Heartland Film Festival highlights local theatres, stories

INDIANAPOLIS – The Heartland International Film Festival is back for its 34th year in the Circle City.

The 11-day festival showcases 100 hand-selected independent films from across the globe. 

“We have filmmakers from all over the world,” said Jessica Chapman, Director of Marketing for Heartland Film. “This week, we had some filmmakers in from Egypt, so we truly are an international film festival.”

Along with 19 world premieres, there are also 17 opportunities to see major blockbuster films before they hit the big screen.

“After the film, unlike other films that you might see, you’re actually going to get the chance to hear from them with a Q and A after the screenings,” said Chapman.

Films can be streamed virtually, but five local venues were also selected to show the films. The Alamo Drafthouse is one of the theaters rolling out the red carpet to host screenings this week.

”We’ve had several sold-out shows, and as the week progresses, we just keep selling more,” said Seanne Spangenburg, Vice President of Business Operations for Sojos Capital, which owns the Alamo Drafthouse. “We’ve even had some other future shows start to hit that sellout mark.”

Along with supporting local venues, one of the three festival categories puts Hoosier names up in lights. Some of the selections for this year’s Indiana Spotlights feature an amateur circus in Peru, a holocaust survivor who lived in Indianapolis and the creation of the first professional women’s volleyball team in Fishers.

“As a player, you’re so tunnel focused in the game or practice, and so there were moments where I might have missed something, or I was like, oh, I don’t even remember that happening so it was fun to watch that back,” said Lydia Martyn, middle blocker for the Indy Ignite.

“Ignite the Fire” focuses on the inaugural season of the team leading up to the championships.

“We’ve poured our blood, sweat and tears into this. This is a story that is so close to my heart, and to put it out there is a little vulnerable,” said Carly Klanac, Vice President of Marketing and Game Day Experience for the Indy Ignite and producer for “Ignite the Fire.”

“I popped my head into the theater a little bit, and people were cheering and clapping and laughing at all the right spots.”

The award ceremony is on Saturday evening. All of the film showings wrap up on Sunday.