Just because a film is short on running time doesn’t mean that it lacks for punch.
With less time to work with, filmmakers have to condense the action, thrills, twists and emotion of their productions to fit the format. The result is poignant, moving work that wastes nothing in its storytelling, said Julia Ricci, film programming coordinator for Heartland Film.
“Sometimes, you wouldn’t think you could tell a good story within 5, 10, 15 minutes. But if a short film is done well, it can really pack a punch and tell a compelling story in a short amount of time,” she said.
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Heartland Film is paying special attention to short documentaries and narratives with its newest event. From today through Sunday, the Indy Shorts International Film Festival will feature 111 movies — all less than 40 minutes in length.
An offshoot of the immensely popular Heartland International Film Festival held each October, this new event will allow filmmakers who specialize in punchy short movies to have a showcase all their own.
Heartland Film, the Indianapolis based arts organization, has been staging the Heartland International Film Festival since 1992. The event brings hundreds of unique features, documentaries, live action and animated work together, all under the mission of inspiring people through film.
In years past, both full-length and short films have been showcased. But the festival has grown immensely, Beasley said. More than 1,000 films were submitted to the festival in 2017, a majority of which were shorts.
The idea for Indy Shorts was driven by Craig Prater, who took over as president of Heartland Film in 2016.
“A good maybe 70 percent of our submissions are short films,” said Christiana Beasley, events manager for Heartland Film. “Because Heartland is growing just as a festival in general, we decided to create an independent short festival so we can really highlight independent short film specifically, but also because of the growth. That demand is really high, and people tend to like shorts.”
Because they were essentially pulling short films from the larger festival, creating this new event was fairly easy, Beasley said. They lined up a venue for Indy Shorts at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, where films will be screened in different venues throughout the campus.
Lining up volunteers, organizing special events and doing other logistic-type planning mirrored the work that goes into the Heartland International Film Festival.
“A lot of it is just duplicating the process of the feature festival,” Beasley said.
Indy Shorts will include a wide variety of shorter films, including documentaries, narratives and animated tales. Films include stars such as Helena Bonham Carter, Marisa Tomei and Minnie Driver.
The selections will be broken up into featured programs, with people able to attend a screening of the finalist films, the official selections for this year, and the high school film competition.
The festival will also featured selections from the Joyce Forum, which portray the Jewish experience from different perspectives, and the 9FilmFest, with award-winning films from France, India and Belgium, among other countries.
One of the most exciting program is the Indiana Spotlight, which showcases Hoosier filmmakers specifically.
Hannah West’s documentary “Reversal” will be featured as part of the Indiana Spotlight. The New Palestine resident created a story revolving around Ian Pomfret, a local mixed martial arts fighter who struggled with substance abuse but used his sport to turn his life around.
For West, the opportunity to have her work seen at such a prestigious event is invaluable. Shedding light on what Indiana filmmakers are doing introduces people to some amazing art doing done across the state.
“It’s really special, because you get to see all of these other filmmakers, and see what the film community has to offer in Indiana,” she said. “We need that platform to show that Indiana does have a film community, and it can be really phenomenal.”
Another Indiana documentary, “When Kids Wrote the Headlines,” spotlights the 23 years of work put in by central Indiana students through Children’s Express. Participating students published in the Indianapolis Star every week through the youth journalism program, and did radio programs with WFYI.
Over the time, they covered such major stories as Kuwait after the Persian Gulf War, the retirement of Supreme Court Justice William Brennan Jr. and interviewing Rosa Parks.
“No story was off limits for us,” Sygiel said.
Because the program is no longer in existence, the film is an effort to preserve the lessons and work that those students did.
“It’s no longer a functioning organization, but it was really important for us to save the lessons that those kids learned, and to have those lessons be articulated through their words and what they experienced,” said Lynn Sygiel, executive producer of the documentary.
Workshops on subjects such as mobile filmmaking and crafty stories will be offered throughout the weekend. The seminars provide local filmmakers and aspiring creators the opportunity to dig into the industry in different ways, Beasley said.
A comedy program, with comedians showcasing their best jokes, will highlight the importance of humor in storytelling. Shorts & Sips will feature film selections in a brunch atmosphere, with mimosas and pastries.
Organizers are also anxiously awaiting a special shorts-specific evening. Oscar-nominated short films including “Garden Party,” “The Silent Child” and “Sing” will be shown on the massive outdoor screen behind the museum in a unique twist on Newfields’ Summer Nights film program.
“This will be the very first Heartland Films outdoor screening, and that’s where Indy Shorts will highlight our past Oscar-nominated short films,” Beasley said.
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Indy Shorts International Film Festival
What: A special film festival devoted entirely to short films — 40 minutes or less — from all over the world
Who: Created by Heartland Film, as an extension of their Heartland International Film Festival held every October
When: Today through Sunday
Where: Newfields, 4000 Michigan Ave., Indianapolis
Special events
- Indy Shorts kickoff after-party: 9 p.m. today
- “Pitch Your Story” workshop: 6 p.m. Friday
- Summer Nights: 7:30 p.m. Friday; An outdoor screening of Oscar-nominated short films
- “Mobile Filmmaking with Suzy Botello” workshop: 11 a.m. Saturday; Learn about making unique films from Botello, founder of the International Mobile Film Festival
- “Script Read – Story Crafting” workshop and panel: 2 p.m. Saturday
- Comedy Program: 4:30 p.m. Saturday; Comedians will showcase their best jokes during a special screening
- High school filmmaking panel: 5 p.m. Saturday
- Awards After Party: 9 p.m. Saturday
- Shorts & Sips: 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday; Come watch the short film selections of the day while sipping on mimosas and snacking on pastries
Full schedule of films and tickets: indyshorts.org
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