The Benson Film Festival unites filmmakers, artists, businesses, and audiences to create an immersive celebration of culture, connection, and community in the heart of the Benson Creative District.

Through local partnerships and curated programming, we foster meaningful connections and community engagement, strengthening the creative and economic vitality of the neighborhood.

Simply put: we love film, art, and community and we want to share it with you.

Awards & Prizes

Awards are presented for the following categories:

-Benson's Best
-Best Local Film
-Best Narrative Film
-Best Documentary
-Best Animated Film
-Best Music Video
-Best Experimental / Art Film
-Best Student Film

Rules & Terms

Please ensure your project matches the appropriate submission category, as this will be used to determine programming blocks and screening schedules for the festival. For questions regarding categories, please contact us directly. Please include filmmaker(s) name and location.

Films will be judged by our selection committee composed of local artists, film enthusiasts, and community supporters.
20 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Raymond Reiss

    BENSON FILM FESTIVAL is great….wonderful people from the directors….their staff….bartenders….and a great great security guard named Jay….who probably thinks I wasn’t sincere about staying in touch with him and his girl friend….I lost your information…please get in touch…and I might add the choice in films were quite good. I did not miss any showings….free popcorn…..even bought us some pizza.
    Thanks, Raymond J Reiss

    May 2026
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  • Tim Abou-Nasr

    Benson Film Festival is such an exciting addition to the Omaha film scene. We were so honored to be a part of the festival, and so impressed with the quality of the films curated by the programmers. Benson is one of the coolest parts of Omaha, and this festival adds so much to the growing arts scene. Looking forward to many more years of attending BFF!

    May 2026
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  • Jolee Mallmann

    Even though I wasn’t able to attend this festival due to working another film festival… I had an amazing experience with Benson Film Fest! This team has great communication, I loved the other films I saw featured in this festival and I think they had a lot of filmmaker focused events and resources associated with the festival that kept things really fun. I’ll make sure I can attend soon in person!

    May 2026
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  • Rachel Williamson

    2026 was my first year attending BFF and I LOVED it! Beautiful venue with a sound system that totally rocks. It is easy to see the amount of care that the festival runners put into the weekend. Every single block of films was fantastic and well curated. Every Q&A, they came prepared with notes for all the filmmakers and asked unique, insightful questions. I really appreciated that they blocked out a little bit of free time during the day so filmmakers could explore the awesome Benson arts district. I never really care about merch at festivals, but theirs was so well designed and printed on such high quality crewnecks, totes, hats, etc that I can now rock a full BFF outfit. After parties were always a super short walk from the theatre and the organizers set up live music from local artists for us to enjoy. I had such a great time getting to know the locals and out of towners! Thank you BFF and we will be back for more!!!

    May 2026
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  • Austin Cole

    Couldn’t say better things about this festival. Wonderful films, wonderful community. Truly honored to have been able to be a part of it!

    May 2026
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