Red Dog: True Blue is the winner of the Grand Prize for Best Narrative Feature, and Liyana takes the Grand Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the 26th Heartland Film Festival. The Heartland Film Festival has earned the special designation of being a qualifying festival for the Annual Academy Awards® within the Short Films category. This means that the winner of the Grand Prize for Best Narrative Short Film (“The Cage,” directed by Ricky Staub) will qualify for consideration in the Live Action Short Subject category of the Annual Academy Awards® without the standard theatrical run, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy rules.
“Congratulations to our international prize winners who came from around the world to share their powerful stories in Indianapolis,” said Heartland Film President Craig Prater. “Feature winners ‘Liyana’ and ‘Red Dog: True Blue’ hail from Swaziland and Australia as short film winners ‘The Cage’, ‘Edges’, and ‘The Wishing Jar’ represent the U.S. and Canada. This year the Heartland Film Festival hosted more film titles and filmmakers than ever before and it is an honor to recognize these films as the best of the best.””
2017 Heartland Film Festival winners
$25,000 Grand Prize for Best Narrative Feature
“Red Dog: True Blue,” directed by Kriv Stenders (Australia)
$25,000 Grand Prize for Best Documentary Feature
“Liyana,” directed by Aaron and Amanda Kopp (Swaziland, USA, Qatar)
$5,000 Grand Prize for Best Narrative Short
Underwritten by Heartland Film Endowment’s Sparks Vision Award
“The Cage,” directed by Ricky Staub (USA)
$5,000 Grand Prize for Best Documentary Short
Underwritten by Heartland Film Endowment’s Sparks Vision Award
“Edges,” directed by Katie Stjernholm and Jonathan Hiller (USA)
$5,000 Grand Prize for Best Animated Short
“The Wishing Jar,” directed by Denver Jackson (Canada)
$3,500 Best Premiere for Narrative Feature
“The Drawer Boy,” directed by Arturo Pérez Torres (Canada, Mexico)
$3,500 Best Premiere for Documentary Feature
“Defining Hope,” directed by Carolyn Jones (USA)
$5,000 Indiana Spotlight Winner
“Little Warriors,” directed by Sam Miro (USA)
$2,000 Summer White Lynch Memorial Award – High School Film Competition Grand Prize
Underwritten by Gary D. & Marlene Cohen
“Two of Five Million,” directed by Socs and DZ Zavitsanos (Greece, USA)
$5,000 Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award Winner
“Little Pink House,” directed by Courtney Moorehead Balaker (USA)
The Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award honors a single film, selected from the Festival’s feature-length narrative and documentary titles. This film embodies the ongoing legacy of actor and national hero Jimmy Stewart and demonstrates the triumph of the human spirit through determination and the defiance of odds, humble vulnerability, and courage in the face of adversity. Made possible by a partnership with The Stewart Family.