The Haunted Enzian Theatre
Located in Maitland, about 15 minutes north of downtown Orlando, the Enzian Theatre is a popular place for Orlando area movie buffs to catch a foreign flick or independent film screening. The Enzian Theatre is Central Florida’s only non-profit alternative movie theatre and the home of the Florida Film Festival. The venue is touted as one of the most laid-back and relaxing venues for a major film festival in the US.
But, despite its ordinarily cheerful atmosphere and charming appearance, the Enzian Theatre and its adjacent restaurant, Nicole St. Pierre, are often haunted by a headless ghost that only appears on certain nights of the month.
History of the Enzian Theatre
The Enzian Theatre was founded in 1985 by the Tiedtke family, an influential family from Ohio that had established itself in Central Florida. The early days of the Enzian Theatre were not too different from today, being founded as a repertory house that played around six to twelve classic films a week. They also showcased various artists and musicians, with legendary composer Phillip Glass being among the most well-known on Enzian’s lineup.
In 1989, the Enzian Theatre transitioned to art-house films. They decided to take on more risks by playing first-time independent films. The idea was a hit. Despite Orlando’s usually family-friendly and mainstream appeal, area patrons flocked to the theatre to watch one-of-a-kind indie films, and the Enzian Theatre became a trendsetting venue known not only in Central Florida but across the country.
Since 1985, the Enzian Theatre has hosted over two million people and shown over seven thousand films. Today, it entertains over 100,000 patrons annually. Due to the theatre’s popularity, two extra screens had to be added to accommodate the growing number of patrons. The Enzian has become a gathering place for the multicultural Central Florida film community, bringing fans, filmmakers, and critics together. The theatre also hosts film festivals for different ethnic groups in Central Florida and seminars on education, film literacy, and movie history.
John Tiedtke and the Tiedtke Family
The influential Tiedtke family built their wealth in Toledo, Ohio, by running a successful grocery chain called Tiedtke’s. The grocery store opened in Toledo in 1894, and by the 1930s, Tiedtke’s was a Toledo area staple. Although they had long sold the business to another family in the 1920s, the store retained the Tiedtke’s name.
They spent much of their time in Central Florida, especially after selling their grocery chain. John Tiedtke, who eventually created the Enzian Theatre, made his home in the Orlando area. John invested in farming, buying up land for sugarcane farms during the Great Depression. The land was cheap, and John became a leading farming magnate who owned acres of sugarcane, citrus, and cattle farms.
Tiedtke was also an economics professor at Rollins College, where he took up philanthropy and became a champion of the fine arts in his older years. He helped found and revitalize numerous art clubs, societies, festivals, and venues in Central Florida, including Orlando’s Bach Festival, the Florida Symphony Orchestra, the Orlando Museum of Art, the Orlando Opera, and the Festival of Orchestras.
He also helped found the United Arts of Central Florida, the Enzian Theatre, and the associated Florida Film Festival. Today, John Tiedtke’s children, Phillip and Tina Tiedtke, and Phillip’s wife, Sigrid, help keep the Enzian Theatre relevant in an area bustling with tourist attractions. John Tiedtke and his wife Sylvia both passed away in December 2004.
The Florida Film Festival at the Enzian
Established in 1991, the Florida Film Festival at the Enzian Theatre is one of the few Oscar-qualifying film festivals in the US and the only one in Florida. In just ten days, about one hundred and eighty movies are screened, many of which are produced locally in Florida. The Florida Film Festival is one of the most renowned film festivals globally, sometimes mentioned in the same context as the Cannes or Sundance. Known for being small, quaint, and personal, the festival is a place where casual movie buffs can sit and chat with directors, actors, and film critics in a chill atmosphere. Well-known actors like Christopher Walken, Emma Stone, Edward James Olmos, and Jason Lee have been spotted at the Florida Film Festival in recent years.
In addition to the Florida Film Festival, the Enzian Theatre also hosts the Florida Filmmaker Series, where six to eight locally produced films are showcased once a month. The Cultural Film Circuit, a run of five non-profit film festivals: the South Asian Film Festival, the Brouhaha Film & Video Showcase, Kidfest, the Central Florida Jewish Film Festival, and the Diversity Film Festival, is also hosted at the Enzian.
The Enzian Theatre’s Late Night Haunting
The Enzian Theatre is home to much more than film festivals. A spirit that appears only on special occasions haunts the theatre room. It appears only when the time is right, but it does so like clockwork, frightening average moviegoers and celebrities alike.
On numerous occasions, it has been reported that the disembodied head of a woman appears in the main theatre room, eternally starting at the north corner. The head then moves around the room, screaming at the top of her lungs, before disappearing into the adjacent restaurant, Nicole St. Pierre. The floating head continues to terrorize the staff, who are unlucky enough to have stayed behind on closing duty. She only appears on moonless nights at around 1:00 AM, but those who see her never forget her face.
Not much is known about the ghost or why she appears when she does. Some believe she inhabited the building long before it became the Enzian Theatre or even before Maitland was a town. Maitland was once called Fort Maitland and was used as a supply depot during the Second Seminole War. While no battles took place here, soldiers used the fort as a home base while they attempted to round up Seminole Natives. It is not unfathomable to think that this brutal practice of violence against Native Americans led to a beheading or two of a Seminole woman.
Other theories propose that her spirit is attached to the theatre because of her love for the building. Maybe she’s angered by the new tenants and longs for an era that has since ended. Either way, late-night moviegoers are continually haunted by the woman’s blood-curdling screams.
Learn More About Orlando’s Haunted History
The Enzian Theatre is a unique part of Central Florida’s culture and history, but there’s so much more to see! The Orlando area is home to several other historical haunted locations, like the infamous Greenwood Cemetery, home to Babyland, a spooky children’s graveyard. The former home of prohibition-era gangster Ma Barker, haunted by her angered spirit, is not too far off either. Though it’s known as a fun, family-friendly town, Orlando’s also full of creepy and otherworldly horrors, many of which remain unknown to the average Joe. Read about Orlando’s top ten haunted spots here and follow our blog to hear about other locations just as haunted as the Enzian Theatre.
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Sources:
https://theclio.com/entry/47734
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1998/02/22/john-tiedtke-a-cultural-icon/
