Entertainment Magazine: Film: Heartland Film Festival: 2012

The final numbers are in as Heartland Truly Moving Pictures wrapped its 21st Annual Heartland Film Festival

By Madelyn Ritrosky

As is the case every year now, the Heartland Film Festival broke the previous year’s record for total number of films submitted:  an amazing 1,240 films vied for consideration – 45% more than 2011 – and 118 of those films were selected for the festival. Here are some of those interesting films from the 2012 Heartland Film Festival.

A few short weeks following the 21st Annual Heartland Film Festival, leaders of the organization are calling it a smashing success, adding that the Festival ended on a high note for Festival-goers and filmmakers.

Over 90 filmmakers from 24 countries were in attendance throughout the Festival as 119 American and international films were screened and more than $140,000 in cash prizes was distributed to award winners.

The Festival experienced sell-out special events and screenings, with a 5.7 percent overall growth in screening attendance. The new venue at AMC Showplace Traders Point 12 experienced a 33 percent growth over 2011’s AMC Showplace 17 location.

Filmmaker Jason Jeffrey: Your Side of the Bed

It’s always a bit of a thrill when you get to watch a world premiere at a film festival. Not only are the filmmakers on hand to reveal interesting tidbits, but you know you’re the film’s first real audience. In the case of Your Side of the Bed, which premiered at the 2012 Heartland Film Festival, it was also the first feature film from a young Canadian writer-director-producer named Jason Jeffrey. His only other films are two shorts he made while at film school at Sheridan College in Toronto a few years back.

Sampling Free Samples: Interview with Director Jay Gammill

 Think quirky and sassy, with heart and bite.  That’s the new feature-length film Free Samples, which recently screened at the 2012 Heartland Film Festival. Free Samples features Weixler in the lead role of Jillian, a woman in her late 20s who has quit law school, taken a break from her boyfriend, moved back closer to home, and turned to drinking and biting sarcasm as she descends into a stagnant quagmire.  

Saints and Soldiers: Interviews with Ryan Little and Adam Abel

• Saints and Soldiers.  It’s a wonderful title.  If you’re thinking the 1940s and Frank Capra, that’s the right track.  But also think World War II combat in Europe. Saints and Soldiers has become the title for an evolving series of dramatic feature films set during World War II. Read Madelyn Ritrosky's interview with Ryan Little and Adam Abel about Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed.
• A movie has to be at least somewhat popular to have a sequel.  This is true with the two Saints and Soldiers movies, though the second one isn’t exactly a sequel.  They are both about World War II. Read Jared Winslow's interview with Ryan Little and Adam Abel about Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed.