Heartland Film Festival Unveils Lineup
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOrganizers of the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis have announced this year's lineup. Next month's event will feature more than 130 films, headlined by “The Judge,” starring Robert Downey Jr.
September 19, 2014
News Release
Indianapolis, Ind. — The Heartland Film Festival—Indiana's largest and longest-running independent film festival—will showcase more than 130 independent films and gives audiences access to more than 100 independent filmmakers from around the world from Oct. 16-25, 2014. With red carpet premieres and events, parties, and hundreds of film screenings, the Heartland Film Festival offers the best of world cinema right in the heart of the Midwest.
“The films in this year's Heartland Film Festival represent myriad cultural experiences throughout the United States and in over 40 countries around the world,' said Tim Irwin, Heartland Film's artistic director. 'Some of the films might inspire viewers ('We Are the Giant,' 'East Side Sushi,' 'Dukale's Dream'); some will challenge and change audiences' perspectives on the world both at home and overseas ('Drunktown's Finest,' 'Cicada,' 'Siddharth,' 'Marmato'). Others will warm the heart ('Finding Harmony,' 'Mistaken for Strangers,' 'Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind'), while some will bring smiles to faces or provoke outright laughter ('The Referee,' 'Ben's at Home,' 'Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey').”
The complete Heartland Film Festival lineup and schedule can be viewed at heartlandfilmfestival.org.
Special Kickoff Screening Event & Party – “The Judge” with Director David Dobkin
• Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014 – Director David Dobkin scheduled to attend with a question-and-answer session to follow screening
• Pre-party: 5 p.m., Caf? Patachou, Keystone at the Crossing, tickets $40
• Screening: 7 p.m., AMC Castleton Square 14 – pre-party ticket holders are invited to this advance, free screening of “The Judge”
From Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures comes “The Judge,” which pairs two-time Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. (“Chaplin,” “Tropic Thunder”) and Oscar winner Robert Duvall (“Tender Mercies”), starring together for the first time on the big screen. The film also stars Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air”) and Oscar winner Billy Bob Thornton (“Sling Blade”), and is directed by David Dobkin (“Wedding Crashers”).
In “The Judge,” Downey stars as big city defense attorney Hank Palmer, who returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town's judge (Duvall), is suspected of murder. He sets out to discover the truth and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before.
Opening Night Screening & Party – “Men, Women & Children”
• Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014, 7 p.m.
• The Toby, Indianapolis Museum of Art with party to follow at Deer Zink Pavilion
• Tickets $40
• Sponsored by The David and Betty Klapper Family Foundation
The 2014 Heartland Film Festival will open with director Jason Reitman's new film, “Men, Women & Children.” The film follows the story of a group of high school teenagers and their parents as they attempt to navigate the many ways the internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image and their love lives. The film wrestles with social issues such as video game culture, anorexia, infidelity, fame hunting and the proliferation of illicit material on the internet. As each character and each relationship is tested, we are shown the variety of roads people choose – some tragic, some hopeful – as it becomes clear that no one is immune to the enormous social change that has come through our phones, our tablets and our computers. The film's ensemble cast includes Judy Greer, Adam Sandler, Jennifer Garner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ansel Elgort, J.K. Simmons, and Emma Thompson. Based on the novel by Chad Kultgen
An in-depth discussion of the many issues presented by the film with follow the screening. A panel of experts and filmmakers will discuss the effects that today's online culture, including sexting, online pornography, body image issues and online gaming, can have on personal relationships.
Festival Award Winners in Contention for Grand Prizes
More than $115,000 will be awarded to independent filmmakers at the Heartland Film Festival Awards Ceremony, on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014. On this evening, Heartland Film will recognize the best independent filmmakers from all over the world and bestow the Festival's top prizes:
• $45,000 Grand Prize for Best Narrative Feature. Films in contention include:
o “Cicada,” directed by Dean Yamada (Japan)
o “Drunktown's Finest,” directed by Sydney Freeland (USA)
o “The Referee,” directed by Paolo Zucca (Italy, Argentina)
o “Siddharth,” directed by Richie Mehta (India, Canada)
o “Uzumasa Limelight,” directed by Ken Ochiai (Japan)
• $45,000 Grand Prize for Best Documentary Feature. Films in contention include:
o “Gabor,” directed by Sebasti?n Alfie (Spain)
o “Happiness,” directed by Thomas Balm?s (France, Finland)
o “Light Fly, Fly High,” directed by Beathe Hofseth, Susann ?stigaard (Norway)
o “Marmato,” directed by Mark Grieco (Columbia, USA)
o “We Are the Giant,” directed by Greg Barker (Bahrain, Lybia, Syria, USA)
• $5,000 Grand Prize for Best Narrative Short*
Underwritten by Heartland Film Endowment's Sparks Vision Award
o “Grand Canal,” directed by Johnny Ma (China)
o “Houses with Small Windows,” directed by B?lent ?zt?rk (Belgium)
o “Keys of Heaven,” directed by Hamy Ramezan (Finland)
o “Record,” directed by David Lyons (Australia)
o “Yearbook,” directed by Bernardo Britto (USA)
• $5,000 Grand Prize for Best Documentary Short
Underwritten by Heartland Film Endowment's Sparks Vision Award
o “German Shepherd,” directed by Nils Bergendal (Sweden)
o “Our Curse,” directed by Tomasz Śliwiński (Poland)
o “Ghosts on the Mountain,” directed by Jared Jakins, Carly Jakins (USA)
o “Showfolk,” directed by Ned McNeilage (USA)
o “White Earth,” directed by J. Christian Jensen (USA)
• $2,000 prizes for the Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Awards
o “Grand Canal,” directed by Johnny Ma (China)
o “Our Curse,” directed by Tomasz Śliwiński (Poland)
• $2,500 Grand Prize Winner of the High School Film Competition
o “Chris,” directed by Zachary Oschin (USA)
*The Heartland Film Festival has earned the special designation of being a qualifying festival for the Annual Academy Awards within the Short Films category. This means that the winner of the Grand Prize for Best Narrative Short Film will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the Annual Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.
Premiere Titles
Among its Official Selection titles, these select films will launch their festival run at the 2014 Heartland Film Festival:
• “American Real: The Forrest Lucas Story” (Official Selection, Documentary Feature), directed by Brad Grimm (USA)
o Cast includes Forrest Lucas, Charlotte Lucas, Carol Cummins, Connie Schooler and Brenda Harris
o Talent from the film is scheduled to attend
• “Highway to Dhampus” (Official Selection, Narrative Feature), directed by Rick McFarland (Nepal, United Kingdom, USA)
o Cast includes Rachel Hurd-Wood, Raj Ballav Koirala, Suesha Rana, Gunner Wright and Sophie McShera
o Talent from the film is scheduled to attend
• “Dukale's Dream” (Official Selection, Documentary Feature), directed by Josh Rothstein (Ethiopia, USA)
o Cast includes Hugh Jackman, Daborra-Lee Furness, Dukale, Tim Costello, Assefa Tofu, Jeffrey Sachs, Takele Mammo
o Talent from the film is scheduled to attend
• “The Sound and the Shadow” (Official Selection, Narrative Feature), directed by Justin Paul Miller (USA)
o Cast includes Joseph E. Murrary, Mary Kate Wiles, Alex Anfanger, Rhomeyn Johnson
o Talent from the film is scheduled to attend
• “Strang