INDIANAPOLIS — At the Heartland Film Festival 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 had two films at the Heartland International Film Festival. He is the Executive Producer of the documentary Downwind and he stars in Hard Miles.
Audience Choice Award Winners were announced on Monday, Oct. 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 (The Body Politic), Horror (New Life) and Indiana Spotlight (Art & Soul: A Portrait of Nancy Noel).
The $2,000 Indiana Spotlight Award went to Liminal: Indiana in the Anthropocene.
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.
