MISSION
Film Streams’ mission is to enhance the cultural environment of the Omaha-Council Bluffs area through the presentation and discussion of film as an art form.
HISTORY
Almost every American has a relationship with cinema, a familiarity for the theater atmosphere, an appreciation for ideas springing to life on the big screen. Perhaps more than any other medium, film holds the ability to bring both art and entertainment to the greatest number of people. But, unfortunately, commercial appeal frequently determines which ideas make it to the screen. Profitability replaces quality. Receipts supplant artistic vision. And still, the business end stifles neither the will nor the creativity that moves filmmakers worldwide to produce groundbreaking works. Inspired in their own ways by the medium, they continue to make outstanding films, hopeful that their work will be seen by audiences far and wide. That’s where we play our part.
Though Film Streams was founded in 2005, our story actually begins a few years before. An Omaha native, Film Streams Founder/Director Rachel Jacobson first conceived the idea for a nonprofit film center in her hometown while finishing up her undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois. Determined to make it a reality, Rachel moved to New York to pursue career opportunities in nonprofit arts administration that would later assist her in building an organization of her own. During her five years in New York, she continued to pursue her love of film through the city’s nonprofit and arts cinemas.
Aware of Rachel’s vision for a nonprofit cinema in Omaha, Saddle Creek heads Jason Kulbel and Robb Nansel approached her in January 2005 about building the idea into a downtown development they were planning. Within five months, Rachel was back in Omaha, and her father, Kutak Rock LLP managing partner David Jacobson, signed on as board chair. With the pro-bono legal help of Kutak Rock, Rachel secured Film Streams’ nonprofit status, built a committed Board of Directors and Advisory Board, and initiated a capital campaign to equip and outfit the theater and cover all start-up costs for the organization.
On January 13, 2006, Film Streams hosted its first screening: Preston Sturges’ classic romantic comedy, THE LADY EVE. The beginning of our ten-film series at Joslyn Art Museum, the movie was followed by a diverse grouping of classic and contemporary selections, including BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, RASHOMON, THE PASSENGER, IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL, DOWN BY LAW, and TSOTSI, the 2006 Academy Award-winner for Best Foreign Language Film.
In July 2006, Film Streams partnered with the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts to present a free matinee screening of two landmark surrealist films: Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s UN CHIEN ANDALOU and L'ÂGE D'OR. In October, we collaborated with Saddle Creek Records artist Orenda Fink to present a fundraising concert featuring imagery from the experimental films of Maya Deren.
This Summer, we will open the Ruth Sokolof Theater at the corner of 14th and Webster in downtown Omaha. Our two-screen cinema is named in recognition of a generous gift by the Sokolof Foundation to the Film Streams Capital Campaign. As one of our earliest supporters, the Sokolof Foundation has had an invaluable impact on the development of our organization and downtown cinema project. (To find out more about Ruth Sokolof, click
here).
Film Streams’ programming at the Ruth Sokolof Theater will feature first-run films – new independents, documentaries, and foreign films making their theatrical premiere in the area – and repertory selections representing the diverse history of cinema. In addition to screening films seven-days-a-week, we will host a variety of special events, including lectures, forums, Q&A sessions with film professionals, partnerships with other community groups on film-based events, and special screenings for area filmmakers.
While it’s too early to determine our initial first-run film, our repertory programming will begin this summer with a month-long series curated by Academy Award-winner and Film Streams Board Member Alexander Payne.
