PRESS RELEASES
Heartland Award Winners Also Nominated for Hollywood's Top Honor
January 31, 2006
“Cinderella Man,” “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and “Tsotsi” Receive Academy Award® Nominations
Three Heartland Film Festival® Truly Moving Picture Award winners have garnered a total of seven prestigious Academy Award® nominations, including Heartland’s newest Truly Moving Picture “Tsotsi.” The nominees include: “Cinderella Man” for Best Supporting Actor-Paul Giamatti, Best Editing and Best Makeup; “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” for Best Makeup, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects; and “Tsotsi” for Best Foreign Language Film (South Africa). The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2005 will be presented on Sunday, March 5 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.
“We knew from the beginning that these films would capture the hearts and imaginations of movie fans across the United States,” said Jeffrey L. Sparks, president of Heartland Film Festival. “We’re thrilled to see that more and more Heartland award-winning films are receiving the national recognition and attention they deserve. It is evidence that Heartland continues to honor filmmaking at its best.”
Previous Heartland Film Festival award-winning films and honorees with Oscar ties include: Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award recipients “In America,” “Brother Bear,” “Finding Neverland” and “Sound and Fury”; Crystal Heart Award winners “Asylum,” “Birthday Boy,” “The Chorus (Les Choristes),” “Most,” “The Collector of Bedford Street,” “Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport” and "Visas & Virtue"; as well as Heartland honorees "A River Runs Through It," “Amistad," "Apollo 13," "Babe," "Dead Man Walking," "Enchanted April," "Fly Away Home," "Forrest Gump," "Life is Beautiful," "Mr. Holland's Opus," "Saving Private Ryan," "Schindler's List," "Shine," "The Apostle" and "The Shawshank Redemption."
In Other News
Heartland is also pleased to share that the 2005 Crystal Heart Award winner “Dear Francis” will be showing as part of the World Vision AIDS Conference at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. The documentary, which follows two college students on a trip to AIDS-ravaged Swaziland, will be shown on Saturday, February 4 at 3 p.m. in Rediger Auditorium. Filmmakers David Mahanes and Brent Gudgel will be available for Q&A after the film.
In addition, three Truly Moving Pictures were once again in the Top 10 for Box Office receipts last week, including “Nanny McPhee,” “Glory Road” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
Heartland Film Festival, a non-profit organization, was established in 1991 to recognize and honor filmmakers whose work explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life. Each October, Heartland screens Truly Moving Pictures from around the world, ranging from dramas to documentaries to animation. Heartland awards more than $100,000 in cash prizes and Crystal Heart Awards to the Festival's top entries, including a $50,000 grand prize for best dramatic feature. The Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award winners for the best student films and the Crystal Heart Award winners share the remaining money. The Crystal Heart Award cash prizes are given in honor of Max Simon by his parents, Melvin and Bren Simon, through the Max Simon Charitable Foundation. In 14 years, Heartland has awarded more than $1.4 million to support filmmakers in their quest to create Truly Moving Pictures.
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