PRESS RELEASES
Heartland Film Festival Concludes Another Record-Breaking Year
October 30, 2006
Indianapolis, IN – The 15th annual Heartland Film Festival® concluded its nine-day run on Friday, October 27 with the announcement of the 2006 Audience Choice Award winners and a sold-out screening of the Truly Moving Picture Award recipient “The Queen” with costume designer Consolata Boyle in attendance.
The 2006 Festival was a huge success and brought another increase in attendance as more than 21,000 filmgoers clamored to attend events, to see films that bring out the best in the human spirit and to meet the filmmakers and stars that made them.
The Festival kicked off in Hollywood style at the IMAX Theater with the sold-out, U.S. premiere of Samuel Goldwyn Films, Roadside Attractions and Bristol Bay Productions’ "Amazing Grace." Acclaimed director Michael Apted and veteran producer Ken Wales greeted fans on the red carpet and accepted a Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award for the film. The festivities continued on Friday evening as 17 award-winning films opened at three Indianapolis venues. These films were selected from a record 647 international submissions for demonstrating artistic and technical merit and for best meeting Heartland’s mission.
Indianapolis-native and award-winning correspondent Carlos Diaz from “Extra” emceed the Festival’s annual black tie awards ceremony where Heartland presented Crystal Heart Awards and $200,000 in cash prizes to filmmakers for their role in creating enriching and inspiring films. Special guests Jon Voight (“Glory Road”), Lee Meriwether (“Love Boat”) and Judy Stewart (The Stewart Foundation) presented the awards.
Writer David Wolstencroft accepted the $100,000 Grand Prize Award for Best Dramatic Feature for “Shooting Dogs.” Heartland’s grand prize award was doubled to $100,000 in 2006 and is underwritten by the Max Simon Charitable Foundation. All award-winning dramatic feature films are eligible to receive this award, which is one of the largest single cash prizes awarded by a film festival.
The inaugural $25,000 Award for Best Documentary Feature was given to Producer/Director Matt Ruskin and featured individual Diana ‘Princess’ Lemon for “The Hip Hop Project.” All award-winning documentary feature films are eligible to receive this award.
Producer Hilary Glaholt received the $10,000 Vision Award for Best Short Film for “Shade,” which was written and directed by Kimberly Williams-Paisley. Sponsored by Vision Racing, all awarding-winning shorts are eligible to receive this award.
Saab Pioneering Spirit Award: Producer Debra Martin Chase received this award for her creative spirit in filmmaking and for supporting Heartland’s mission. Chase has won two Heartland Truly Moving Picture Awards for “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and “The Princess Diaries” and one Crystal Heart Award for “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream.”
Truly Moving Picture Award: Heartland honored 13 films selected as 2006 recipients of the Truly Moving Picture Award, including: “Cars,” “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Everyone’s Hero,” “Flicka,” “Glory Road,” “The Lake House,” “Lassie,” “Nanny McPhee,” “The Queen,” “Saving Shiloh,” “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days,” “Take the Lead” and “Tsotsi.” Actor Jon Voight was on hand to receive the Truly Moving Picture Award for “Glory Road,” and actress Julia Jentsch accepted for “Sophie Scholl – The Final Days.” Both received a Truly Moving Picture Award designed by Mark Aronstam of Aronstam Designer/Fine Jewelers.
Filmmakers honored with Crystal Heart Awards and cash prizes included: Directors Andy Erwin and Jon Erwin for "The Cross and the Towers"; Producer/Director/Writer Frank Kelly for "Emily’s Song"; Producer/Director Bob Hercules for “Forgiving Dr. Mengele”; Producer/Director Matt Ruskin for "The Hip Hop Project"; Producer/Director/Writer Diego Quemada-Diez for "I Want to Be a Pilot"; Producer Charlie Ebersol, Producer Kip Kroeger and Director Willie Ebersol for "Ithuteng {never stop learning}"; Producers/Directors Scott Galloway and Brent Pierson for "A Man Named Pearl"; Producer Ilkka Matila for “Mother of Mine"; Producer Adam Abel and Producer/Director Ryan Little for "Outlaw Trail"; Producer/Writer David George, Director/Writer Zach Gray, Producer Ben Mitzelfelt and Producer Mark Thomas for "Secret of the Cave"; Producer Hilary Glaholt for “Shade”; Writer David Wolstencroft for “Shooting Dogs”; Executive Producer Paul Brooks and Producer Rick Eldridge for "The Ultimate Gift"; and Director/Writer Varda Hardy for “Window".
Filmmakers honored with JIMMY STEWART MEMORIAL CRYSTAL HEART AWARDS for best student films included: Producer/Director/Writer Anna Christopher for “Queen of Cactus Cove”; Director/Writer Cristine Spindler for “Sirah”; and Producer/Director Joel Nassan for “Wednesday.”
Additional Festival activities included a sold-out, world premiere screening of “Air Buddies” with Producer Anna McRoberts at the always-popular Kids’ Movie Party and an exclusive peek at clips from the upcoming and much-anticipated New Line Cinema film “The Nativity Story” with Director Catherine Hardwicke. Film fans, students and filmmakers participated in Heartland’s sold-out, all-day educational seminar to gain an inside perspective into filmmaking. “The Variety Code: Searching for Meaning at the Box Office” featured industry expert Steven Gaydos (Executive Editor, Features, “Variety”) and a panel of 2006 award-winning filmmakers as they shared knowledge and advice on the independent filmmaking process.
The 2006 Festival ended with a sold-out screening of Miramax Films’ “The Queen” with costume designer Consolata Boyle. Heartland also announced the 2006 Audience Choice Award winners that screening audiences liked most. More than 20,000 ballots were cast by audiences to determine the winner in three categories – Dramatic Feature, Documentary Feature and Short Film. All films were eligible. The 2006 winners are:
Audience Choice Award for Dramatic Feature: “Shooting Dogs” produced by David Belton, Pippa Cross and Jens Meurer, directed by Michael Caton-Jones and written by David Wolstencroft, Richard Alwyn and David Belton.
Audience Choice Award for Documentary Feature: “A Man Named Pearl” produced and directed by Scott Galloway and Brent Pierson.
Audience Choice Award for Short Film: “I Want to Be a Pilot” produced, directed and written by Diego Quemada–Diez.
“The Audience Choice Award is very important to filmmakers,” said Jeffrey L. Sparks, president and CEO of Heartland Film Festival. “They will use this award in the marketing of their films. It sends a clear message that the general public embraces their work.”
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 $200,000 in cash prizes and Crystal Heart Awards to the Festival’s top entries. This includes a $100,000 Grand Prize for Best Dramatic Feature underwritten by the Max Simon Charitable Foundation, a $25,000 Award for Best Documentary Feature and a $10,000 Vision Award for Best Short Film underwritten by Vision Racing. The remaining $65,000 is shared among the Crystal Heart and Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award winners. Heartland has awarded more than $1.6 million in 15 years to support filmmakers in their quest to create Truly Moving Pictures.
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