Nick Beaulieu’s film My Omaha is at once intimate and broad in its scope. Beaulieu opens with footage of himself at the age of four. His father holds the camera and the two endearingly banter. Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, Beaulieu’s take on the world was simple and innocent. He explains though that as he grew so did his take on the increasingly complex world around him. Omaha wasn’t just a city, it was a microcosm of divided communities with the main division being race, quickly followed by political ideologies. Beaulieu explores the city around him, and in the process finds that the disturbing partition goes to the very foundation of who he is. An impressive feature documentary directorial debut that explores fundamental issues in the heart of America with honesty, self-reflection, and compassion.
A Time for Burning is a 1967 Oscar-nominated documentary about a Lutheran minister in Nebraska sets out to integrate his church in Nebraska during the civil rights movement. It is this doc that inspires young journalism student Beaulieu to look beyond his own experience to understand the racial division around him. The cameras begin to roll upon his return home to Nebraska and he first attempts to interview his Trump-supporting parents. Mom is camera shy and tight lipped. However, Randy, Beaulieu’s father, agrees to be interviewed. It is clear that Randy loves his son dearly, but their opinions teeter on contentious, with father believing his sone has been misled.
Beaulieu visits multiple town hall meetings, one of which is to discuss a recent shooting in northern Omaha. As the white population are afraid, quickly defending the police, the African-American population demands accountability and solutions. It is here that Beaulieu meets Leo Louis II. President of the board of director at the Malcom X Birthplace, Louis agrees to be interviewed and the two begin a friendship. Soon Beaulieu is invited to spend time on the northern end of town with Louis to get to the bottom of the racial division in his hometown.
My Omaha is a heartfelt and important doc that needs to be seen. Beaulieu’s approach to his subjects is one of quiet observation and respect. His goal isn’t to prove anyone right or wrong, but to understand. Through additional interviews and discussions with his father, he attempts to build a bridge of agreement. Then tragedy strikes. Beaulieu’s father Randy is diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Will the two ever reach a mutual understanding?
What I loved the most about Beaulieu’s approach was his knack for telling both the big story and the personal one. Driven by the ticking clock of his father’s condition he hopes to close the gaps that plague his Omaha, his father’s point of view, and Louis’s take on things. The questions are not easy. The answers, when they are found, are not any easier. Still, we are left with a path. At one point Louis suggests that shared experience is the only real way to close the chasm of racism in America. My Omaha leaves the viewer with heavy food for thought.
My Omaha – 7/10
