Indy Shorts International Film Festival, Presented by Heartland Film

Submissions FAQ: https://www.heartlandfilm.org/faqs ACADEMY AWARD® QUALIFIER FOR LIVE ACTION, DOCUMENTARY & ANIMATED SHORT CATEGORIES - SEEKING SHORT FILMS (running time of 40 minutes or less) FOR CONSIDERATION FEATURE FILMS, SUBMIT TO HIFF: Submit films 41 minutes or longer to Heartland International Film Festival at https://filmfreeway.com/HeartlandFilmFestival NOTE: Please submit your film to ONE CATEGORY ONLY. For example, if your film is submitted as an Indiana Spotlight Narrative it will also be eligible for consideration as a general Narrative short. Please submit to the most specific category possible (example: Horror genre shorts to Heartland Horror). Films across all categories are eligible for Grand Prize consideration within their respective category - please note that titles that have previously submitted to the Academy Awards are not eligible for the qualifying Narrative/Documentary/Animated Grand Prizes, but are eligible for other awards. If you have any questions about submitting please email submissions@heartlandfilm.org. COVID-19 Response/Planning: Please note that the festival went hybrid in 2020/21 with drive-in and secure virtual screenings via Eventive in response to COVID-19. Safety is our top priority, and although plans are in place to return to theaters in July 2022, the contingency plan will be a similar hybrid model of outdoor, indoor, and virtual screenings in the event of a resurgence. Cash prizes WILL remain intact regardless of in-theater and/or drive-in/virtual screenings. ------------ Nonprofit arts organization Heartland Film, Inc. will host the fifth annual Indy Shorts International Film Fest (Indy Shorts) to exclusively showcase short films (under 40 minutes in length) from July 19-24, 2022, tentatively with in-person screenings in Indianapolis but with a pandemic contingency plan for a hybrid virtual and outdoor event. All winners will play encore screenings at the Heartland International Film Festival in the following October. An Academy Award®-qualifying film festival in all three categories (Live Action, Documentary, and Animation short film categories), the winner of the Narrative, Documentary, and Animated Grand Prizes will qualify for Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run, granted they meet all the other requirements needed to qualify. Short films featured at Indy Shorts/Heartland over the years have gone on to be short-listed, nominated, and winners of Academy Awards®. In the past 10 years, 29 films have been nominated with 8 going on to win Oscars®. ------------ WAIVER POLICY: Waivers are reserved only for Indy Shorts and Heartland International Film Festival alumni. Please do not contact us requesting waivers or reduced submission fees. As a nonprofit organization, our annual operations and the process of viewing the volume of submissions we receive are very costly. We strive to keep our fees as reasonable as possible, and encourage all applicants to take advantage of our early and official deadlines to save on submission fees. We do not offer offer Student waivers, but we offer discounted Student pricing for all categories. ALUMNI WAIVERS: If you have directed a short or feature film that has screened at Indy Shorts or Heartland Film Festival in the past, please email submissions@heartlandfilm.org with your film’s title and the year it screened.