(Photo provided by Miami Dade College)
The acclaimed Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives at Miami Dade College (MDC) is looking back on a dangerous, violent era of Miami history — the drug war of the 1980s, during the screening of REWIND: So Miami! The Drug War, Tuesdays and Thursdays, through Nov.28, at noon-1:20 p.m.
The screenings, open free to the public, take place at MDC’s Wolfson Campus, Room 8401, 300 NE Second Ave.
“The drug war of the 1980s shaped Miami and shaped the world’s perception of Miami.
We’re still living with its implications,” said René Ramos, Archives director. “The news stories that we’re screening are a small but compelling sampling of the drug war coverage that shaped opinions of the South Florida metropolis at the time.”
Clips featured in So Miami! The Drug War include coverage of a deadly shootout at Dadeland Mall on July 11, 1979, an event generally recognized as the beginning of the Drug War; the spectacular seizure of a drug lab on Miami Beach, followed by the fiery ignition of drug processing chemicals on the beach; gritty 1986 coverage of a crack house raid reported by Katie Couric, not yet a host of The Today Show, and a review of the now-iconic film Scarface by reporter Michael Putney. (He didn’t like it.)
Events at the Wolfson Archives are presented with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.
For more information, contact the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives at 305-237-7731 or info@wolfsonarchive.org.
