Experience all of the Indy Shorts 2021 Award Winners as chosen by the juries! *Note: There are no Audience Choice ballots for this program. Audience Choice winners will be announced after the festival concludes. The Winners Grand Prize for Narrative Short / Oscar Qualification ($5,000)<ul><li>Like the Ones I Used to Know</li></ul> Grand Prize for Documentary Short / Oscar Qualification ($5,000)<ul><li>Your Street</li></ul> Grand Prize for Animated Short / Oscar Qualification ($5,000)<ul><li>Homebird</li></ul> Indiana Spotlight Award ($1,500)<ul><li>Cutters</li></ul> Comedy Award ($1,000)<ul><li>Close Ties to Home Country</li></ul> Jenni Berebitsky Legacy Award ($1,800)<ul><li>A Concerto is a Conversation</li></ul> Summer White Lynch Memorial Award (High School Film Competition Grand Prize, $2,000)<ul><li>Sophie and Jacob</li></ul> Heartland Horror Award ($1,000)<ul><li>The Thing That Ate the Birds</li></ul> Directorial Debut Award ($1,000)<ul><li>Bruiser</li></ul> Narrative Student Short Award ($1,000)<ul><li>Plaisir</li></ul> Documentary Student Short Award ($1,000)<ul><li>Seahorse</li></ul> Animated Student Short Award ($1,000)<ul><li>Love is Just a Death Away</li></ul> Indiana Spotlight Student Short Award ($1,000)<ul><li>MTXE: Mental Toughness Xtra Effort</li></ul> High School Film Competition Narrative Winner ($500)<ul><li>Beth</li></ul> High School Film Competition Documentary Winner ($500)<ul><li>5 Years from Water</li></ul> High School Film Competition Animated Winner ($500)<ul><li>Sophie and Jacob</li></ul> High School Film Competition Indiana Winner ($500)<ul><li>No Human Being Is Illegal</li></ul>

December 24, 1983, 10:50 p.m.; Julie and her cousins ate too much sugar, Santa Claus is late and Denis, alone in his car, is anxious at the idea of setting foot in his ex-in-law's house to pick up his children. Les grandes claques is an early coming-of-age story that is as squeaky as it is poetic. In French-Canadian, with English subtitles. Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Justine Baillargeonjustine@h264distribution.com

Like the Ones I Used to Know

Christmas 1983. Julie and her cousins ate too much sugar, Santa is late. Denis is anxious at the idea of picking up his children at his ex-in-law’s.

A street in the industrial area of a German city, faceless, unobtrusive, unfinished. Warehouses, construction sites and car washes dominate. But little by little, the grey present of the street is being charged with its past, which is linked to one of the most tragic episodes in the history of reunified Germany. Are public memorials collective remembrance or collective repression? In German, with English subtitles. Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Güzin Karguezinkar@gmx.net

Your Street

How do we commemorate the victims of history whose stories trigger pain and guilt?

Struggling to make it in a big city, a young artist finds herself retreating into the rose-tinted memories of the village she left behind. Student Film: National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield, United Kingdom Heartland Film Alumni: Who Goes There? (2020) Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film.

Homebird

Struggling to make it in a big city, a young artist finds herself retreating into the rose-tinted memories of the village she left behind.

The Cutters Cycling Team has one of the greatest legacies in intramural sports. Inspired by an 1970s film and sponsored by national brands, the IU students who compete with the team show the utmost dedication and passion for their craft. Indiana Spotlight: The film focuses on the Cutters Team that raced in the Little 500 in Bloomington, Indiana. The director and crew are Indiana-based, and the film was produced by Indiana-based production company Blueline Pictures. Heartland Film Alumni: Stone’s pace, 2015; Not Pictured, 2016; Feel of Vision, 2019; Worth the Wait, 2020 Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Kevin Weaverkevin@thisisblueline.com

Cutters

The Cutters Cycling Team has one of the greatest legacies in intramural sports. Inspired by an 1970s film and sponsored by national brands, the IU students who compete with the team show the utmost dedication and passion for their craft.

Akanksha, a young immigrant (“originally from India but actually grew up in Saudi Arabia”) is dogsitting Timothee, the baby Frenchie of Instagram influencers India and Harry while they’re on a trip to India. Akanksha’s sister is scheduled to visit her soon—they haven’t seen each other in nine years. While she waits, Akanksha bonds with Timothee, enjoys the spoils of white money, has her friend Sophia over to engage in judgy hijinks, and muses over why she stays away from her home country. Student Film: Columbia College Chicago, Illinois Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film.

Close Ties to Home Country

Millennial immigrant Akanksha waits for her sister’s visit from India (they haven’t seen each other in nine years!) Meanwhile, she’s dogsitting the fancy Frenchie of Instagram influencers India and Harry, who themselves are on a trip to India’s namesake.

2021 Academy Award® nominee for Best Documentary Short A virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family's lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Heartland Film Alumni: The Lost Astronaut (2020); The Other Fab Four (2020) Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Whitney Skaugewhitney@breakwaterstudios.com&nbsp;

A Concerto is a Conversation

A virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family's lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

High School Film Competition Category Winner: Animated. This film will compete for the $2,000 Summer White Lynch Memorial Grand Prize for Best High School Film. 1939- Jewish Eastern Europeans scramble to escape, as the rising tide of antisemitism becomes Holocaust. Sophie and Jacob find themselves on a crowded cargo ship, aimlessly sailing through the Mediterranean. Food is scarce, the threat of death looms, and each country turns the Jewish refugees away. Although their homes were torn away, they find refuge in each other. High School: Etobicoke School of the Arts, Toronto, Canada In English, with English subtitles. Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact: Max Shohammax2k@outlook.com

Sophie and Jacob

Inspired by the true story of how my great-grandparents met and fell in love as refugees from the holocaust, Sophie and Jacob is a personal testimony of the bonds of love found in a time of unimaginable suffering.

