses of worship to make operating income when the theaters would otherwise be dark.
This was the case for “The Trayvon Hoax,” Moe said.
She added that a full refund was given to the group that booked the venue. The rental fee at Coral Gables Art Cinema is generally $200 an hour with a two-hour minimum. She did not specify that that is what Klayman or Gilbert or his company, Highway 61 Entertainment, paid.
Klayman, who is representing Zimmerman and the filmmaker, however, told the Miami Herald he believed Coral Gables’ Mayor Raúl Valdés-Fauli was behind the cancellation.
“The mayor of Coral Gables apparently personally intervened,” Klayman said. “This was a private event and he had no right to do that and his sorry derriere will be sued if he doesn’t reverse this and put it back in place. This is a violation of constitutional rights and we don’t know what he is afraid of.”
Raúl Valdés-Fauli was at a private luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel Wednesday afternoon honoring writer Mario Vargas Llosa when he heard through a Miami Herald reporter of Klayman’s allegations.
“We just spoke to the mayor who is at a luncheon and he is confirming that he has nothing to do with this event or any cancellation,” said Coral Gables Public Affairs Manager Maria Rosa Higgins Fallon. “The city of Coral Gables has no control over the Art Cinema’s programming.”
Gilbert told the Herald his group had spent about $975 to rent the theater and were now trying to arrange an alternate location. He shared an email he sent to Coe that read, in part:
“I am shocked and disappointed to hear of the cancellation of the signed and paid contract for renting your venue tomorrow. My company has gone to substantial effort to organize and arrange to come from California, as well as advertise this event, arrange security, and invite guests. We were never requested for content approval for this event, nor asked for a movie to review, nor told the content was subject to approval, only to come test the Blu-ray for a few minutes when I was in town.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 3:29 PM.
