New Location for Heartland Film Festival 2012 and Sneak Peek Fundraiser

 

*Press Release*
INDIANAPOLIS – After hosting the Heartland Film Festival on the south and north sides of Indianapolis for several years, Heartland Truly Moving Pictures announced today that it will move from the south side to the northwest side for the 21st Annual Heartland Film Festival. Films will continue to be shown at AMC Castleton Square 14 and now in its new location, AMC Traders Point 12. The 10-day festival will take place October 18-27. The decision, which organizers believe will increase opportunities for festival-goers, was made after the organization struggled to increase ticket sales and revenue in its south side venue, making it impossible to financially sustain a south side presence.

This year, with a record-breaking 1,240 film submissions, the 21st Annual Heartland Film Festival will feature more movie choices than ever before. The selection committee reviewed each film and has selected the “best of the best” in new, independent films from all over the world that will move and inspire people, and change the way they look at the world.

Heartland Festival Film Sneak Peek

Film enthusiasts who can’t wait until the October Festival can attend the August 23 Sneak Peek fundraising event. The event will feature several previews of this year’s films, a live auction and an opportunity for donors to become a part of the Festival’s success. All proceeds from the evening benefit Heartland Truly Moving Pictures.

What

Heartland Festival Film Sneak Peek

When

Thursday, August 23, 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Where

The Old National Centre, Corinthian Room, 502 N. New Jersey St.

Cost

Tickets $85 per person; VIP Tickets $750 for a group of six (Limited to 10 Packages)

Website

TrulyMovingPictures.org.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated fine-living, travel columnist and freelance writer, performing arts and restaurant critic. Catch her second column, Infused, at GottaGo.us and FoodandDrinkDigital.com and catch her as Indy’s Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC. Gotta Go is published onGottago.us, BroadwayWorld.com, in M and Retired Living magazines and several newspapers: South Sider Voice, Indiana Weekender, New Palestine Reporter, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter. Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Movie Review: The Way Heartland Film Festival 2011

"The Way" is written and directed by Emilio Estevez, ("Bobby" 2006) and stars Martin Sheen (Apocolypse Now 1979, The American President 1995) as the play-it-safe father, Tom Avery. Son Daniel, portrayed by Estevez, has a different outlook on life. In fact, they are polar opposites. As Daniel explains to his life-numb dad, "You don't choose a life, you live one."

Ironically, Tom is an opthalmologist who helps his patients see things much more clearly than he sees things himself.

Wrapped up in his country-club lifestyle, Tom receives the call every parent fears.

Flying to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to retrieve his son's body, Tom learns Daniel died while taking the Christian pilgrimage known as Camino de Santiago, The Way of Saint James, or "The Way" for short. It involves trekking across 800 kilometers of Spain's countryside with the end destination of the Santiago de Compostela cathedral in Galicia.

Receiving the ultimate seal of approval, a golden, heart-shaped wreath, during Indianapolis' Heartland Film Festival this year, is a sure sign the film is going to touch you emotionally. Truly Moving Pictures awards the wreath to movies believed will touch viewers and make a difference in the world.
The personal triumphs, setbacks and internal healing throughout the journey will have you near tears more than once. To avoid creating a film too depressing to watch, Estevez wisely allows Sheen's charm and one-line quips to lighten the mood.

Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez in "The Way"

Helping in that respect are fellow travelers, a Dutch marijuana enthusiast (Yorick van Geningen) who 
has a penchant for eating, an angry young Canadian woman (Deborah Kara Unger) and a creative writer form Ireland (James Nesbitt) who comes along the trip to find a new storyline.

The mood of the film boomerangs, logically, as the various characters deal with their inner demons. To have it any other way would have been a false path to choose, and as fans of Estevez knows, he stays true to a story line.
Bottom Line: See. It. Now. "The Way" celebrates life and death, bringing forth emotions you had forgotten.


*Opening October 21 in theaters across the United States.
Photos: Submitted by production
Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated columnist, travel writer, performing arts and restaurant critic. Catch her as Indy’s Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC, and follow her on Twitter @GottaGo and Facebook. Gotta Go is published in M magazine and the following newspapers: South Sider Voice, Indiana Weekender, New Palestine Reporter, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter.

Heartland Film Festival 2011 Announces Winners

Heartland Film Festival 2011 celebrates its 20th anniversary with well known directors, such as Angelo Pizzo (Hoosiers, Rudy), Corbin Bernsen (Carpool Guy, Donna on Demand) and Emilio Estevez (The Way, Bobby) alongside high school first-timers. The Indianapolis-based festival, which runs through Saturday, Oct., 22, is designated as the "festival with heart" supporting films which touch viewers emotionally.

Martin Sheen, David Alexanian and Emilio Estevez of The Way

Cash prizes accompany the awards, including $100,000 grand prize for the Narrative Feature category, which tops the prize money given at Sundance, Tribeca and Toronto film festivals. Winners were announced Saturday, October 15, at the Murat Theatre in Old National Centre, Indianapolis.