Head Gamekeeper Abel discovers the Thing that is eating his Grouse and brings the horror back home to his already crumbling relationship with his wife. Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Sophie Mair &amp; Dan Gitshamsketchbookpictures@gmail.com

The Thing That Ate The Birds

On the North Yorkshire Moors, Abel, Head Gamekeeper, discovers the thing that is eating his grouse.

While Darious helps his father Malcolm lifts weights in the basement, the awkwardness between them is palpable, and that becomes more evident when they go for a father-son bowling outing and Darious is noticeably distant. After his father gets into a massive fight with a man at the bowling alley, Darious is forced to deal with seeing his father be so outwardly violent and aggressive. Heartland Film Alumni: Falling, 2014 Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film.

Bruiser

After his father gets into a fight at a bowling alley, Darious begins to investigate the limitations of his own manhood.

Eleanore, a naive American woman, journeys to an artist farm commune in the south of France seeking solace from her loneliness. But without the ability to speak French, Eleanore struggles to connect with her new community. She is taken under the wing of Sophie, a choreographer and lead gardener at the castle. Eleanore grows romantic feelings for Sophie, whose confidence and charisma are what Eleanore longs for. When those feelings aren't reciprocated, Eleanore must face the ultimate purpose of her trip and come to terms with being alone. PLAISIR is a tender comedy of errors and a queer story of finding yourself in unrequited love. Student Film: New York University, New York In English, French, with English subtitles. Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Molly Gillismollyg1121@gmail.com

Plaisir

A lonely American faces unrequited love on a farm commune in the south of France.

The seahorse is a powerful animal. It stands upright in the water and cannot sink, the swimming instructor encourages the children. A place in the human brain is named after it, the hippocampus, where all memory begins. There we archive what we cannot forget. It is the seahorse in the brain where the terror and beauty of life meet – and for Hanan it is where she stores her memories of the ocean. When the young Yezidi crossed the Mediterranean Sea with her family in a small rubber dinghy, she could not swim. The images of the deep blue sea and the fear of drowning are irrevocably burned into her memory. To reconcile her past she learned how to swim. But the waters still await her with haunting images of the ocean. »Seahorse« poetically explores the contradictions and unpredictabilities of remembrance. Student Film: The Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany In German, with English subtitles. Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Christine Duttlingerchristine.duttlinger@filmakademie.de

Seahorse

Against the prosaic background of a swimming course, a young Yezidi wrestles quietly with her fearsome memories of the Mediterranean Sea.

A tender story about finding love even amid utter decay. Student Film: FAMU, Czech Republic Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Travellingfestival@travellingdistribution.com

Love Is Just A Death Away

A tender story about finding love even amid utter decay.

Two Warren Central high school wrestlers talk about their lives and the challenges they face beyond the mat that have made them the men they are today. Indiana Spotlight: Director Emmanuel Terrell, executive producer Kathy Bruner, producer Joseph Ford, Tim Hudson, Kin Yat Yeung, and Matthew Krulik are all Indiana residents. Student Film: Taylor University, Upland, IN Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Kathy Brunerktbruner@taylor.edu

MTXE: Mental Toughness Xtra Effort

A portrait of two Indianapolis High School wrestlers, who face incredible challenges beyond the mat.

High School Film Competition Category Winner: Narrative. This film will compete for the $2,000 Summer White Lynch Memorial Grand Prize for Best High School Film. A true story of one asylum patient's struggle as her focus on returning home does not go as she planned. A period piece that highlights the travesty of those resting in unmarked graves from barbaric treatments. High School: St. Peter’s School, Yorkshire, UK Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Festival Formula Ltd.submissions@festivalformula.com

Beth

The true story of an escapee from a Victorian Asylum who returns home to find the family she meets isn’t who she hoped for.

High School Film Competition Category Winner: Documentary. This film will compete for the $2,000 Summer White Lynch Memorial Grand Prize for Best High School Film. When Mike Danesi retired 19 years ago, he started a project that was a little more ambitious than he anticipated: building a 19th-century wooden fishing boat by hand in his garage. “5 Years from Water” explores the motivation behind this extraordinary feat. High School: Blair Academy, Blairstown, NJ Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film.

5 Years from Water

Upon retirement, Mike Danesi's dream was to build a boat to sail across the ocean. 19 years later he's still working on it, though he believes he's only 5 years away from fulfilling his dream.

High School Film Competition Category Winner: Indiana. This film will compete for the $2,000 Summer White Lynch Memorial Grand Prize for Best High School Film. Juan Constantino is an immigrant in every sense of the word. Through the lens of a South Bend native and a dreamer, Juan showcases the impact immigration has had on his life and the community of South Bend. Filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic, No Human Being is Illegal, explores South Bend’s Latino immigrant population and how the non-profit, La Casa de Amistad, has served the growing community. High School: John Adams High School, South Bend, IN In English, Spanish, with English subtitles. Programming descriptions are generated by participants and are edited for length and clarity, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Heartland Film. Film Contact:Samuel Villagra-Stantonculpeocinema@gmail.com

No Human Being is Illegal

Juan Constantino is a Dreamer who witnessed the struggles of achieving the American dream. Now he gives back to a new generation of immigrants in the revitalized Indiana city of South Bend.

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