I took Miss Thing (my 17 yr-old daughter) with me to see my first Heartland Film Festival movie of the 2012 season. She is on fall break so we were able to go to the “Festival Awards Shorts 1” early Friday Morning (Oct. 19th) at AMC Castleton. We had a fabulous time and I encourage everyone in Central Indiana to support the arts by attending at least one of these “truly moving pictures”.
From Right to Left: Jonathan Frey, Kipp Normand, Timothy Reckart, and a very nice Heartland Film Festival staffer.
Miss Thing thought it was very cool that we were able to meet two of the directors from movies we had just seen. It adds real dimension to a film when you’re able to meet the creative minds behind it.
There were 4 entries included in the “Festival Awards Winning Shorts 1”. The first was an animated stop-motion short entitled, Head Over Heels. The writer/director Timothy Reckart took a few questions (sorry for the bad picture quality) and I was fascinated to learn there were 25 frames per second! That adds up quickly in a 10 minute film. This animated short was a charming film inspired by his grandparents who used to bicker as an expression of their love for one another.
Kipp Normand is a documentary short from filmmaker Jonathan Frey featuring an artist who collects discarded materials – aka junk – and turns it into art. The short paragraph in Heartland Film Festival’s brochure states…
Kipp Normand shows the value of history to our world, the beauty of art to our minds and the importance of stories to our hearts….
Not only was Kipp Normand’s director answering questions after the movie, but Kipp himself was there! He grew up in Detroit where — he claimed — provided him with plenty of raw materials and inspiration.
The other two wonderful short films Inocente and It’s Such a Beautiful Day round out the “Festival Awards Shorts 1”. Inocente takes us into the world of an artistic homeless teenager living in San Diego whose colorful pieces provide her the opportunity to display and sell her art in an actual show. It’s Such a Beautiful Day mixes several different film styles to tell the story of a man suffering from memory loss.
Miss Thing and I enjoyed all four but she told me Inocente was her favorite because she could easily identify with the main character — the age similarity not the homeless part thankfully. If you’re planning to attend — let me rephrase that — WHEN you attend one of the amazing films in Central Indiana’s own Heartland Film Festival you might want to give the Festival Shorts a try yourself. You can review the entire schedule and purchase tickets online. The Festival ends October 27, 2012 so don’t delay.
