Heartland Film Festival Starts Tonight

Originally Posted September 21, 2011

News Release

Indianapolis, Ind. – A record 129 American and international films will screen during the 2011 Heartland Film Festival, which will take place Oct. 13-22 at various locations throughout Indianapolis. The announcement was made by Heartland Truly Moving Pictures President and CEO, Jeffrey L. Sparks, at the organizations’ Announcement Celebration on Tuesday evening, during which the 20th annual film festival’s lineup of Award-winning films and special events was revealed.

“This year’s Festival really excites me – they always do, but this one in particular is incredible,” said Sparks. “I’m really looking forward to the Opening film, The Way. It is an amazing film about the human journey. It’s yet another example of the inspiring and moving work that we have the great privilege to introduce.”

Of the record 858 independent films submitted this year, 15 were distinguished as Crystal Heart Award winners and two student films were named Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award winners. These films were honored for best meeting Heartland’s mission of “promoting positive change in people’s lives through the transformative power of film.” Heartland will award more than $150,000 in cash prizes to this year’s winners, including the $100,000 Grand Prize Award for Best Narrative Feature, the $25,000 Award for Best Documentary Feature, and the $10,000 Vision Award for Best Short Film.

The five narrative feature Award-winning films that will vie for the $100,000 Grand Prize are Inuk, Kinyarwanda, Red Dog, Romantics Anonymous and The Hammer.

Five documentary feature Award winners will compete for the Festival’s $25,000 prize for Best Documentary Feature. These films are: Crime After Crime, Elevate, Facing Forward, Fambul Tok and Where Soldiers Come From.

In addition to narrative and documentary feature competitions, Heartland will present the $10,000 Vision Award for Best Short to one of the seven Award-winning short films.

The films in this category include: A Finger Two Dots Then Me, Abuelas (Grandmothers), Crescendo, From The Ground Up, The Candy Shop, Den Første Anders (The First Anders) and Thief.

All cash prizes and awards will be presented at the annual Heartland Film Festival Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Old National Centre in downtown Indianapolis. The first evening of film screenings will take place Friday, Oct. 14 at AMC Castleton Square 14 on the Northside, where all Award-winning films will be shown and the Crystal Heart Awards for short films will be presented. In addition to the Award-winning films, Heartland will also screen Official Selection films. These films are not in competition for the cash prizes, but are eligible for the Audience Choice Awards. Regular screenings of both Official Selection and Award winning films will take place Saturday, Oct. 16 through Saturday, Oct. 23 at AMC Castleton Square 14 and, new this year, AMC Showplace Indianapolis 17 on the Southside.

Official Selection films included under the narrative features category are: 25 Hill, A Buddy Story, A Year in Mooring, Africa United, An Ordinary Family, For Robbing The Dead, Janie Jones, Little Red Wagon, Love Birds, The Lutefisk Wars, Much Ado About Nothing, My Last Day Without You, Nathan and the Luthier, October Baby, Peloton, Saigon Electric, Score: A Hockey Musical, Somebody's Hero, The Selling, Sophie, Trinity Goodheart, Unicorn City and Works in Progress.

Official Selection films under the documentary features category are: A People Uncounted, A Journey In My Mother's Footsteps, Becoming Santa, The Blood in this Town, Boys of Bonneville: Racing on a Ribbon of Salt, Child of Giants: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange, Digital Man/Digital World, Dying to do Letterman, Family of the Wa'a, First Generation, Give A Damn?, God In The Box, Happy You're Alive, The Loving Story, Malaki-Scent of an Angel, More To Live For, Mulberry Child, My So-Called Enemy, The Peddler, The Pruitt-Igoe Myth: An Urban History, The Redemption of General Butt Naked, Sarabah. These Amazing Shadows, Why I Write: The Twin Poets, The Welcome, YERT - Your Environmental Road Trip and Zero Percent.

