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July 2023 by angela patterson
Amazing organization!
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October 2021 by Nani R.
It's been quite some time since this mama has ventured out into the community of international world art. Our family and new baby have made it through the forth trimester and decided to celebrate together. This was a first time to a film festival for each of us and we were super excited for the experience to be at The Heartland International Film Festival here in Indy. All of the volunteers were super nice and helpful. Getting to watch a film premier with the director in the same theater was wicked awesome!!!! If you ever get that opportunity I highly recommend you take it. My kiddos may be young, but I hope they always remember the cool things mom took them to experience such as this film festival. The film we were there to watch premiere was "Zero Gravity" which was a great family friendly documentary that followed a few young Cali students participating in a NASA coding summer program competing for the chance to create a winning code for NASA to use on the International Space Station. It was quite inspiring to see kids from all walks of life coming together to learn and create something so meaningful, tech savvy, and space exploration forward at such young ages. We are definitely living in the space exploration boom times friends! Thank you so much to all of the film directors, producers, and the staff required to create such art. And thank you so much to all of the volunteers who help to create such an unforgettable experience on the world stage! Looking forward to next year!!!
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October 2020 by John D.
If you have not been to a Heartland Film event then go to HeartlandFilm.org to see this year's line up of impressive films. Online or at the drive-in you can experience a fun atmosphere with awesome stories.
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October 2019 by Richard P.
The Heartland Film Festival, which now goes by the name Heartland International Film Festival, is now in its 28th year of celebrating and empowering purposeful filmmaking on both the independent and studio level. Heartland International Film Festival falls within the non-profit organization of Heartland Film, a Fountain Square-based organization that provides programs and services year-round and also holds the Indy Shorts Film Festival and awards the Truly Moving Picture Award throughout the year. The film festival was started by Jeffrey Sparks and grew into Indiana's largest, most popular, and only full-time festival as it has a paid staff and is quite active throughout the year. As a local film journalist, Heartland was one of the first, and perhaps the first, festival to offer me professional credentials and over the years I've served as a volunteer in a variety of capacities from sponsoring films to media to various juries and I'm now honored to have one of their awards, the Social Impact Award, named in my honor. Does this mean my review is biased? Nah, not at all. To this day, I still make fun of the year that Heartland brought in the dogs from Air Buddies. The festival itself still, at times, struggles to find that balance between growing into its status as an international film festival and honoring its heritage which included a decent amount of family friendly and even faith-based films. Heck, in 2018 a faith-based film won the fest's Audience Award for narrative feature. Yet, I've always loved Heartland Film Festival. Under Jeff Sparks, it grew and became especially well known with more family friendly studios (like Disney) and the entire atmosphere could be described as family - filmmakers loved coming here because they were treated well and audiences put Hoosier hospitality on full display. However, rightfully so, Heartland began a shift a few years ago to really grow into its full mission of celebrating the transformative power of filmmaking and became a bigger, better, and bolder cinematic space. For quite a while, there were some studios that resisted the Truly Moving Picture Award as it implied something along the lines of a Dove Foundation Seal of Approval (which, while meaningful for faith-based films, is largely a death knell for marketing and box-office). Under the leadership of Craig Prater, a longtime festival vet, Heartland has grown into international stature as evidenced by this 2019 festival where most of the awards contenders are playing here in at least special screening status. While we've not quite reached the point where the "stars" come here, Heartland has always been more of a filmmaker festival anyway. Greg Sorvig has grown in his role and become the fest's Artistic Director while studios and audiences alike have come to appreciate that Heartland's film programming is much more diverse. Heck, just this year Heartland showed its very first horror film! Volunteers continue to be stellar, programs and workshops beautifully organized, screenings well run, and filmmakers treated very well. Heartland is deemed to be a beloved film festival and continues to offer prize money that is near the top, if not at the top, nationally. As they've grown, they've maintained the family feel even while having to adjust the way they do tickets to address growing popularity and many more sold-out screenings. Heartland still offers community events, regular screenings at its in-house Basile Theatre, and receives thousands of entries annually for its festival. The festival now has screenings at AMC Castleton, AMC Showplace Traders Point, Newfields, and at the Artcraft in Franklin. The festival includes narrative features, doc features, winners from the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, an Indiana spotlight, and a handful of shorts winners (most shorts are now shown at Indy Shorts). This year alone, 2019, the fest is screening 200 films over its 10 days and welcomed acclaimed director Michael Apted and Indiana native Brendan Fr
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October 2019 by Jennifer Welch Gleckman
Incredible people running the festival. Amazing talent and movies premiering! Doesn’t get any better than this. Super proud to have this festival in our city, the heart of America!!!
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September 2019 by Rita Chapman
Thoughtful, meaningful films
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August 2019 by Ian Zelgowski
Came for a networking event and to see some early looks at a few short films. They films were very entertaining and the facility was clean and stylish!
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July 2019 by Jerri L. Gallagher
Heartland Film Festival, Short Films are great. They were so much fun! Can’t wait to go again next year!
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June 2019 by Marie J
Nostalgic
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May 2019 by Timothy Kern
Great organization that gives (mostly) independent film makers a wonderful forum, and gives us a chance to see some brilliant Indy works!
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October 2018 by Al P.
I consider myself a frequent movie-goer throughout the year, but the Heartland Film Festival is seriously like a week-long Holiday to me. I look forward to the film fest every year and have been attending now for probably 5-6 years. I prefer the documentaries, and have learned so many invaluable life lessons through watching these films. They are truly moving films, just very impactful. I really can't say enough good things about Heartland. I consider it one of my passions! Xoxo, Is this thing on? P.S. Some of the best films that have stuck out to me through the years and that I'm always reminded of as I move through this complicated life: Romeo is Bleeding, Peace Officer, We Are the Giant, Defining Hope, True Conviction, They Call Us Monsters, Tre Maison Dasan, Yasuni Man....... I could go on. I'm seeing the final two for this year's fest today. I can't wait for next year!
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October 2018 by Greg Sorvig
Great arts organization that's been around Indy for more than 25 years! Presents Academy Award-qualifying film festivals and year-round movie experiences. I started out as a volunteer years ago and have seen the organization grow over the years.
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October 2018 by Lisa Maydwell
Love the IFN meetings that are held here.
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October 2017 by m wilson
Don't volunteer with these people.
