ACADEMY AWARD® QUALIFIER FOR LIVE ACTION, DOCUMENTARY & ANIMATED SHORT CATEGORIES - SEEKING SHORT FILMS (running time of 40 minutes or less) FOR CONSIDERATION
FEATURE FILMS, SUBMIT TO HIFF: Submit films 41 minutes or longer to Heartland International Film Festival at https://filmfreeway.com/HeartlandFilmFestival
NOTE: Please submit your film to ONE CATEGORY ONLY. For example, if your film is submitted as an Indiana Spotlight Narrative it will also be eligible for consideration as a general Narrative short. Please submit to the most specific category possible (example: Horror genre shorts to Heartland Horror). All films will be up for top 5 Narrative, Documentary, and Animated Finalist consideration.
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Nonprofit arts organization Heartland Film, Inc. will host the fourth annual Indy Shorts International Film Fest (Indy Shorts) to exclusively showcase short films (under 40 minutes in length) from July 20-25, 2021, tentatively with in-person screenings in Indianapolis but with a pandemic contingency plan for a hybrid virtual and drive-in event. All winners will play encore screenings at the Heartland International Film Festival in the following October. An Academy Award®-qualifying film festival in all three categories (Live Action, Documentary, and Animation short film categories), the winner of the Narrative, Documentary, and Animated Grand Prizes will qualify for Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run, granted they meet all the other requirements needed to qualify. Short films featured at Indy Shorts/Heartland over the years have gone on to be short-listed, nominated, and winners of Academy Awards®. In the past 10 years, 23 films have been nominated with 7 going on to win Oscars®. Heartland Film has officially signed on to the 5050x2020 Parity Pledge and 50% of the 2020 Indy Shorts official selection lineup was either directed or co-directed by women.
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WAIVER POLICY: Waivers are reserved only for Indy Shorts and Heartland International Film Festival alumni.
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. 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 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.
Indy Shorts has earned the special designation of being a qualifying festival for the Annual Academy Awards® for all three Short Film categories: Live Action, Documentary, and Animated. This means that the winner of the Indy Shorts Grand Prize for Best Narrative Short, Grand Prize for Best Documentary Short, and Grand Prize for Best Animated Short 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.
The fourth annual Indy Shorts event will bestow more than $31,000 in cash prizes across multiple categories, including:
• Narrative Short ($5,000 Cash Prize)
Academy Award®-qualified category. Five finalists in competition
• Documentary Short ($5,000 Cash Prize)
Academy Award®-qualified category. Five finalists in competition
• Animated Short ($5,000 Cash Prize)
Academy Award®-qualified category. Five finalists in competition
• High School Film Competition (HSFC) ($2,000 Summer White Lynch Memorial Grand Prize, Underwritten by Gary D. and Marlene Cohen)
Four category winners awarded $500 each - Narrative, Documentary, Animated, Indiana
• Indiana Spotlight Competition ($1,500 Cash Prize)
• Jenni Berebitsky Legacy Award ($1,800 Cash Prize)
• Heartland Horror Award ($1,000 Cash Prize)
• Best Comedy Short ($1,000 Cash Prize)
• Best Directorial Debut ($1,000 Cash Prize)
• Best Student Film Awards ($1,000 Cash Prize each)
Categories of Narrative, Documentary, Animated, Indiana. Films made at the college, university, and conservatory level.
• Audience Choice Awards in the Narrative, Documentary, Animated, Indiana Spotlight, Comedy, Heartland Horror, High School categories ($250 each)