Official Selection films under the short film category are: Azad (Free), Bahiya & Mahmoud, Berliner Osten (East Of Berlin), Blood Ties, Blue, The Burying Beetle, Challenging Impossibility, The Country Club, Crossing Salween, Day Of Rememberance, Desperate Crossing, The Dreamer, Dreamgiver, Drum Beats, Fatakra (Firecracker), Ghild, The Girl And The Fox, Girlie Jar, The Greatest Return, Grow Up Already, Gu Yeo-Rum-Eui Ba-Da (A Scene At Sea), Habibti, Journey Of The Beams, Knight To D7, Kofi, Le Jeu Des Soldats, Library Of Dust, Living For 32, Magic Orange, The Man Who Never Cried, Miyuki's Wind Bell, North Atlantic, Old Radicals, Paper Flower, Persimmon, The Quiet Life, Raise My Hands, Saving Pelican 895, Scraps, Sin País (Without Country), Sun City Picture House, Sunnyview, Take 2, The Telegram Man, Twins, Two Life, Vibrations

A select number of films from the Second Annual Heartland High School Film Competition will be screened as part of their own shorts program, including the Grand Prize winning film Sacrifices of My Father and finalists The 36, Soap and You Walk I Glide. Other Heartland High School Film Competition films that will screen are: Always Sprinkle Pepper, The Gift, Focus, Independence in Sight, One Small Step and Shades of Gray.

In addition to the films that will screen during the Festival, six special events will provide outlets for film-lovers of all ages.

• The 10-day film festival will open on Thursday, Oct. 13 with the screening of The Way, starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez who are scheduled to be here with us at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

• Additional events include the annual Heartland Film Festival Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 15 where attendees can experience the glitz and glamour of Hollywood at the Old National Centre downtown.

• Sunday, Oct. 16 presents an opportunity to meet with Festival filmmakers during Reel Conversations: the Filmmakers’ Brunch at the Omni Severin Hotel and the Family Movie Event on Sunday, Oct. 16 featuring The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

• Film enthusiasts can attend the Heartland Institute Seminars for free on Monday, Oct. 18 at 7:30pm and on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 7:00pm at the Castleton AMC theater to hear Heartland Film Festival Award-winning and Official Selection filmmakers as they break down their filmmaking process from screenwriting to directing to producing.

• The Festival will come to a close on Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art with the time twister, Shuffle, starring T.J. Thyne, and the announcement of the 2011 Audience Choice Award winners.

“Each year we strive to reach and represent a broader audience,” said Sparks. “With a record 129 films from around the world, six exciting and unique special events, and the addition of the Heartland High School Film Competition collection, we feel we’re definitely accomplishing that goal and we encourage the people of Central Indiana to discover the endless possibilities of the Heartland Film Festival for themselves.”

The complete 2011 Heartland Film Festival lineup and additional Festival information can be found online at HeartlandFilmFestival.org.

Ticket Information
Regular screening tickets are available for purchase online through the Festival’s website, toll-free ticket line at 1.866.HFF.1010, or at the theaters during the Festival. Single tickets are $7.50 each when purchased in advance online or through the ticket line. Tickets purchased at the theaters are $9 each. In addition, Festival 10-Packs, consisting of 10 ticket vouchers that are redeemable at the theaters, are available in advance for $75 at select Indianapolis-area Marsh Supermarkets. Tickets for all specials events are available through Heartland’s website and ticket line. Prices vary by event. Visit HeartlandFilmFestival.org for complete ticketing information, the list of participating Marsh Supermarkets and applicable service fees.

About Heartland Truly Moving Pictures
Heartland Truly Moving Pictures, a non-profit arts organization, seeks to promote positive change in people’s live through the transformative power of film. Its flagship event, the Heartland Film Festival®, launched in 1991 and runs each October in Indianapolis, screening independent films from around the world. Each year, the Festival awards more than $150,000 in cash prizes and presents its Crystal Heart Awards to the top-judged submissions. Heartland has awarded more than $2.3 million to support filmmakers during the last 19 years. The organization’s Truly Moving Picture Award was created to honor films released theatrically that align with Heartland’s mission. By bestowing this award seal to honored films, the award allows studios and distributors to inform audiences of a film’s transformative power and appeal. Heartland is also dedicated to cultivating youth, and thus created the Heartland Institute to provide innovative educational and outreach programs that enrich the minds and lives of youth and aspiring filmmakers. For more information, visit TrulyMovingPictures.org.

