The 31st Heartland International Film Festival (HIFF) announced the 2022 award winners and presented more than $60,000 in cash prizes to recipients at the Awards Presentation at Historic St. Joseph Hall on Saturday, Oct. 15.
The 11-day festival concluded on Sunday, Oct. 16, with a sold-out screening of Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale from A24 starring Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink.
Throughout the festival, attendees were invited to get lost in 120 films, discover 14 U.S. & World Premieres, and meet more than 150 attending filmmakers. The 31st edition of the festival hosted 259 in-person screenings and events and virtually streamed more than 263,000 minutes of films at home.
“This year, we saw our filmmakers and attendees fully embrace the in-person festival experience again,” Heartland Film President Michael Ault said. “It has been an honor to showcase and celebrate these incredible independent films together in a theater, and I congratulate our winning filmmakers on their thoughtful and engaging films that resonated with our juries and audience.”
All three major cash prizes were awarded to women directors who were present at the Awards Presentation to accept their awards. The top prize winners included Hidden Letters from Director Violet Du Feng and Co-Director Qing Zhao ($20,000 Documentary Feature Grand Prize), Our Father, the Devil from Director Ellie Foumbi ($20,000 Narrative Feature Grand Prize), and Wildcat from Directors Melissa Lesh and Trevor Frost ($5,000 Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award). In partnership with the Stewart Family, HIFF is the only festival in the world to have an award in honor of beloved actor Jimmy Stewart with a cash prize underwritten by the Stewart Family. The Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award and $5,000 cash prize is awarded to one film in the HIFF lineup that best demonstrates the triumph of the human spirit through determination and the defiance of odds, humble vulnerability, and courage in the face of adversity.
The Audience Choice Award Winners were announced on Monday with the Overall Audience Choice Award going to Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, directed by Austin Bragg and Meredith Bragg (USA). Audience Choice winners in categories of Narrative, Documentary, Narrative Special Presentation, Documentary Special Presentation, Horror, and Indiana Spotlight can be found at this link.
The Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) presented Women Talking, directed by Sarah Polley (USA) with the IFJA Special Presentation Award and Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, directed by Austin Bragg and Meredith Bragg (USA) with the IFJA Directorial Debut Award. Pinball resonated with audiences and critics, winning both the Overall Audience Choice Award in addition to the Indiana Film Journalists Association Directorial Debut Award.
Butterfly in the Sky, like Pinball, received two awards at HIFF. Directed by Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb, the documentary about Reading Rainbow took home the Richard D. Propes Documentary Social Impact Award ($2,000 cash prize) and the Documentary Audience Choice Award Winner.
All the 2022 Heartland International Film Festival Award Winners can be found at this link.
The 32nd Heartland International Film Festival is scheduled for Oct. 5 to 15, 2023. More information on the festival and presenting organization can be found at HeartlandFilm.org.