Submit your feature film now for consideration to the 30th Heartland International Film Festival, set for October 7-17, 2021 in Indianapolis! Known for hospitality, cash prizes, Awards season sneak peeks, and quality programming, HIFF30 will host a range of live events and screenings and bestow more than $60,000 in cash prizes.
SEEKING FEATURE FILMS longer than 40 minutes. SHORT FILMS (40 minutes or shorter) SUBMIT ONLY TO INDY SHORTS: https://filmfreeway.com/HeartlandFilmIndyShorts
COVID-19 Response/Planning: Please note that the festival went hybrid in 2020 with drive-in and secure virtual screenings via Eventive in response to COVID-19. Safety is our top priority, and although plans are in place to hopefully return to theaters in October 2021, the contingency plan will be a similar hybrid model of drive-in and virtual screenings. Cash prizes WILL remain intact regardless of in-theater and/or drive-in/virtual screenings.
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Heartland Film is a nonprofit arts organization founded in 1991 with the mission to inspire filmmakers and audiences through the transformative power of film. Since the inaugural Heartland International Film Festival (HIFF) in 1992, the fest has grown from a 5-day event with less than 20 films to an 11-day celebration featuring 200+ visiting filmmakers and 300+ film screenings. HIFF has built a reputation on its impactful movies, the connections audiences make with visiting filmmakers, the overall hospitality and intimacy of the experience, and bringing big Hollywood names – like Robert Downey Jr., Jessica Biel, Rob Reiner, and Oscar® winner Geoffrey Rush – to the Hoosier state. Heartland Film has officially signed on to the 5050x2020 Parity Pledge and 50% of the Festival’s lineup was directed by women at the 2020 edition.
Top Five Reasons to Submit to the Heartland International Film Festival & Indy Shorts
1. Cash prizes, ranging from $1,000 - $20,000 per prize.
2. Academy Award-qualifying festival in the Short Films category.*
3. One of MovieMaker Magazine’s Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2020.
4. Artistic integrity: transparent selection process offering screener feedback by request after the Festival concludes.
5. Regarded for our Hoosier hospitality with a strong community between filmmakers, moviegoers, and volunteers.
The 30th Heartland International Film Festival will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, October 7-17, 2021. Filmmakers participating in the Festival attend numerous screenings of their films and other special events designed to allow interaction between filmmakers and audiences. Filmmakers from around the world are invited to submit films; student filmmakers are welcomed in each category as well. The Heartland International Film Festival selects and honors films in several categories:
- Narrative Feature ($20,000 Grand Prize)
- Documentary Feature ($20,000 Grand Prize)
- Social Impact Awards ($2,000 cash prizes)
- Indiana Spotlight ($2,000 cash prize)
- Heartland Horror ($2,000 cash prize)
- Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award ($5,000 cash prize)
- Humor & Humanity Award ($2,000 cash prize)
- Best Premiere Awards ($2,000 cash prizes)
- Best International Feature Film Oscar Contender ($2,000 cash prize)
- Audience Choice Winners (Overall, Narrative, Documentary, Indiana Spotlight, Horror)
- FIPRESCI Award for Best US Narrative Directorial Debut
- Indiana Film Journalists Association Award for Best International Narrative Directorial Debut
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WAIVER POLICY: Please do not contact us requesting waivers or reduced submission fees. As a nonprofit organization, our annual operations and the process of viewing the volume of submissions we receive are very costly. Thus, waivers are only reserved for Indy Shorts and Heartland International Film Festival alumni. We strive to keep our fees as reasonable as possible, and encourage all applicants to take advantage of our early and official deadlines to save on submission fees.
We do not offer Student waivers, but we offer discounted Student pricing for all categories.
ALUMNI WAIVERS: If you have directed a short or feature film that has screened at Indy Shorts or Heartland Film Festival in the past, please email submissions@heartlandfilm.org with your film’s title and the year it screened.
Awarding a combined $90,000 in cash prizes for 2021 between HIFF and Indy Shorts, Heartland Film has bestowed more than $3.5 million to independent filmmakers since 1992 – the largest total amount awarded by any film festival in North America.
*Indy Shorts has earned the special designation of being a qualifying festival for the Annual Academy Awards® within the Short Films category. This means that the winner of the Grand Prize for Best Narrative Short Film, Best Documentary Short Film, and Best Animated Short Film will qualify for consideration in the Short Films category of the Annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.
Grand Prize for Best Narrative Feature $20,000
Grand Prize for Best Documentary Feature $20,000
The Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award $5,000
Best Narrative Feature Premiere $2,000
Best Documentary Feature Premiere $2,000
Indiana Spotlight Competition $2,000
Social Impact Award, Narrative Feature $2,000
Social Impact Award, Documentary Feature $2,000
Heartland Horror $2,000
Humor & Humanity Award $2,000
Best International Feature Film Oscar Contender $2,000
Audience Choice Winners (Overall, Narrative, Documentary, Indiana Spotlight, Horror) No cash prize
FIPRESCI Award for Best US Narrative Directorial Debut - No cash prize
Indiana Film Journalists Association Award for Best International Narrative Directorial Debut - No cash prize
Films selected as Finalists are eligible for Grand Prize Awards, the Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award, Humor & Humanity Award, and Audience Choice Awards. Official Selections and Finalists are both eligible for the Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award, Best Premiere Awards, and Audience Choice Awards. Indiana Spotlight selections are eligible for the Indiana Spotlight Audience Choice Award and Best Premiere Awards.
INDIANA SPOTLIGHT
We are excited to exhibit films with ties to the Hoosier state for the fifth year of our Indiana Spotlight Competition. Films in competition for the Indiana Spotlight Award and $2,000 must either include principal production (director or producer) or cast (leading actor/actress) from or currently living in Indiana and/or the film was shot in Indiana. Total number of category films to be determined to compete for one Grand Prize.
THE JIMMY STEWART LEGACY AWARD
The Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award will include a $5,000 cash prize for a single winner, selected from the Festival’s feature-length narrative and documentary titles. The winning film will best embody the ongoing legacy of actor and national hero Jimmy Stewart and will demonstrate the triumph of the human spirit through determination and the defiance of odds, humble vulnerability, and courage in the face of adversity. $5,000 cash prize.
RICHARD D. PROPES SOCIAL IMPACT AWARDS
Will honor films (Finalists or Official Selections) that showcase stories centered on the fight for equality, justice, or feature stories/subjects that have made an impact on society. One narrative and one documentary winner, $2,000 cash prize each.
HUMOR & HUMANITY AWARD
The winning film will best tastefully combine comedy and pathos to inspire filmmakers and audiences through the transformative power of film. Finalist and Official Selection titles are eligible. $2,000 cash prize.
HEARTLAND HORROR
The winning film from the horror genre will take home the $2,000 cash prize.
Please note that cash prizes will ONLY be awarded to the film’s director and a completed W-9 or W-8BEN are required for disbursement. Cash prizes may be donated to a nonprofit/charitable cause if approved by the director.