'Sideways' Director Gets Hometown Honor

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ ``Sideways'' film director Alexander Payne received an honorary degree in humane letters from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. <br/><br/>Payne, 43, who was born and raised

Monday, December 20th 2004, 9:52 am

By: News On 6

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ ``Sideways'' film director Alexander Payne received an honorary degree in humane letters from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Payne, 43, who was born and raised in Omaha, was presented with the honorary degree at winter graduation ceremonies Friday. The university hosted a film festival honoring Payne's work last week.

``Sideways'' received a leading seven Golden Globe nominations, including best comedy or musical film, best director for Payne and best screenplay for Payne and Jim Taylor.

Payne's feature film debut was ``Citizen Ruth'' in 1996, a satire about the abortion rights war. Payne also directed ``Election'' in 1999 and ``About Schmidt'' in 2002. All three movies were filmed in Nebraska.