The 2021 Indy Shorts International Film Festival, presented by Heartland Film (Indy Shorts), successfully concluded its six-day run on Sunday, July 25. The festival showed growth across many areas, including record numbers in attendance and nearly double the number of films programmed from previous years.
Indy Shorts guests were treated to a Short Escape at indoor theater screenings, outdoor picnic-style screenings, and virtual on-demand screenings. With sold-out screenings, continuous festival streaming from around the world, and more than 160 filmmakers participating virtually and in-person, Indy Shorts continued to grow in spite of the ongoing pandemic.
“Refreshing and rejuvenating! Indy Shorts was a breath of fresh air following the isolation of last year,” said Heartland Film President Craig Prater. “From lounging in gardens on picnic blankets to reclining in theaters with cocktails, our community and filmmakers were truly able to escape together into the world of short films.”
This year’s festival received 3,300 short film submissions which were narrowed down to 201 shorts that included 23 World Premiere and 18 U.S. Premieres from 42 countries. On Friday, the fourth annual Indy Shorts presented Academy Award-Qualifications and $5,000 in cash prizes to three female filmmakers: Annie St-Pierre (Like the Ones I Used to Know, Canada), Güzin Kar (Your Street, Switzerland) and Ewa Smyk (Homebird, United Kingdom). Festival award winners received a combined $31,000 in cash prizes and a coveted Iggy Award (Indy Shorts mascot “short” gnome).
Audience Choice Awards were just determined and Ewa Smyk’s Homebird is Indy Shorts’ big winner with both the Academy Award-qualifying Grand Prize and Audience Choice Awards in the Animated category. World Premiere documentary Street Reporter from Laura Waters Hinson won the Overall Audience Choice Award, Narrative went to Heartland by Jahmil Eady, and Documentary went to Learning to Drown by Ben Knight.
“Thank you to all the Indy Shorts filmmakers and moviegoers for your enthusiasm and support,” said Heartland Film Artistic Director Greg Sorvig. “With a record 201 films across 33 programs, I was exceptionally eager to see who the winners would be across our juried and audience choice award categories, and I’m impressed by the wide range of perspectives and stories honored. Special congratulations to Ewa Smyk and the National Film and Television School in the U.K., whose film Homebird won both the Oscar-qualifying Grand Prize for Animated Short and Animated Audience Choice Awards. You can’t ask for a better start to a festival run! Thank you to all of our filmmakers, jury members, and attendees for crowning this year’s slate of awards!”
Heartland Film also hosts the Heartland International Film Festival, which will be celebrating its 30th anniversary Oct. 7-17. More information about the Indy Shorts and Heartland International Film Festival can be found at HeartlandFilm.org.