An award-winning documentary about the collapse of local journalism comes to Coral Gables Art Cinema on Sunday, Aug. 16, with a post-film Q&A featuring the director who made it just blocks away at the University of Miami.

"News Without a Newsroom," an 80-minute film by UM alumna Oana Martisca, screens at 1 p.m. at the nonprofit theater at 260 Aragon Ave. The one-time-only engagement was scheduled "as per popular demand," according to the cinema's Facebook page.

Martisca, who grew up in Romania and developed the film while pursuing her M.F.A. in documentary filmmaking at UM, traveled across the country to document what happens when local newsrooms shut down. The documentary features interviews with former Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron, former Knight Foundation president Alberto Ibargüen, longtime Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr., journalist Lizette Alvarez and Coral Gables bookseller Mitchell Kaplan, founder of Books & Books on the same Aragon Avenue block as the cinema, Gables Gazette reported.

"This film took me across the country to document what happens when local newsrooms close: the stories that go untold, the officials who go unquestioned, and the communities working to rebuild trust in an era of misinformation," Martisca wrote in a Facebook post announcing the screening.

The film is structured in three sections: "A Golden Age," "Crisis" and "Democracy," tracing journalism from the muckraking era through the digital revolution and into contemporary battles over misinformation and artificial intelligence. An early scene shows a former Miami Herald journalist returning to the vacant site where the newspaper's Biscayne Bay headquarters once stood.

What began as a short first-semester project grew into a feature-length documentary after Martisca found the subject resonated more widely than she expected. A Knight Foundation grant helped fund the expansion, with UM serving as fiscal sponsor. Part of that funding went to student musicians from UM's Frost School of Music, who composed the film's original score.

Since its April 2025 world premiere at the Miami Film Festival, the documentary has won Best Florida Film at the 40th Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, Best Feature at the Key Biscayne Film Festival and three Telly Awards, according to the cinema's screening announcement. It also screened at the Cambridge Film Festival.

Tickets are available at gablescinema.com. The screening is the only scheduled date for the film at the venue.

Upcoming community events:

• Sunday, Aug. 16: "News Without a Newsroom" screening and Q&A, 1 p.m., Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave. Tickets at gablescinema.com.
• Now through Sept. 30: Pinecrest Gardens fall lineup includes a $10,000 art prize. Details here.
• Sundays through September: Zucca's first Sunday brunch through Miami Spice. More info.