Source: Heartland Truly Moving Pictures

Originally Posted August 26, 2011

News Release

Heartland Truly Moving Pictures announced last night that The Way,
written and directed by Emilio Estevez and starring father Martin Sheen, will be the Opening Night Event film of the 2011 Heartland Film Festival. Both Estevez and Sheen are scheduled to attend the Opening Night Event on Thursday, October 13.

“We are thrilled to have The Way for our Opening Night Event film this year. It is an inspiring film that will provide the perfect start to our 20th annual Heartland Film Festival,” says Jeffrey L. Sparks, President and CEO of Heartland Truly Moving Pictures. “Having Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez joining us will make this an evening to remember.”

The Way follows Tom (Sheen), an American doctor who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to collect the remains of his adult son (Estevez) who was killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking “El Camino de Santiago”, or The Way of Saint James. Rather than return home, Tom decides to embark on the historic pilgrimage to honor his son's desire to finish the journey.

"Martin and I are thrilled and honored to be opening this year's Heartland Film Festival with The Way,” said Estevez.. “The Way is a movie that pushes back against the tide of cynicism and despair that many people in our country are feeling these days. The film celebrates what is missing for so many: community, family and faith. We are proud and excited to share it with the folks in Indiana at this awesome and important film festival."

Nearly 200 Heartland supporters gathered at the Mavris Arts & Event Center last night for the inaugural Heartland Film Festival Sneak Peek Fundraiser where more than $40,000 was raised to support the organization. The event celebrated the kick-off of the 20th annual Heartland Film Festival and featured a preview of select films to be featured October 13-22 including Hamill, Crime After Crime, and Two Life. Hoosiers and Rudy producer and writer Angelo Pizzo, director David Anspaugh and many other filmmakers with Heartland ties were in attendance. Proceeds from the event will benefit Heartland’s One Film Can campaign, which was launched in August 2010 to provide necessary resources for Heartland to be a dynamic, effective, nationally recognized catalyst for inspiring filmmaking that positively impacts people’s lives.

The complete 2011 Heartland Film Festival lineup will be announced September 20 at the 2011 Announcement Celebration. Tickets go on sale September 21. Additional Festival information can be found at HeartlandFilmFestival.org. Regular screening tickets are available for purchase through the Festival’s website, toll-free ticket line at 1.866.HFF.1010 and at the theaters during the Festival. Single tickets are $7.50 each when purchased in advance, either online or through the toll-free ticket line. Tickets purchased at the theaters are $9 each. Additionally, Festival 10-Packs that consist of 10 ticket vouchers redeemable at the theaters are available in advance for $75 at select Indianapolis-area Marsh Supermarkets.

Visit HeartlandFilmFestival.org on September 21 for complete ticketing information, the list of participating Marsh Supermarkets and applicable service fees.

Heartland Truly Moving Pictures, a non-profit arts organization, seeks to promote positive change in people’s live through the transformative power of film. Its flagship event, the Heartland Film Festival®, launched in 1991 and runs each October in Indianapolis, screening independent films from around the world. Each year, the Festival awards more than $150,000 in cash prizes and presents its Crystal Heart Awards to the top-judged submissions. Heartland has awarded more than $2.3 million to support filmmakers during the last 19 years. The organization’s Truly

Moving Picture Award was created to honor films released theatrically that align with Heartland’s mission. By bestowing this award seal to honored films, the award allows studios and distributors to inform audiences of a film’s transformative power and appeal. Heartland is also dedicated to cultivating youth, and thus created the Heartland Institute to provide innovative educational and outreach programs that enrich the minds and lives of youth and aspiring filmmakers. For more information, visit TrulyMovingPictures.org.

Source: Heartland Truly Moving Pictures