Michael Heller's 'A Phoenix Rises'

On Saturday, April 23, Sag Harbor Cinema opens “A Phoenix Rises,” a new photography exhibition by longtime resident Michael Heller, an award-winning photojournalist who documented the fire that decimated almost half of the building on 90 Main Street in 2016 and its subsequent rebuilding in the years that followed. “A Phoenix Rises” will feature 12 of Heller’s images and will be on view in the gallery area on the 2nd floor of the cinema.

Heller is the author of “A Phoenix Rises,” a 295-page book that chronicles the entire story of this chapter in Sag Harbor’s history, including a timeline of the cinema; the heroism of the volunteer firefighters who prevented its complete annihilation; and an accounting of it having been rebuilt, saved by a generous and united community.

A 32-year East Hampton Fire Department volunteer, Heller was in Sag Harbor at the time of the devastation. He created agonizingly beautiful photographs of the terrible fire of December 16, 2016, that completely destroyed the front half of the cinema. Heller then documented the rebuilding of the structure over the next three years, from its groundbreaking ceremony on June 16, 2018, to the triumphant relighting of its iconic sign on May 25, 2019, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 26, 2020.

“I feel both grateful and honored to have been given the opportunity to document both the Sag Harbor Cinema’s destruction, and the noble and heroic work done by our firefighters, and the building’s construction and renovation, and the hard and dedicated work done by each of the craftsmen involved in the project, to make it into the crown jewel of Sag Harbor that it is today,” said Heller. “Most people don’t get to see just how much care and effort went into both parts of it, and it makes me proud that I could contribute my talent to my community in a way that was both important and meaningful — something that is every photographer’s dream.”

After 33 years as a third-generation resident of the East End — five of which were spent as a resident of Sag Harbor — Heller will be relocating to Greece next month. In addition to his work as a firefighter and artist, Heller is also the photographer for the Express News Group.

“Mike Heller is such an essential part of this community that it is hard to imagine him packing up for Greece,” said April Gornik, who is chair emeritus of the Sag Harbor Cinema board. “We are proud and delighted to honor him and his great photojournalism with this show that so lovingly documents the travails and the triumphant rebuilding of the Sag Harbor Cinema, our icon, our beacon, and an enduring cultural anchor of the village.”

Copies of “A Phoenix Rises” will be on sale for $35 at Sag Harbor Cinema during the exhibition. Sag Harbor Cinema is at 90 Main Street, Sag Harbor. Visit sagharborcinema.org for details.