Celebrating 70 Years of the Miami-Dade Public Library System’s 16mm Film Collection

April 2026

This year, as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Library’s 16mm Film Collection, we are featuring some of its most unique films through our Digital Collections. These selections highlight Florida-focused works alongside related materials that document the filmmaking process and provide additional historical and cultural context.

Of particular significance are materials and films recently donated by filmmaker Mel Kiser. Born and raised in Miami, Kiser earned a master’s degree in Film and Television from Florida State University before relocating to Minneapolis, drawn by its active independent filmmaking community. After several years, he returned to Miami, where in 1982 he founded Southern Film, Inc. and began producing films centered on his hometown.

Featured in the Library’s collection are Down on South Beach, Calling Miami Home, A Few Things I Know About Miami, and Last Night at the S&S Diner. These works comprise the “Sense of Place” series, directed by Mel Kiser and Corky Irick. Rather than straightforward documentaries, these films are more non-fiction narrative pieces that blend observation, reflection, and storytelling.

The first film in the series, Down on South Beach (1979), was filmed during the period when Miami Beach’s Art Deco district was being considered for historic designation and captures the beach in a transition state. We see retirees sunning on the beach, local fruit stands, neon lights, and a plethora of Art Deco delights.

Next came Calling Miami Home (1984), then soon after A Few Things I Know About Miami (1986), and Last Night at the S&S Diner (1989). Writing about Kiser’s work in the Miami Herald, film critic Bill Cosford noted, “[these films] are not entirely about the past, nor things lost, nor are they entirely downbeat. The very fondness that Irick and Kiser bring to their subjects makes these films seem terribly sad, for the things the filmmakers like best about the city are the things that are slipping away. Not in recent memory has a filmmaker addressed Miami with such a sure sense of place, or with such obvious affection.”

While filming A Few Things I Know About Miami and Last Night at the S&S Diner, Kiser and his creative team were photographed as they went about their work, filming alongside moving trains, aboard boats on the Miami River, and interviewing subjects like Jimmy Barnett, former manager of the Olympia Theater.

Along with these promotional materials, included in Kiser’s donation are also the master tapes for the “Sense of Place” films, as well as two additional works directed by Kiser:  Art Pages (1986) and The Last Days of the Miami News (1992).