‘Connect to What Matters:’ Critically acclaimed films to headline 2025 Heartland Intl. Film Festival

INDIANAPOLIS — Inspired by the early days of the World Wide Web, this year’s Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis, which starts next month, will center around the importance of connecting people and showcasing stories from around the world.

More than 100 independent films, including a handful expected to garner awards buzz, will screen as part of the 34th iteration of the festival, which centers around the theme: “Connect to What Matters.”

This year’s 11-day festival will take place from Oct. 9-19 at multiple venues throughout Indianapolis, including Newfields, the Kan-Kan Cinema, the Indy Art Center, Living Room Theaters and the Indianapolis location of Alamo Drafthouse.

The festival’s opening night film will feature Academy Award winner and Indianapolis-born Brendan Fraser in “Rental Family.” The film, from Searchlight Pictures, features Fraser as an American actor in Tokyo who lands work at a Japanese “rental family” agency. This film will be screened at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Newfields.

“Train Dreams,” from Netflix, will be the festival’s centerpiece screening at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 at Newfields. Based on Denis Johnson’s novella, this film from Netflix follows Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker played by Joel Edgerton, through the early 20th century.

For the festival’s closing night, Rami Malek, an Academy Award winner who studied theater at the University of Evansville, stars in “Nuremberg,” a film from Sony Pictures Classics that follows a WWII psychiatrist who evaluates Nazi leaders during the Nuremberg trials. The film, who also stars Russell Crowe, will screen at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 19 at Newfields.

Other films that will be screened during the festival include:

• “Is This Thing On?,” Bradley Cooper’s newest film, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern
• “Christy,” a biopic on former professional boxer Christy Martin starring Sydney Sweeney
• “After the Hunt,” Luca Guadagino’s latest film starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield
• “Blue Moon,” Richard Linklater’s latest film starring Margaret Qualley, Andrew Scott and Ethan Hawke
• “John Candy: I Like Me,” a documentary from Colin Hanks and Ryan Reynolds
• “Good Fortune,” a new film from Aziz featuring with Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen

This comes after last year’s festival featured Academy Award winners like “A Real Pain” and “Emilia Pérez,” according to previous reports.

“This year’s slate of major studio sneak previews gives Indianapolis one of the first opportunities to see surefire award nominees first,” Greg Sorvig, the festival’s artistic director, said in the release, “in addition to a wide slate of true independent gems across the narrative and documentary spaces, from world premieres to major festival favorites.”

All of the festival film selections will have in-person screenings. An awards presentation will be hosted on Oct. 18 at The Jazz Kitchen, located at 5377 North College Avenue, where more than $60,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to filmmakers.

For a full look at the festival’s schedule and to purchase tickets, click here.