Thursday, April 24

6:00 pm-10:00 pm: Reel Connections - Krug Park (6205 Maple St.)

Kick off your festival experience at this unique pre-festival mixer! Pick up your festival passes and programs and enjoy a beverage and snacks while meeting fellow festival attendees, filmmakers, and the festival crew! Plus, you’ll have an early opportunity to snag some festival merch!

The best part of a film festival isn’t just what’s on screen—it’s who you experience it with. Reel Connections is your chance to meet fellow movie lovers before the festival begins, making those theater seats feel a little less like strangers and a lot more like community. This isn’t your typical networking event. Think of it as a conversation-driven warm-up for the festival weekend, set up in a way that works for both the social butterflies and the quiet observers. You’ll move through quick, guided prompts designed to uncover shared favorites—whether it’s a director you both admire, a genre you can’t get enough of, or a film that changed the way you see the world. No pressure, just good conversation with people who get why movies matter. And the dialogue doesn’t stop here—keep the conversation going throughout the festival! Look out for Reel Connections discussion notes and meet-ups after select screenings, so you can reflect, debate, and connect beyond the credits .Pull up a seat, meet your theater neighbors, and get ready for a festival experience that’s as much about the people as it is about the films.

Free and open to the public (21+)

6:00 pm-10:00 pm: BFF Omaha Thursday Gallery Night

Check out some of the local art galleries in the Benson Creative District! Grab a map from BFF Omaha and stop by Petshop, Trudy’s, and BFF Gallery while exploring the neighborhood.

Free and open to the public (all ages)

Sunday, April 27

Please note: these films are not rated. Some films may contain sensitive and/or triggering content. Viewer discretion advised.

Benson Theatre Doors Open: 11:00 am

10:00 am-11:00 am: BFF Green Team Community Cleanup

Give back to the community and join the BFF Green Team for their Sunday morning neighborhood cleanup! Meet behind BFF Omaha’s Petshop building (2725 N 62nd St.) to join in on the fun.

free and open to the public

11:00 am-12:00 pm: Student Film Sunday

Sew Lucky (10:14)

Hannah Pedersen - Lincoln, NE

Holly is an aspiring designer who wishes to succeed in her passion but is burdened by her superstitious beliefs. Without her lucky heirloom, she fears she can't accomplish anything. Will she pull it together when it goes missing?

Solace From Beyond (8:38)

Klaudija Vitkauskaitė - LIthuania

Beatrich is a fourteen-year-old girl who’s grieving the loss of her father. When her family puts together a celebration to honor her deceased parent, Beatrich seeks the company of Rika, her old childhood dog. Escaping the house for a while, they take refuge in the dunes, enjoying what may be their last walk together.

Spectrum of Consumption (19:25)

Colleen Kelley - Lincoln, NE

Spectrum of Consumption is an observational film following a group of women hunters in Montana, and their relationship to public land, conservation, and alternatives to the industrial food complex.

Production for this film occurred on the traditional and ancestral lands of the Niitisapi People (the Black Feet Tribe) and the Séliš and Ql̓ispé and Ktunaxa People (the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes), respectively.

The Thing with Feathers (24:03)

Anja Oelofse - Wayne, NE

Feeling lost after her father's death, Sarah miraculously meets her younger self and they go on a journey of forgiveness and self-discovery.

12:00 pm-12:20 pm: Filmmaker Q&A

TBA

free with All-Access Pass or Sunday Day Pass

12:30 pm-2:00 pm: Documentary Feature

Bring Them Home (1:25:48)

Ivan MacDonald, Ivy MacDonald, Daniel Glick - Missoula, MT

Bring Them Home tells the story of a small group of Blackfoot people and their mission to establish the first wild buffalo herd on their ancestral territory since the species’ near-extinction a century ago, an act that would restore the land, re-enliven traditional culture and bring much needed healing to their community.

2:00 pm-3:00 pm: ULTRACinema

We’re excited to once again present a selection of films curated by ULTRAcinema, an experimental film festival based in Mexico. The festival is committed to the exhibition of films that usually do not find a space on traditional screens, providing a professional and respectful environment for the art of cinema.

3:00 pm-3:45 pm: Documentary Feature

Willa Cather: Breaking the Mold (46:10)

Ingrid Holmquist - Red Cloud, NE

This film chronicles Willa Cather’s pursuit of literary acclaim alongside the creation and unveiling of her statue in Washington, D.C. Using archival imagery, Cather’s own words, and observations from contemporary readers and scholars, this documentary invites viewers to revisit and reexamine Cather’s importance to American literature and encourages exploration of her life more fully through literary pilgrimage.

3:45 pm-4:05 pm: Filmmaker Q&A

TBA

free with All-Access Pass or Sunday Day Pass

4:10 pm-4:50 pm: Experimental Film Block

BOOKANIMA: Dance (7:31)

Shon Kim - Republic of Korea

BOOKANIMA, a compound word of ‘Book’ and ‘Anima’, is Experimental Animation to give new cinematic life to book. It experiments locomotion of Dance along with its stream: Ballet-Korean dance-Modern dance-Jazz dance-Aerial Silk-Tap dance-Aerobic-Disco-Break dance-Hip hop-Social dance.

You Don’t Mess with James (4:16)

Weston Auburn, Myles Hi - Flossmoor, IL

A young production assistant has a confusing day while on set.

Viscerate (9:58)

Michael Shawn Foree, John Mason Vredenburg - Omaha, NE

Experience a time warp as two creeps take their bad behavior one step too far and end up in another reality where there's only one decision to make: life or death. Viscerate breaks up traditional narrative style to create a movie that's at first disorienting, but ultimately a bloody good time.

Dazed in a Detour (4:19)

Joi Katskee - Omaha, NE

Video collage in motion.

ATLS (11:24)

Mishka Balilty - Toronto, Canada

In a dystopian future where a powerful elite class prolongs their lives by exploiting young women for their babies' organs, two women find themselves on the run from their oppressors. ATLS is a powerful exploration of love, freedom, and the inescapable shadows of a world that seeks to tear them apart.

Valley Street - Sorry Gaze (2:48)

Matthew Fuentes James - Omaha, NE

Skateboarding bunny bombs a crazy hill!

4:50 pm: Filmmaker Q&A

TBA

free with All-Access Pass or Sunday Day Pass

5:00 pm-7:00 pm: Closing Reception - Benson Brewery (6059 Maple St.)

free and open to the public