JORDAN LEVIN

Last month's flap over the FIU Miami Film Festival's screening of a Cuban-made film - coupled with other developments like the Latin Grammys' decision to bypass South Florida - are prompting county arts officials, community leaders and one commissioner to suggest a cultural exception to Miami-Dade's resolution forbidding ties with Cuba.

They're saying the resolution - which prohibits the county from doing business with entities that have ties to Cuba - is worded so broadly that it is impractical. When the resolution is applied to culture, the opponents say, it works against its larger goal of supporting human rights and freedom in Cuba.

"There have been a number of incidents - it reached a pinnacle with the Film Festival - and the community said we have to do something about it,'' said lobbyist Rick Sisser, chairman of Miami-Dade's Cultural Affairs Council, the commission-appointed body that oversees county arts grants.

Florida International University is among those organizations pushing to change the resolution. Top university officials met with county leaders after the Film Festival incident, in which the county rescinded nearly $50,000 in grants because the festival showed the Cuban-made film Life is to Whistle.

"We are respectful of the law and of those in the community who strongly support that law, but we hope we will be able to explore some of the unintended consequences of a rigid enforcement'' to artistic and academic freedom, said Stephen Sauls, FIU's vice president of community relations.

The latest incident came Thursday, when the commission stated that an FIU party for Latin American scholars at the county-owned Cultural Plaza would violate the resolution because Cubans might be among the guests. The county let the event proceed because of contractual obligations.

Sisser and other leaders said there is growing community support for a cultural exception, but supporters don't expect any commission action before the September election. Of eight commissioners The Herald asked for comment, two responded and said no change is likely soon.

"I'd sponsor it in a heartbeat, but I don't think it will pass right now,'' Commissioner Katy Sorenson said. ``I believe we should have cultural, educational and sports exceptions, but it's a very sensitive issue for my colleagues. I think most of the public agrees we should have these exemptions, but it's not the reality in the County Commission right now.''

"They can show it in some other city or state,'' Commissioner Bruno Barreiro said about the Cuban-made film. ``If it's something that was made with the Cuban government's resources, then that shouldn't be seen here. Not with our county resources.''

The resolution covers almost all dealings with Cuba, and several local arts organizations are afraid they may have inadvertently violated it.

Although the Film Festival didn't pay for Life Is to Whistle, the U.S. distributor conducted a financial transaction with the Spanish company that co-produced it and the film was made in Cuba, both violations of the resolution.

Last Saturday, Miami-Dade Community College's Wolfson Campus showed the film Alice in Wonder Town, a political satire that was censored on the island, part of a series of often-critical Cuban films. But because some of the prints come from Cuba, the showing could run afoul of the resolution.

Last month, the Miami Light Project hosted a filmmakers panel with a speaker from Colorado's famed Sundance Institute, which gave a $150,000 grant to Life Is to Whistle. Danny Hoch, a theater artist presented by Miami Light Project last weekend in Miami Beach, has performed in Cuba.

Miami Light gets about 10 percent of its funding from Miami-Dade, and the implications concern Executive Director Beth Boone. ``Does this mean that I have to interrogate everyone we present?'' she asked.

Some arts presenters say they are afraid to publicly challenge the resolution. ``Without question, it engenders a certain self-censorship,'' Boone said. ``It's intimidating.'' The Film Festival controversy - and concern that she could have inadvertently violated the resolution - inspired her to speak up now.

A 'RIGHT TO SUE'

Penelas said arts presenters should not be fearful. "People are allowed to criticize the county's Cuba policy without penalty,'' he said. If they are unhappy with the policy, they "have the right to sue.''

Proponents of a cultural exception argue that restricting cultural exchange subverts the resolution's purpose of promoting democracy. Life Is to Whistle was widely interpreted as critical of the Castro regime, as are a number of films in the Miami-Dade series.

"I think it's very ironic that this ordinance could result in withdrawal of a film that is critical of life in Cuba,'' said Rosa Sugranes, a member of the Cultural Affairs Council and chairwoman of the Film Festival's advisory board.

Offering any support to Cuban artists is still anathema to many exiles - and to county leaders. ``Those who criticize the Cuba policy for being purely political do not understand the feelings of many people in this community,'' Penelas said.

NOT OF ONE MIND

But "not all of the Cuban community feels this way,'' says Alvaro Fernandez, a member of the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council, which oversees arts grants from the city of Miami Beach. "We live in a county where people fear repercussion if they speak out on certain things. They're establishing the same type of system that they have in Cuba.''

Olga Garay, a Cuban American who was director of cultural affairs at Miami-Dade Community College before taking a job in New York, considered presenting famed Cuban rumba group Los Muñequitos de Matanzas at Miami-Dade in 1995. She did not, fearing loss of funding and a backlash that would overshadow her programming.

"It's strong-arm tactics that kidnap a whole community's ability to make choices about the kind of cultural activities they participate in,'' Garay said.