The Heartland International Film Festival announced the filmmaker award winners for the festival’s 27th edition during its Oct. 20 GLOW: Awards Party at Newfields, 4000 N. Michigan Rd., Indianapolis.
The grand prize for Best Narrative Feature, and a cash prize of $25,000, went to Amélie Van Elmbt’s “The Elephant and the Butterfly,” produced by the Dardenne Brothers and executive produced by Martin Scorsese. The grand prize for Best Documentary Feature, and a cash prize of $25,000, was given to Alexandria Bombach’s “On Her Shoulders.”
The Jimmy Stewart Legacy Award, and a cash prize of $5,000, went to Indianapolis director Ted Green for “Eva.” The documentary follows Holocaust survivor Eva Mozes Kor.
Among the other awards, Kendall Goldberg’s ‘When Jeff Tried to Save the World” was presented with Heartland’s first FIPRESCI Best Directorial Debut for USA Narrative Film, and Dava Whisenant’s “Bathtubs Over Broadway” received the festival’s Humor and Humanity Award.
This year’s edition of the Heartland International Film Festival featured 18 films making their world and U.S. premieres and a film lineup in which 50 percent of its competition titles, all four of the Gala event selections and nearly 50 percent of their award winners were directed by women.
