Omaha

(Photo : Alexander Payne)

Alexander Payne recently wrapped up filming his latest movie, The Holdovers, in Boston. Now that he's editing the film, he prefers to divide his time between Los Angeles and his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, to be closer to his 99-year-old mother, Peggy. "Life is fine," says the two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker, whose family has lived in Nebraska for over a hundred years. While many moviemakers seem to prefer the hustle and bustle of Hollywood, that's not the case with Payne, who considers Omaha an ever-growing oasis of culture in the Midwest. "It's become one of those little best-kept secret cities. I hear it consistently both from people who visit, and from transplants," he says. 

According to Payne, Omaha is "a really groovy provincial city with a lot of groovy things going on. Young people - who in my day couldn't wait to leave -- now love it." In his experience, people may not want to move to Omaha, but once there, they don't want to leave because it is "a smaller, cheaper city with good restaurants, good music, and affordable houses." Omaha placed eighth in USA Today's list of the nation's 50 largest cities in Fortune 500 companies and billionaires per capita. "There is a lot of money in Omaha," says Payne. "And individuals and corporations love to invest locally."

What Are the Filmmaker's Favorite Aspects of Omaha?

While in Omaha, Alexander Payne enjoys exploring the city's extensive park system, which was designed by a disciple of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City and the Minneapolis park system. "Then an associate of his came down and designed Omaha's park system," says Payne. "Omaha also has one of the best zoos in the United States. The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium is world-class."

According to Payne, the variety of eateries are top-notch, too. "For such a meat-and-potatoes town in a red state, we actually have a nice array of ethnic cuisine. Different regions of Thailand are represented as well as a lot of Indian, Korean, and Chinese restaurants," he says. "There are also, at long last, three excellent sushi restaurants." The Nebraska director promises that the sushi in the only triple-landlocked state in the country is just as fresh and delicious as anything you'd get on the West Coast. 

Omaha is an excellent example of the United States being a melting pot of cultural differences. According to Payne, there is a significant Latino presence, as well as Somalians, Sudanese, and West Africans. "You now see Africans walking around town in native garb, which lends a lot of beauty to this traditionally vanilla place," he says. "We're getting there, slowly but surely. Omaha's always at least 10 years behind cooler towns, but we get there."

Alexander Payne Talks Growing Up in Omaha During the 1970s

Growing up, Payne was a good student who went to both public and private schools. "One unusual thing that happened in my youth: I was in a public junior high school, and I was supposed to go to a public high school, the same one where my father and older brothers had attended, but a tornado ripped the whole roof off my junior high school. That was eighth grade. Ninth grade was still junior high."

Since his school had been severely damaged, his mother suggested he attend an all-boys Jesuit high school. "I said no," shares Payne. "There was no way I was going to go.  Was she out of her mind? She said, 'Just go for a year, and then you can go to your public school.'" So he went. "And then I fell in love with it and stayed at the Jesuit high school," he says. "I'm very grateful for that experience."

Growing up, Payne considered himself to be the odd bird out. "I was into jazz-rock fusion. In the late 1970s, I saw Weather Report, Maynard Ferguson, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock when all of them came through Omaha," he says. "But at the same time, my buddies would see rock concerts. I remember seeing Santana, Fleetwood Mac, and Parliament-Funkadelic. Saw a lot of music as a kid."

Making Movies in the Midwest

One of Alexander Payne's dream projects is to someday make a Spanish film in Nebraska. "I happen to speak Spanish, and there's a huge Mexican and Central American population in the state. Some South Americans too, but mostly Mexicans and Central Americans across the state who work in slaughterhouses. Indeed, Omaha even has a Mexican consulate," says Payne. "In the old days, it was to work for the Union Pacific Railroad, and in meatpacking. Then after they've been here a generation or two - a typical immigrant story - they get into all sorts of other businesses, restaurants, construction, everything. They are following in the footsteps of European immigrants who came in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - Czechs,  Italians, Swedes, Greeks, Poles, Germans, and so forth."

He enjoys using Omaha as a backdrop for his movies, including Election, Citizen Ruth, and About Schmidt. "People often love where their roots are. I am no exception," he says. "A lot of artists, not just filmmakers, but writers often write about where they were from. It's something you can't get out of your system. William Faulkner remained in Oxford, Mississippi, pretty much his whole life, with a couple of stints elsewhere, including Hollywood. Fellini never wanted to leave Italy. Almodóvar won't leave Madrid. You just stay where you are from because you know it better than anything else. And at the same time, it remains mysterious."