Heartland Film Festival

Hoodox, a new Indiana-centric documentary streaming service, hits the internet this week.

A look at this year’s offerings from the socially-distanced showcase.

The short list.

“The winning short films for Best Documentary and Best Narrative will automatically qualify for the Academy Awards.”

“I was never in full agreement with decisions that were made by the staff after I left, and there were some bumps in the road,” says the Heartland founder.

First, that name. Bollywood. It may seem like a no-brainer mashup—Bombay and Hollywood—to those of us of, um, a certain age. But for a younger generation that knows India’s biggest city as Mumbai, the portmanteau might not be as obvious. We’re putting the “Indian” in Indianapolis. The city is a target market for Bollywood films […]

An Indiana-set Heartland movie, a bestselling author reading, and spooky music.

Episode 5 of the Talking IN Circles podcast from Indianapolis Monthly features a conversation with Heartland Film Festival’s Greg Sorvig. Heartland is celebrating its 25th year with a record number of films and entries. We chat Hoosier filmmaking, Star Wars, and celebrity sightings with the Director of Programming and Marketing.

How many of these locally filmed movies have you seen?

Ask filmmakers what movies they want to see. Go watch those.

In the age of Netflix, Hulu, and HBONow, where a movie night usually means sitting on your couch with a remote in hand, film-going is a becoming a lost art. But thanks to a growing number of film festivals and a dedicated group of local cinephiles, Indianapolis has been finding its joys all over again.

Now an Academy Award–qualifying festival within the Short Film category, Heartland has had two Oscar-winning short films over the past five years—meaning you may meet tomorrow’s Oscar nominees and winners.

About a year ago, Indy lawyer Bob Epstein looked around the country and realized there are about 60 Jewish film festivals—even one in South Bend—but that Indianapolis had never had one.

Eleven parties, festivals, and games you won’t want to miss in 2014.

Coming soon: Indy’s most prestigious movie festival and more than 100 films that probably won’t return to local theaters. Here’s a cheat sheet for taking it all in.