Film Review: MY OMAHA
by Karen Pecota

Nick Beaulieu, USA 2025

Based in New York City, documentary filmmaker Nick Beaulieu uses his feature debut, MY OMAHA, to explore a growing racial justice movement in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Beaulieu, a graduate from journalism school, learns that his hometown has one of the highest homicide rates in America among the Black population.

Growing up in South Omaha in a mostly white community, Beaulieu isn’t aware the Black community (North Omaha) feels as though the city is “a tale of two cities.” Where is the truth?

To better understand how a city in middle American could be so diverse, Beaulieu knew that there was a story to tell here. Who better to do so than, a native Omaha kid? His challenge takes root in MY OMAHA.

Beaulieu begins to research the city’s history, and while attending an intense community meeting, he meets a young Black activist, Leo Louis II, from North Omaha. Impressed with the work Leo has been able to accomplish in the community as the people strive to own their survival with racial justice through change. Leo says, ”What changes the world is spending time together with people who are different than you.” This requires ongoing personal sacrifice!

Beaulieu recalls, “Leo challenged me to look inward as I searched for my story. He helped me realize that if I wanted to capture the tale of two cities, the best route to take was to go back home.” This would be a storyline of a road less traveled but well worth a journey Nick would embark on.

Beaulieu and his father, Randy, a conservative Christian and a Trump supporter, have always had a loving father-son relationship, but once conversations regarding the topics of Beaulieu’s film surfaced, the two were often at such odds politically that their conversations rarely ended well. For the first time in their relationship animosity builds.

Randy is diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, with only months to live. This finality opens the door for the two to reconnect. They use every opportunity to spend time together, and Randy actively participates in Nick’s filming of MY OMAHA. Randy’s lifelong desire to be a good father materialized to a depth Nick could never have imagined and is forever grateful.

Nick meets other people in his hometown who are making a difference: Robert Wagner, from project KNOSE, and a North Omaha community leader, who is a night patrol volunteer to help deter violence. Cynthia Ramirez Lindemeyer, a former pastor and military veteran, who organizes events centered around racism and white privilege in Omaha at the First United Methodist Church, to promote healing from the effects of racism and political polarization. Ghost and Sabrina RunningThunder, good friends of Randy, who he mentored while in a recovery program at a place called The Ranch, and developed a wonderful, long-standing relationship with. An Oscar nominee, Bill Jersey, producer of the 1966 film “A Time for Burning,” about racism in Omaha. Jersey’s documentary was a catalyst in Nick’s search for truth.

Jersey mentions in an interview in 2009 on a documentary channel, “We have an obligation to get to the essence of the truth.” Years later, Beaulieu asks Jersey how to reconcile his film and the relationship with his father to get to a truth, “I am trying to find the capital T truths in my film and in my life, the way you have talked about truth, where there are facts and then there are capital T truths—what’s real, what’s happening?”

Jersey says, “You are never going to find truth.” Adding, “What you will find is, in the process of pursuing truth, you become a better person. It has nothing to do with finding it, it has to do with seeking it. It’s the seekers who discover life worth living.”

Beaulieu shares, “This film is for seekers. It’s about the messy way we are all trying to coexist in these hyper-polarized times.” Adding, “It’s about a city in the heart of America that’s struggling, and the heroic, everyday people who are leading the way. MY OMAHA is a personal film. But the desire for love, reconciliation, and a better future is universal.”