Opening Soon
From the Omaha City Weekly
By Michael Joe Krainak

It?s official. Film Streams is coming to Omaha this summer at the new Ruth Sokolof Theater. The non-profit organization, devoted to programming film as an art form, revealed yesterday that the first title to go on the marquee of its new theater in NoDo at 1340 Webster St. will be its name. Rachel Jacobson, Film Streams founder/director, made the announcement Tuesday at a press conference at the Omaha Chamber of Commerce and said that the event was about more than just naming a theater.

?It is also about recognizing the Sokolof Foundation, an earlier supporter of our capital campaign to bring films to Omaha that we generally miss out on,? Jacobson said. ?Its impact on our organization has been invaluable.? The theater name honors the memory of Sokolof family member Ruth who was a long-time Omaha teacher and wife of the late Phil Sokolof, benefactor and founder of the National Heart Savers Association. ?We are honored to have Film Streams associated with someone who was as giving and caring and enthusiastic about the arts as Ruth Sokolof,? she added.

Jacobson?s remarks came after being introduced by Steve Seline, communications director of the OCC executive board, as ?a credit to young people in our community? whose Film Streams project he called ?a true hallmark of our cultural movement in Omaha particularly as we focus on the north downtown area.? The Ruth Sokolof Theater, the first of its kind in Omaha, is currently under construction within the Saddle Creek Records development at 14th and Webster streets and is scheduled to open in July 2007. It will feature two screening venues with 35mm and reel-to-reel projections in both. The theater will also boast a high definition satellite projection system made possible by a gift from Fred Simon and Richard Holland.

?It?s about to happen,? Jacobson said, barely able to contain her excitement as she repeated Film Streams commitment to independent, documentary and foreign films making their Omaha premiere as well as repertory selections representing the history of cinema. The theater will also host lectures, forums community film events, special screenings for area filmmakers and beginning in 2008, an education program for high schools. Film Streams has already announced that Omaha?s own Alexander Payne, a critically acclaimed indie filmmaker, will curate the first repertory program made up of a dozen or so of his favorite films.

Speaking on behalf of the Sokolof Foundation, Karen and Mark Javitch, Ruth?s daughter and grandson, shared Jacobson?s enthusiasm as they expressed their appreciation. ?Two years ago, it was just an idea. Now, we are only three months away from opening,? Mark said. ?Ruth would be very happy with this project. She was a real film buff at an early age watching movie after movie every Saturday afternoon at the Roseland Theater in South Omaha.?

Ruth Sokolof joins a litany of other prominent individuals in this area who have lent their family names to programs, events and theaters that feature the fine, performing and visual arts: Joslyn Art Museum, the Fonda-McGuire Program at the Omaha Community Playhouse, the Holland Performing Arts Center, the John Beasley Theater and Workshop, the Rose Theater, Love?s Jazz & Art Center, the Durham Western Heritage Museum and the Sheldon Art Gallery and the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln.

Ruth Sokolof (1925-82) was an educator, devoting much of her career to helping children with disabilities. Sokolof began as a nursery school teacher at Beth El Synagogue and later helped establish a pre-school for visually impaired students which later became part of Omaha?s J. P. Lord School. Despite a 30-year battle with cancer and 15 surgeries, she taught for many years. Her daughter Karen continued her mom?s legacy by also teaching blind students in Omaha.

She believes her mom would be extremely pleased with her name on the marquee as well as Jacobson?s dedication and hard work in creating the theater that bears her name. ?We are just proud to have our name associated with it.?