Heartland Film Launches Building Fund at Ribbon Cutting

jchapman@heartlandfilm.org | 317.750.3902

(February 16, 2023) - On February 15, Heartland Film celebrated its new headquarters with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at The Sterrett Center (8950 Otis Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46216) located on the Fort Ben Cultural Campus. Hundreds of Lawrence and Indianapolis community members, including Mayor Collier, Senator Kyle Walker, Writer/Producer Angelo Pizzo, and Heartland Film founder Jeff Sparks, came together to support the local non-profit organization at the ceremony and open house. At the Ribbon Cutting, Heartland Film President Michael Ault launched a Building Fund with the goal of raising a million dollars to fund the second phase of renovations. 

The Historic Sterrett Center was built in 1931 and was initially called the Fort Harrison Service Club. It provided leisure opportunities to enlisted men including a combined military and recreational library. In more recent years, it was home to the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department. 

Thanks to the generous support of the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, Heartland Film made major renovations to the building, including the lobby, office spaces and bathrooms. 

At 8,200 square feet, the Sterrett Center is twice the size of Heartland Film's last location. This additional space is opening up new opportunities, and the Building Fund will go towards additional upgrades like a new sound system, projector, event tables and other renovations that will help make the new event center more functional for community programs.

President Michael Ault announced at the Ribbon Cutting that Frank and Katrina Basile made a leadership gift to Heartland Film towards the Building Fund. To honor this generous donation, Heartland Film will name the event space the Frank and Katrina Basile Event Center. 

"Heartland Film is incredibly fortunate to have the continuous support of the Basiles," said Michael Ault, President. "Their leadership gift is setting the organization up for a successful future in our new space, which has endless opportunities to bring people together around the love of film."

Heartland Film is a nonprofit arts organization that runs the 11-day Heartland International Film Festival in October, the Academy Award®-Qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival in July, the Truly Moving Picture Award and other year-round programs. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Heartland Film was founded in 1991 with the mission to curate, promote and celebrate thoughtful and engaging films from diverse perspectives. The films selected and exhibited all have one thing in common: they are entertaining films that do more than just entertain.

In 2022, the Indy Shorts International Film Festival made MovieMaker Magazine's Top 20 Best Short Film Festivals in the World list, 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, and Top 100 Best Reviewed Festivals on FilmFreeway.

For more details about Heartland Film's new location, building fund or programming, you can email the Director of Marketing, Jessica Chapman, at jchapman@heartlandfilm.org. Additional information can be found at www.Heartlandfilm.org. 

Heartland Film's 11th Annual Best of Fest presented by Edward Jones is running March 3 & 4 at the 100-year-old Historic Artcraft Theatre in Franklin, Indiana. Attendees will have a second chance to see four fan-favorite films from the 2022 Heartland International Film Festival, including "The Whale" and "Everything Everywhere All At Once," which have a total of 14 Oscar® nominations. Tickets are only $8 and can be found at www.HeartlandFilm.org.

Heartland Film is a nonprofit arts organization that runs the 11-day Heartland International Film Festival in October, the Academy Award®-Qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival in July, the Truly Moving Picture Award and other year-round programs. Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Heartland Film was founded in 1991 with the mission to curate, promote and celebrate thoughtful and engaging films from diverse perspectives. Over the years, Heartland Film has presented $3.5 million in cash prizes – the largest total amount awarded by any film festival in North America – presented 200+ studio films with the Truly Moving Picture Award, and showcased more than 2,000 feature and short films, including nine Oscar®-winning titles. The 32nd Heartland International Film Festival is scheduled for October 5-15, 2023, and the 6th Indy Shorts International Film Festival was held July 18-23, 2023. For more information, visit HeartlandFilm.org.

###