Inside the 21st Annual Omaha Film Festival

March 6th, 2026

At Aksarben Cinema, Hall 8 sits in that familiar pre-show stillness. The seats are empty. The screen glows softly. And at the front of the room, Mark Longbrake is focused on something most audiences never think about.

As executive director of the Omaha Film Festival, Longbrake is checking audio levels, testing digital files, adjusting screen positioning. Each of the 104 films selected for this year’s festival must be tested in the space where it will actually screen. There is no substitute for seeing and hearing it in the room.

“We don’t want a film to just come in and cross our fingers and hope it shows up on the screen. We want to make sure that we are testing that, to make sure that it all works.”

That attention to detail is part of what defines the festival, now in its 21st year. And while the public experience runs March 10 through 15, the work behind it spans far longer.

“We’ve been working on the festival — the planning of this year’s event — for an entire year.”

Twenty-four judges spend months reviewing submissions. In January, the programming team gathers to finalize selections. This year’s lineup reflects both national reach and local connection.

Opening night features Billy Knight, described as a love letter to cinema. The Nebraska Spotlight section includes Composing Kaneko, documenting a collaboration between the Omaha Symphony and artists June and Ray Kaneko. Composer and musicians are expected to attend, bringing the creative process full circle.

The program also includes a drama-horror film from a University of Nebraska at Omaha screenwriting professor and an encore presentation of The Roseman of Omaha, which sold out twice during last year’s festival.

Beyond the screenings, education remains central to the festival’s mission. The Offutt Academy, now in its eleventh year, invites high school students into the filmmaking process. This year, students will go further than observation, creating a short film in just two days with working filmmakers serving as mentors.

“You’ll get an email from someone who went through our Off Academy ten years ago — and they were a high school student, and they didn’t really have a career path. They came to our two-day student Off Academy, and now they’ve been in the film industry for ten years. They’re actually working in LA at a studio, producing movies.”

For audiences, the draw of a film festival is different from a standard movie night. After each screening, filmmakers take the stage for question and answer sessions. At evening gatherings, directors and actors mingle with viewers. The distance between audience and artist narrows.

“I’ve always been a nerd for the DVD extras — like, well, how did they do that? So that’s it. It’s DVD extras live, right in front of you.”

Saturday’s Writers Theater adds another dimension, with professional actors performing excerpts from competition screenplays, offering audiences a glimpse into stories still in development.

For 21 years, the Omaha Film Festival has been about more than watching films. It is about conversation, collaboration, and the careful work that ensures every story appears exactly as its creator intended.

The 21st Annual Omaha Film Festival runs March 10 through 15 at Aksarben Cinema. The full schedule and ticket information are available at omahafilmfestival.org.

From the KVNO Arts Desk, I’m Gabriel Escalera.