Miami Movie Machine Finds a New Home in Unexpected Places

by Amanda Levy

10/28/2019

In an unassuming park in the heart of Hialeah stands a seemingly ordinary building that is far from so. Past the surface is an intriguing communal space by the name of Goodlet Theater, and it is where the Miami Movie Machine has found it’s new home. The Miami Movie Machine is one of two theater experiences curated by the Secret Celluloid Society (or SCS for short), a mysterious network of film buffs who have been organizing underground screenings in the South Florida area since 2013. Other movie-going experiences run by the SCS include the Night Owl Theater, which can be described as film screenings for the nocturnal. You don’t have to be a film buff or cinephile to appreciate the efforts of the Secret Celluloid Society; when it comes to underground entertainment, they’re a gem.

But there is no entertainment experience as singular as that of Miami Movie Machine, the entire premise of which is to remember “Miami and South Florida’s Cinematic Past.” And on October 19, 2019, this past was honored with a screening of The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972), a quintessential Bigfoot film that vividly appeals to the “Florida Man” in all of us.

This screening followed the film’s recent restoration to its original 35mm format, and along side a few other small theaters across the country, was the first theatrical release of the film in nearly fifty years. The event’s organizer, Nayib Estefan, claimed to have spent five years trying to acquire the film reel from the director’s granddaughter; all for a screening that would take place for one night only.

Estefan introduces every film in his own highly curated, and hypnotizing way. It is this attention to detail, passion, and enormous effort, that makes the SCS cinematic experience one-of-a-kind. Projects like this remind us of the value that can only be had in shared experiences. Whether it’s in the phone- usage policies or snack bar selection, there is an undeniable degree of thoughtfulness put into everything the Miami Movie Machine has to offer. It is a rare thing to find an event in which curiosity fills the air, and attendees arrive not with expectation, but in anticipation of what awaits them behind the theater doors.