Events

07

OCT 2026

HFF35 Festival Preview Screening: First Five

Scottish Rite Cathedral | Theater

Tip off the 35th Heartland Film Festival with the World Premiere of "First Five," a documentary about Coach Bob Knight’s first recruiting class at Indiana University.

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08

OCT 2026

HFF35 Opening Night: JIMMY

Scottish Rite Cathedral | Theater

Opening Night is currently sold out. We may have a limited number of additional tickets become available as we get closer to the event. If you’d like to be notified when tickets are released, please complete our Waitlist Form.

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08

OCT 2026

Heartland Film Festival

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Indy Art Center, Kan-Kan Cinema, Living Room Theaters, Newfields & The Scottish Rite Cathedral.

The fall festival returns for the 35th year this October 8-18!

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09

OCT 2026

HFF35 Kick-Off Party

Living Room Theaters Bar & Lounge

Create film friendships and new bonds over music and appetizers at our annual Kick-Off Party! Admission includes one drink ticket and complimentary appetizer

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12

OCT 2026

Easterseals Disability Film Challenge

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

Celebrate the 13th anniversary of the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, where filmmakers, both with and without disabilities, collaborate in a five-day filmmaking contest to tell unique stories that embrace diverse forms of disability.

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14

OCT 2026

HFF35 Centerpiece Screening: Wild Horse Nine

The Tobias Theater at Newfields

The core of the Heartland Film Festival, presented by IndyStar LOCALiQ, is "Wild Horse Nine" from Searchlight Pictures. John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell and Parker Posey star in this dark comedy about CIA agents who face a trust-testing mission from Santiago to Easter Island during 1973 in Chile.

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17

OCT 2026

PitchDox Main Event

Kan-Kan Cinema

PitchDox, presented by Hoodox, connects Indiana documentary filmmakers and their ideas with funders, fellow filmmakers, and future audiences.

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18

OCT 2026

HFF35 Awards Brunch

Tinker House Events

Celebrate the films and filmmakers that make the Heartland Film Festival what it is at the 2026 Awards Brunch!

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18

OCT 2026

HFF35 Closing Night: The Debut

When Mona Friedman (Julianne Moore) is cast in a bit part at a small community theater, she transforms from a shy, unassuming housewife into a zealous method actor willing to do anything to protect the artistic integrity of her marginal role—even if it means waging war against the show’s domineering director (Paul Giamatti). Special presentation of A24.

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