32nd Heartland International Film Festival Announces Winners & Presents $60,000 in cash prizes

"Simón" and "We Dare To Dream" win $20,000 Grand Prizes. Matthew Modine honored with Pioneering Spirit Award. Audience Choice Awards include "Brave the Dark," "Rustin," "The Lionheart" and more.

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(October 16, 2023) INDIANAPOLIS - The 32nd Heartland International Film Festival (HIFF) announced the 2023 award winners and presented more than $60,000 in cash prizes to recipients at the Awards Presentation at The Jazz Kitchen on Saturday, October 14. The 11-day festival concluded on Sunday, October 15, with a sold-out screening of "The Holdovers" from Focus Features directed by Alexander Payne and starring Paul Giamatti.  

In 2023, the Heartland International Film Festival was named one of the Top 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World by MovieMaker Magazine. Living up to this recognition, the 2023 Heartland International Film Festival's theme promised attendees "You can't look away" from the 120 independent films including 19 World/U.S. Premieres, 22 Special Presentations from major distributors and 7 Indiana Spotlight films. More than 160 filmmakers were in town for Q&As following their screenings. The 32nd edition of the festival hosted 238 in-person screenings/events, 6,500+ virtual streams and field trips for 1,620 Indiana students, ages from kindergarten through college. Pictures from the festival can be viewed and downloaded here.

At the Awards Ceremony on Saturday evening, major cash prizes were awarded to “Simón” from Director Diego Vicentini ($20,000 Narrative Feature Grand Prize), “We Dare to Dream” from Waad al-Kateab ($20,000 Documentary Feature Grand Prize), and “Hard Miles” from Director RJ Daniel Hanna ($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.

Matthew Modine attended the Awards Celebration to accept the Pioneering Spirit Award. He has two films at the Heartland International Film Festival. He is the Executive Producer of the documentary "Downwind" and he stars in "Hard Miles."

"Congratulations to all of the 2023 Heartland International Film Festival award-winning filmmakers," said Artistic Director Greg Sorvig. "Your films have captured the attention and admiration of our jury, and it has been an honor to showcase your work."

Audience Choice Award Winners were announced on Monday, October 16. The Overall Audience Choice Award went to "Brave the Dark." "Rustin" from Netflix took home the Narrative Special Presentation Audience Choice Award, and "The Lionheart" from HBO and TIME Studios received the Documentary Special Presentation Audience Choice Award. The Narrative Feature Grand Prize-winning film, “Simón,” received the Narrative Audience Choice Award. The Heartland International Film Festival attendees also voted on winners in the categories of Documentary, Horror and Indiana Spotlight. 

There was a tie for the Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) Best Special Presentation Award. "All of Us Strangers" from Searchlight Pictures and "The Holdovers" from Focus Features share this honor. 

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 and other year-round programs. More information about the festivals and programming can be found at www.HeartlandFilm.org.

The Pioneering Spirit Award honors individuals who embody Heartland Film's mission; those whose work has inspired conversation, ignited imagination, and shifted perspectives. The Pioneering Spirit Award honors individuals in the prime of their career. Past honorees include include Colman Domingo, Will Smith, Jessica Biel and Geoffrey Rush.

Matthew Modine is an esteemed actor, producer, and director whose expansive body of work has spanned independent short and feature films all the way to major blockbusters that have redefined popular culture, including "Full Metal Jacket," "The Dark Knight Rises," "Stranger Things" and "Oppenheimer."

The Pioneering Spirit: Rising Star Award is reserved for young and up-and-coming talent. This year's recipient, Dominic Sessa, stars opposite Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne's "The Holdovers," and delivers a phenomenal breakthrough performance in his feature film debut.

This award honors a person who demonstrates enthusiasm and dedication to working with or promoting Heartland Film. Heartland Film is proud to recognize Amy Pauszek as the inaugural recipient of The Spirit of Heartland Film Award. 

Amy embodies the gratitudes and values outlined in the criteria for this special award. Her continuous support and promotion of Heartland Film is appreciated by all the Heartland Film Staff. 

Barely escaping the clutches of the oppressive Venezuelan dictatorship, freedom fighter Simón must now combat his trauma and guilt as he builds his case for asylum in order to be able to stay in the USA.

