By Bryan Vomacka
The 2019 Omaha Film Festival was held at Aksarben Cinema from March 5-10. This is the 14th year the festival has taken place.
The Omaha Film Festival features a variety of content, from short films and feature films to Q&A sessions and creative workshops.
Program Director Marc Longbrake called planning the festival a “13 month experience,” because the directors spend over a year planning the event. He said they have already started to work on next year’s festival.
This year, they received over 1,000 entries from over 70 countries. Over the course of several months, they narrowed the field down to 107 films that were shown over the course of six days.
One of the week’s highlights was a sold out showing of “Out of Omaha” on Saturday morning. The documentary follows two twin brothers and their experiences growing up amid racial and economic inequality in Omaha. The film started late because extra chairs had to be moved into the theater to accommodate everyone in attendance.
“Independent film is important. It’s an expression of what we are, what we are doing, what our lives are. So having a film festival is a way to get those movies out there,” said Longbrake.
