OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — 3 News Now reporter Jill Lamkins sits down with the festival executive director and a local filmmaker to talk about the legacy this event has left on the community.
- Executive director Marc Longbrake talks about the teamwork it's taken to get the festival to the level it is at now.
- Omaha filmmaker David Weiss talks about his new documentary The Roseman of Omaha and what it means to premier it here in his hometown.
- The film festival runs until this Sunday. For a look at ticket pricing and the schedule, you can visit the Omaha Film Festival's webpage here.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I’m here at the Aksarben Theater where the 20th annual Omaha Film Festival is kicking off today.
This year 96 films including 69 shorts from 17 countries will be screened including films made by Nebraska natives
I'm joined now by Mark Longbrake, the executive director of the Omaha Film Festival. Mark, thanks for joining me.
Hey, glad to be here.
All right, well, I wanted to start. This is the 20th year. It's a big year for you guys.
Crazy right?
Yeah, tell me about what this means for all the people who have helped make OFF what it is.
You know when you're climbing a mountain, you don't really look at the top of the mountain because you know like there's no way, right? So you just take the steps that are right in front of you.
So, for 20 years we've just been taking the steps that are right in front of us. We've been surrounded by an amazing group of like, our leadership team and our board members and then the community. Everyone's been so supportive and without all of that, obviously you know we wouldn't be here.
Omaha Film Festival, you guys have built a reputation for yourself.
I think so, yeah, it's, it's interesting to hear that feedback from filmmakers from our, from out of the out of the state, out of the country, so yeah, we're honored that we're in this position to be able to provide that opportunity for everybody.
And I know, you know, not only do you guys have international films showing but films from filmmakers right here in Nebraska.
Yeah, we love that. So, anything that's being made locally, we want to showcase it we wanna highlight it and we wanna, you know, we wanna build those filmmakers up and push them out into the world.
Well, I think those are all my questions for you, Mark, unless you had anything else you wanted to.
Yeah, no, we're excited. Year 20. We're here at Aksarben Cinema, which is a beautiful space. It's locally owned. It's an amazing space and, have a good time with us.
Alright, thank you, Mark.
Alright, thanks.
Coming up — Among the 96 films screening, some of those come from filmmakers native to Nebraska. I’m talking to filmmaker David Weiss about his documentary the Roseman of Omaha and about the impact the Omaha Film Festival has had on him.
I’m Jill Lamkins here at the Aksarben Theater where the 20th annual Omaha Film Festival is kicking off today.
Throughout the week, films from all over the world, including ones from right here in Nebraska, will be showcased with some being for the first time to audiences.
I'm joined now by David Weiss, the filmmaker of the Roseman of Omaha. David, thanks for joining me.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Well, tell me about your film.
OK, so Dean Battiato is the Roseman and I would see him downtown quite a bit. I always thought this guy just looks really upset all the time. I had my judgment, right? And so that's what the premise of the film is like, it's a fascinating story of this man who really has been through a lot. And the story ends up leading towards a guy who sells love can't find love.
But at the end of the day there is hope, right? And, I think it's a beautiful film. I hope people enjoy it.
Yeah, that's amazing. And you're from Omaha yourself, right?
Yeah, I grew up in Denison, Iowa. I was born in Omaha. I grew up in Denison, Iowa, and went to University of Nebraska at Lincoln and also Metro, too.
That's awesome. And so is this the premiere of the show?
Yes, it will be the premiere, yeah. We sold out Thursday night and then people were buying all access passes to get in and so they added another screening on Saturday, as well.
That's great. Can you tell me what time those screenings are?
Yeah, so, well, Thursday's sold out. That'll be at 5:50, Thursday night. But then on Saturday it'll be at noon.
Oh, great. And then I wanted to ask you too, you know, being from or living here in Omaha and having the Omaha Film Festival, what is that like to be able to present your documentary for the first time or just to share it here with the community.
The Omaha Film Festival really kind of changed my career because to be truthful, I've had films in here for quite a few years and I learned so much from being around other filmmakers to be truthful.
That's amazing.
I encourage, you know, whether you come to see the Roseman or any other film, I, I encourage everybody in the community to come out and support the film festival.
All right, thank you David.
Yeah, thank you.
The film festival runs until this Sunday. For a look at ticket pricing and the schedule, you can visit the Omaha Film Festival's webpage here.
