Submit a Film

Short films are designated as under 41 minutes, including credits. Feature films are 41 minutes and longer, including credits. There is no official maximum runtime for feature films, but we rarely program films longer than 2 hours 30 minutes. 

Heartland Film curates, promotes and celebrates thoughtful and engaging films. We pride ourselves on featuring story-driven films that impact the viewer in a meaningful way. This impact can be present in many forms, including but not limited to:

• Incites dialogue, passion or action

• Educates the audience on a new and important topic

• Changes preconceived notions or shifts perspectives

• Takes the viewer on a journey of self-reflection and discovery 

We consider a wide variety of genres. We look for a solid blend both message/story and artistic/technical quality.

Films submitted to Indy Shorts and Heartland Film Festival are judged on their overall artistic and technical quality. Each submitted film goes through an involved judging process, and is screened in full by at least one member of the selection committee. Films that move up through the process could eventually be seen more than six times by members of the screening committees, programming staff and juries. 

Please submit to one category only, and the most specific category possible. For example, if your film is submitted as an Indiana Spotlight Narrative it will be considered for all narrative awards and prizes, including the Grand Prize for Narrative Feature.

To qualify for Indiana Spotlight, your film must include one of the following:

• Director/producer born in or currently residing in Indiana

• Lead actor/actress born in or currently residing in Indiana

• Principal production took place in Indiana

A World Premiere means this would be the first time your film is shown at any festival. U.S. Premiere this means your film has screened outside the U.S. and this would be first time your film is shown in the United States.

No, your film does not need to be a premiere to be eligible for Indy Shorts or the Heartland Film Festival.

We accept university and conservatory level films in all categories and provide discounted submission fees for students in FilmFreeway. The Indy Shorts Film Festival has a High School Film Competition for students between 14-19 years old. You must have completed the film before entering your first year of university in order to be eligible. 

Due to high volume of submissions, we are unable to provide feedback on individual entries.

From a legal standpoint, you must license or obtain permission from the appropriate legal rights-holder for any and all trademarked and/or copyrighted materials included in your project before you can exhibit it publicly.

If your submitted project contains unlicensed or uncleared materials, it is the responsibility of the owner or owners of your project to license, clear or to otherwise replace these materials in the event that Heartland Film or any other entity chooses to accept the project for festival exhibition.

While you are not required to license or clear this material until that time, Heartland Film will not be held responsible for ensuring you have obtained licensing rights or other clearance for these materials at any point during the application process, nor will we be held responsible for the inclusion of unlicensed or uncleared trademarked or copyrighted materials held within the final version of your project. 

It is the sole responsibility of the entity or entities claiming ownership of the submitted project to secure licensing and/or permission from the trademark or copyright holders of the material in question. This includes music, stock images/footage or any other elements that could violate an existing legal trademark or copyright.

Projects that are accepted into Indy Shorts or the Heartland Film Festival will be required to sign a waiver stating that all materials contained within the project do not violate any existing trademark or copyright.

Quite often, rights holders offer reduced rates for independently-produced projects, so we encourage you to contact them directly to avoid any potential rights infringements.