As the Refugee Olympic Team prepares to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, "We Dare to Dream" chronicles their hopes and desires as they fight for a better life. Waad previously won the HIFF Documentary Feature Grand Prize and Richard D. Propes Documentary Social Impact Award for her Oscar-nominated 2019 feature "For Sama."

A strong-willed social worker (Matthew Modine) at a youth prison assembles a cycling team of teenage convicts and takes them on a transformative 1000-mile ride.

"American Fiction" is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain. Winner of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award. Special presentation of Orion Pictures.

Based on a true story, "Radical" takes place in a Mexican border town plagued by neglect, corruption, and violence, where a frustrated teacher (Eugenio Derbez) tries a radical new method to break through his students’ apathy and unlock their curiosity, their potential…and maybe even their genius. The film shines a light on the incredible opportunities children can manifest when an innovative teacher awakens their curiosity and allows them to discover the joy of learning.

"The Space Race" uncovers the little-known stories of the first Black pilots, engineers and scientists that became astronauts. Special presentation of National Geographic Documentary Films.

A world-renowned eye surgeon takes on the impossible task of saving a blind orphan's sight, only to be met with memories of his own traumatic past and realize his own strength can only take him so far. Starring Greg Kinnear.

Seventy-five years after the remarkable escape of seven Jewish siblings who evaded Nazi capture, the daughter of the youngest child embarks on an international quest to uncover answers about her family’s extraordinary survival and the outstanding bravery of the German strangers who helped them.

A dark comedy thriller about a director driven to madness during a regional production of Julius Caesar. Starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Malcom McDowell.

Liminal: Indiana in the Anthropocene is a meditative aerial film that illustrates our state as a microcosm of this new planetary epoch. Entirely filmed with drone cameras by Indiana Aerials and accompanied by an original score written by Fort Wayne composer Nate Utesch (aka Metavari), Liminal reveals a compelling and uncanny view of Indiana in all its features and forms.

Based on a true story in 1986, small town USA. Brave the Dark tells the story of a homeless teen struggling to find his purpose and the courage to confront the darkness of his past. When popular drama teacher, Stan Deen, takes on a troubled kid, Nate, no one quite prepared him for the journey he was undertaking or the dark secrets Nate is hiding. "Brave the Dark" is a heartwarming story about a teenager who finds his true father.

“Rustin” shines a spotlight on Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo), who, alongside giants like Martin Luther King Jr. and Ella Baker, dare to imagine a different world and inspire a movement in a march toward freedom. Centerpiece, special presentation of Netflix.

When Dan Wheldon, two-time Indy 500 Champion, is killed in one of the worst crashes in IndyCar history, it shakes motorsports to its core. Now, ten years later, Dan’s two boys, Sebastian and Oliver, follow in their father’s footsteps as they work through their loss the only way they know how: getting behind the wheel to race. Opening Night, ​special presentation of HBO and TIME Studios.

Barely escaping the clutches of the oppressive Venezuelan dictatorship, freedom fighter Simón must now combat his trauma and guilt as he builds his case for asylum in order to be able to stay in the USA.

With unfettered access, "The Body Politic" follows Baltimore City’s idealistic young mayor into office, where he puts his personal and political future on the line to save his beloved city from chronic violence.

Nancy Noel was a renowned painter, a visionary in her business, and an activist in her life. Nancy Noel created not just paintings, but a life that became her art’s inspiration. Through her images and their creation, we see the world as Nancy saw it.

A mysterious woman on the run, and the resourceful fixer assigned to bring her in. Their two unique stories inextricably link, as the stakes of the pursuit rise to apocalyptic proportions.

One night in his near-empty tower block in contemporary London, Adam (Andrew Scott) has a chance encounter with a mysterious neighbor Harry (Paul Mescal), which punctures the rhythm of his everyday life. Special presentation of Searchlight Pictures.

From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, "The Holdovers" follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). ​Closing Night, special presentation of Focus Features.

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, 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 10 Oscar®-winning short film titles. The 32nd Heartland International Film Festival ran October 5-15, 2023, and the 6th Indy Shorts International Film Festival was held July 18-23, 2023. For more information, visit HeartlandFilm.org.

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