PRESS RELEASES
Heartland Marks Record-Setting Year in Submissions
August 2, 2006
Record Number of Films Submitted for 15th Annual Heartland Film Festival
Indianapolis, IN – Heartland Film Festival® has received just what it asked for - increased film submissions from filmmakers around the world for the 15th annual Heartland Film Festival, October 19-27 in Indianapolis. The 2006 Call for Entries attracted 647 films, a 40 percent increase since 2003. This includes a rise in both female and student entries. Heartland also received nearly 90 international submissions from France, Italy, The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Austria, Finland, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, China, Japan, Tibet, Ireland, India, Hungary, Greece, Guatemala, New Zealand, Poland, Israel, Russia, Taiwan, Uganda, Czech Republic, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey.
"We've had a phenomenal year for film entries,” said Jeffrey L. Sparks, president of Heartland Film Festival. “It's encouraging to see the films coming in and going up in quantity as well as quality. This increase means the Festival will be able to showcase a wider variety of independent films that filmgoers would not be able to see otherwise."
Heartland attributes the increase in film submissions to a combination of extended student outreach, increased national recognition for the Festival, presence at other select film festivals and doubling the monetary prizes that will be awarded. Heartland also gives credit to Withoutabox.com, the international film festival submission system that helps filmmakers around the globe navigate the film festival submission process.
“The additional films that have been submitted to this year’s Festival translate into more filmmakers around the world who are now aware of and interested in participating in a film festival that takes place in Central Indiana,” added Sparks.
Heartland invited filmmakers to submit independently-produced feature length, short and student films in dramatic, documentary and animation categories for the 2006 competition. The 647 submissions will be evaluated for their achievement of excellence in filmmaking and promotion of Heartland’s mission. A committee of previous Crystal Heart Award recipients will review the submissions and select five dramatic features, five documentary features and seven short films. Heartland will present Crystal Heart Awards and $200,000 in cash prizes to the selected films during the Festival. Selected student films will receive Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Awards and cash prizes.
The 2006 Festival film and event lineup will be announced on September 7. Visit www.HeartlandFilmFestival.org for more information.
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 PicturesSM from around the world and presents cash prizes and Crystal Heart Awards to the Festival’s top entries. In 2006, Heartland will increase its total prize money to $200,000. This includes doubling its Grand Prize for Best Dramatic Feature to $100,000 and two new awards: a $25,000 cash prize for Best Documentary Feature and a $10,000 cash prize for Best Short Film. The remaining $65,000 will be shared among the 2006 Crystal Heart and Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award winners. The Crystal Heart Award cash prizes are made possible by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. and the Max Simon Charitable Foundation. Including the 2006 prize money, Heartland will have awarded more than $1.6 million in 15 years to support filmmakers in their quest to create Truly Moving Pictures.
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