Omaha Film Festival

Overview

The Omaha Film Festival (OFF) is a week-long independent film festival held annually at Aksarben Cinema in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 2005 by three local filmmakers, OFF screens an average of 100 films selected from close to 1,000 annual submissions from around the world. The 22nd annual edition is scheduled for March 9-14, 2027, with the 2026 edition having run March 10-15, 2026.

The festival programs narrative features, documentaries, short films, animated shorts, and a dedicated Nebraska-made film section. It also runs a screenplay competition with separate categories for feature screenplays, teleplays, and short screenplays. Named one of MovieMaker Magazine's "50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" for 2026, OFF is a nonprofit operation funded through ticket sales, sponsorships, and grants, with every dollar going back into the operating budget.

For filmmakers in the Great Plains region, OFF is the primary platform for independent cinema. Omaha's population of roughly 500,000 supports a growing arts infrastructure that includes Film Streams, a nonprofit arthouse cinema founded in 2007, and a creative community that has produced filmmakers like Alexander Payne (Nebraska, Election, Sideways), Oscar-winning editor Mike Hill (Apollo 13), and Oscar-winning cinematographer Mauro Fiore (Avatar).

Submission Details

All submissions go through FilmFreeway. The festival accepts films and screenplays across multiple categories. Submission fees for the 2027 edition (22nd annual):

Feature and Documentary Films:

• Early Deadline (July 6, 2026): $40
• Regular Deadline (September 7, 2026): $50
• Late Deadline (November 9, 2026): $60

Short Films:

• Early Deadline (July 6, 2026): $30
• Regular Deadline (September 7, 2026): $40
• Late Deadline (November 9, 2026): $50

Feature Screenplays and Teleplays:

• Early Deadline (July 6, 2026): $35
• Regular Deadline (September 7, 2026): $45
• Late Deadline (November 9, 2026): $55

Short Screenplays:

• Early Deadline (July 6, 2026): $25
• Regular Deadline (September 7, 2026): $35
• Late Deadline (November 9, 2026): $45

Filmmakers are notified of acceptance by approximately early February. The festival charges no additional student fee tier for film submissions, but student shorts require a copy of a current student ID at the time of entry.

Key Sections

• Narrative Features - independent American and international narrative feature films
• Documentary Features - nonfiction feature films
• Short Films - competitive short film programs (max 25 minutes including credits)
• Animated Shorts - competitive animated short film programs
• Nebraska-Made Films - films by Nebraska residents or productions shot primarily in Nebraska, with separate narrative, documentary, and animated subcategories
• Screenplay Competition - feature screenplays, teleplays, and short screenplays judged in a separate competition track

Awards

The festival presents jury awards and audience choice awards. Award categories from the 2026 edition include:

• Best Feature Film - jury prize (2026 winner: Bonding by Victoria Trofimenko)
• Best Documentary - jury prize (2026 winner: Uvalde Mom by Anayansi Prado)
• Best Short Film - jury prize (2026 winner: Ado by Sam Henderson)
• Best Animated Short Film - jury prize (2026 winner: 113 Words for You Today by Bo Qing Tang, Xiao Lan Zeng)
• Best Nebraska Short Film - three subcategories sponsored by UNO College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media:

- Best Nebraska Short Film - Documentary (2026 winner: Healing Ribbons, One Stitch at a Time by Margaux Towne)

- Best Nebraska Short Film - Animated (2026 winner: Bunny and Bear by Christine Burright, Matt Geiler)

- Best Nebraska Short Film - Narrative (2026 winner: Patina by Jake Hull)

• Ian Snyder Award - recognizing individual contribution (2026 winner: Cody Jones)
• Audience Choice Awards - three categories:

- Audience Choice Short Film (2026 winner: Chapter 21 by Katie Stoneburner, Ellen Burling)

- Audience Choice Documentary (2026 winner: Magic and Monsters by Norah Shapiro)

- Audience Choice Narrative Feature Film (2026 winner: Magic Hour by Jacqueline Christy)

Screenplay Competition Awards:

• Best Feature Screenplay (2026 winner: The Pale Ones by Sara Caldwell)
• Best Teleplay (2026 winner: The Back End by Daniel Gessner and Kyle Campbell)
• Best Short Screenplay (2026 winner: Mistakes by John McGuigan)

The festival does not publish specific cash prize amounts for these awards as of July 2026. Filmmakers should check the official festival website for current prize information.

