Film Streams is Omaha’s answer to the multiplex — a nonprofit cinema showing the films that never make it to the big chains: festival winners, foreign films, documentaries, and lovingly curated retrospectives. The Ruth Sokolof Theater, opened in 2007, has two screens in the North Downtown complex it shares with Saddle Creek Records.
The programming is the draw. This is where Omaha sees the Oscar contenders months before streaming, where silent films play with live accompaniment, and where the staff picks are consistently better than any algorithm. Lola’s Café, the restaurant inside, is a legit dinner-before-the-movie spot.
It’s a block from the Slowdown, which makes for a perfect evening: dinner at Lola’s, a film, then a show next door. Check the calendar — the themed series are where Film Streams really shines.