2011 Winners

Award for High School Film Competition
($2,500) "Sacrifices of my Father" (Miguel Lopez)

Vision Award for Best Short Film

($10,000) "Thief" (Julian Higgins)

Award for Best Documentary Feature

($25,000) "Crime After Crime" (Yoav Potash)

Grand Prize for Narrative Feature

($100,000)-"Red Dog" (Nelson Woss)

Red Dog, an Australian film by Nelson Woss, is about a dog loved by all who loses its owner. The true tale  has touched the hearts of more than Aussies. It has crossed the pond and looks toward being release, possibly, in the U.S. It can be viewed at AMC Showcase 17 Wednesday, Oct., 19 and Saturday, Oct., 22; and at AMC Castleton Square Friday, Oct. 21.

Rohan Nichol and Nelson Woss of Red Dog

For a full time schedule and list of films of Heartland Film Festival 2011,
visit TrulyMovingPictures.org.

Photo Credit: Izzy Evans

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated columnist, travel writer, performing arts and restaurant critic. Catch her as Indy’s Arts & Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC, and follow her on Twitter @GottaGo and Facebook. Gotta Go is published in the following newspapers: South Sider Voice, Indiana Weekender, New Palestine Reporter, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter.

Heartland Film Festival 2011 Film Schedule

Heartland Film Festival 2011 

20^th Annual Film Festival: Oct. 13-22

A record 129 American and international films will screen during the 2011 Heartland Film Festival, which takes place throughout Indianapolis.

For premiere of The Way and complete 2011 Heartland Film Festival lineup, visit HeartlandFilmFestival.org.

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-Saturday, Oct. 23 at AMC Castleton Square 14 and AMC Showplace Indianapolis 17 on the southside.

Official Selection films included under the narrative features category:

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: 

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: 

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

Special events

• The 10-day film festival opens Thursday, Oct. 13 with the screening of The Way, starring Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez, scheduled to be 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 7:30 pm 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.

Ticket Information

Regular screening tickets are available at http://www.trulymovingpictures.org/heartland-film-festival/tickets/ by calling 866-HFF-1010, or at 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.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated columnist, travel writer, performing arts and restaurant critic. Catch her as Indy’s Arts & Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC, and follow her on Twitter @GottaGo and Facebook. Gotta Go is published in the following newspapers: South Sider Voice, Indiana Weekender, New Palestine Reporter, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter.

Heartland Film Festival 2011 Sneak Peek Fundraiser on August 25

Click here for 2011 schedule and info: Heartland Film Festival 2011Schedule

INDIANAPOLIS (July 12, 2011) – Heartland Truly Moving Pictures will kick off the 2011 Heartland Film Festival with its first public fundraiser in its 20-year history on August 25, at the Mavris Arts and Event Center in downtown Indianapolis (121 S. East St.).

Hoosiers and Rudy producer and writer Angelo Pizzo and director David Anspaugh are scheduled to attend the event along with many other local filmmakers with Heartland ties. The evening will include a first look at some of the 2011 Heartland Film Festival selections including a review screening of a 2011 Festival short film.

The event also includes a live auction featuring a 2011 Heartland Film Festival ticket package, an Indianapolis arts ticket package including tickets to:

• Indy Jazz Fest
• Dance Kaleidoscope
• Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
• Indiana Repertory Theatre
• Indianapolis Zoo
• Indianapolis Museum of Art

and more, as well as vacation packages to Sun Valley, Idaho and Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico.

“We’re hoping that this fundraiser will be the first of many as we continue to build awareness of our ongoing
need for financial support,” said Jeffrey L. Sparks, President and CEO of Heartland Truly Moving Pictures.
“It’s an honor to have some of our past filmmakers back to help us raise funds and we’re especially excited to
have Angelo and David in attendance.”

Tickets for this event are on sale now for $95 per person. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. A limited quantity of
Entourage Packages are also available for $1,000 and include 10 tickets, reserved seating and Entourage
Lounge access. Tickets can be purchased at TrulyMovingPictures.org/HFFSneakPeek.

One Film Can, the Campaign for Heartland Truly Moving Pictures was publically launched in August of
2010. The Campaign is designed to provide Heartland with the resources it needs to be a dynamic, effective
and nationally recognized catalyst for inspiring filmmaking, and to make a positive impact in people’s lives.
All proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit the Campaign.

Visit TrulyMovingPictures.org/HFFSneakPeek for more information and to purchase tickets.
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.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated columnist, travel writer, performing arts and restaurant critic. Catch her as Indy’s Arts & Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC, and follow her on Twitter @ejmusgrave1 and Facebook. Gotta Go is published in the following newspapers: South Sider Voice, Indiana Weekender, New Palestine Reporter, Pendleton Times Reporter and Fortville-McCordsville Reporter.