Eligibility and Rules

Key submission rules based on the official entry form:

• Films cannot have had a public screening in Nebraska prior to the festival (collegiate screenings and touring Academy screenings excepted)
• Films cannot be viewable in their entirety online (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook) before the festival screening; trailers and clips are acceptable
• All non-English films must have English language subtitles
• Short films must be 25 minutes or less, including credits
• Films must have been completed after August 1 of the year two prior to the festival (for the 2026 edition, after August 1, 2024)
• Submissions must be password-protected online screeners
• Exhibition format: DCP (filmmakers must send DCPs prepaid; return requests must include prepaid packaging)
• Each entry requires a separate submission with form and payment
• Entry fees are payable to "Omaha Film Festival" by check or money order; international fees must be in US funds; no cash

Nebraska Short Film eligibility: To qualify for the Nebraska Short Film category, the filmmaker must be a Nebraska resident or the film must have been shot primarily in Nebraska.

Festival History

The Omaha Film Festival was born in 2005 when three film-loving 20-somethings, Marc Longbrake, Jeremy Decker, and Jason Levering, drove back from a small regional film festival in Kearney, Nebraska, and asked themselves why Omaha did not have its own film festival. At the time, Omaha had virtually no independent cinema infrastructure. Film Streams, the city's nonprofit arthouse cinema, was still two years from opening.

The three founders launched OFF as a way to bring independent filmmaking to the Omaha community. The first call for entries went out in fall 2005, and international filmmakers responded immediately. The festival bounced around venues in its early years before landing at Aksarben Cinema as its partner venue in 2019, where it has remained.

The founders split roles: Longbrake as program director, Levering as executive director, and Decker as festival director. In 2020, after 15 years, Levering and Decker stepped away. The festival considered shutting down, but Longbrake continued as program director and carried it forward. The organization has finished in the black every year since its inaugural loss, operating as a true nonprofit with funding from ticket sales, sponsorships, and grants.

In 2005, when OFF launched, there were approximately 1,200 recognized film festivals worldwide. Today, there are over 12,000. OFF has been named to MovieMaker Magazine's "50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" list multiple times, including for 2026.

Venue Information

All festival screenings and the Writers Theatre program take place at:

• Aksarben Cinema - 2110 S 67th St, Omaha, NE 68106

Aksarben Cinema is a multiplex with multiple screens used for festival programming, allowing simultaneous screenings across different auditoriums. The venue is in the Aksarben Village development, a mixed-use neighborhood with restaurants and parking within walking distance.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For Nebraska filmmakers: The Nebraska-Made Film section is the primary state-level competitive platform for Nebraska-based work. The three subcategories (narrative, documentary, animated) mean more Nebraska films get programmed than would in a single catch-all category. The UNO College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media sponsors the Nebraska Short Film awards.

For screenplay writers: OFF runs a full screenplay competition alongside its film program, which is unusual for a festival at this scale. The competition accepts feature screenplays, teleplays, and short screenplays, with separate judging and awards. If you are a writer looking for festival recognition without a finished film, this is one of the more affordable screenplay competitions at $25-$55 across deadlines.

Submission volume and acceptance rate: The festival receives close to 1,000 annual submissions and screens approximately 100 films. That is roughly a 10% acceptance rate, making OFF moderately competitive. It is not as selective as top-tier festivals (Sundance accepts roughly 1% of submissions), but it is more selective than many small regional festivals.

No premiere requirement: The festival does not require a world, national, or regional premiere for acceptance, but films cannot have screened publicly in Nebraska before the festival. This means films that have played at other festivals outside Nebraska remain eligible.

No film market: OFF does not have an attached film market or industry marketplace. It is a screening and audience festival with filmmaker Q&A sessions after screenings. Filmmakers should not expect sales agents or distribution executives in regular attendance.

Not Academy Award qualifying: OFF is not currently an Academy Award qualifying festival. Filmmakers pursuing Oscar qualification should verify qualifying status on the Academy's official list.

Travel and lodging: The festival does not pay travel or lodging expenses for selected filmmakers. Filmmakers attending in person are responsible for their own arrangements. Omaha's cost of living is below the national average, with hotel rates typically lower than comparable coastal cities.

See Also

For Midwest festivals, see Film Festival Strategy. For festival submission budgeting, use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator. For independent filmmaking, see Independent Filmmaking Strategies. For screenplay development, see Screenwriting Tools.