Celebrating America’s Favorite Pastime with Screening of The Perfect Game at Family Moving Night

It’s all about baseball during this year’s Heartland Film Festival’s Family Movie Event as Heartland screens The Perfect Game on Sunday, Oct. 18 at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center (450 West Ohio Street). Based on a true story, this inspiring family film tells the tale of a miracle that happens, cementing an unlikely team’s place in history and changing their lives forever.

Armed with the dream of playing a real Little League game, the boys from Monterey, Mexico travel to the United States. After an unexpected first round victory, they find themselves on a once-in-a-lifetime journey. Relying on their religious faith, a warm-hearted priest, and their love for the game, the nine players and their coach embark on an incredible, record-breaking winning streak that leads them from southern Texas to Williamsort, Pennsylvania. The Perfect Game stars Jake T. Austin, Clifton Collins, Jr., Ryan Ochoa, Emilie de Ravin and Cheech Marin. This film is rated PG.

Sponsored by Printing Partners, the event will include a party with refreshments and fun activities for all ages following the movie. Doors open at 1:00 p.m. and the screening will begin at 2:00 p.m.

General admission tickets are $12 for adults, $7 for children (12 and under) and are available by calling Heartland’s toll-free number, 1.866.HFF.1010 or by visiting HeartlandFilmFestival.org. Limited seating is available. A service fee will be added to all online and phone orders.

Join us for an Advanced Screening of The Boys are Back

Inspired by a true story, The Boys are Back is a deeply moving, wryly confessional tale of fatherhood that intimately evokes both the fragility and wonders of family life. It follows a witty, wisecracking, action-oriented sportswriter (Academy Award® nominee and Golden Globe® winner CLIVE OWEN) who, in the wake of his wife’s tragic death, finds himself in a sudden, stultifying state of single parenthood.

With turbulent emotions swirling just below the surface, Joe Warr throws himself into the only child-rearing philosophy he thinks has a shot at bringing joy back into their lives: “just say yes.”

United by unspoken love, conflicted by fierce feelings and in search of a road forward, the three multi-generational boys of the Warr household, father and sons alike, must each find their own way, however tenuous, to grow up. Their story is not just about the transforming power of a family crisis — but the unavoidable grace of everyday life and love that gets them through.

Screenings are available nationwide with limited seating. Fill out the reservation form to request your seat(s), and we’ll let you know if we were able to save you one!

View Screening Locations & RSVP NOW

Press Release: Heartland Adds Two Films to List

Overture Film’s Last Chance Harvey and Twentieth Century Fox’s Marley & Me are the latest films to receive the prestigious Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award from Heartland Truly Moving PicturesTM, announced today by the organization’s President and CEO Jeffrey L. Sparks. From director/writer Joel Hopkins, Last Chance Harvey released in select theaters on December 25 and garnered Golden Globe nominations for both Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson. In Marley & Me, a lovable yellow lab who may just be the worst dog in the world manages to bring out the best in the Grogan family.

Golden Globes – WALL*E Wins Best Animated Feature

Already making countless top 1o lists, and even being heralded as the best film of 2008 by some critics, Truly Moving Picture Award winner Wall*E added yet another accolade to the list as it picked up the Best Animated Feature award at the ceremony in Hollywood on Sunday night.

Congratulations to the Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar release.  If you haven’t seen this charming, futuristic fairy tale, it’s now available on Disney DVD and Blu-Ray.  In fact, we’ve got a copy for one lucky winner who leaves a comment below!

See the complete list of Golden Globe winner.

Related:  Get the Wall*E Discussion Guide

The Heart of the Operation – Volunteers

Each year, Heartland counts on countless volunteers to help make the Festival happen.  These dedicated committees and individuals are the essential piece of the organizational puzzle without which we wouldn’t be able to bring you the Festival or any of our year round programs and events.

At the 2008 Crystal Heart Awards Gala, the program directly recognized and thanked these volunteers for their time and investments.  The video below features just a few of the many faces of Heartland volunteers as they share what it means to be a part of Heartland Truly Moving Pictures and how they define the difference they’re making for filmmakers and film-lovers.  Watch the video below, or here.

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Latest Award Winner! Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

In exactly one month, the latest Truly Moving Picture Award winner hits theaters. It’s Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, starring Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin as the first American Girl to get her own feature film, and it opens nationwide on July 2.

Kit is a resourceful young girl determined to help her family when they land on tough times in the midst of the Great Depression. Julia Ormond, Chris O’Donnell, Jane Krakowski and Joan Cusack round-out the familiar cast.

Check out the trailer for this fun family flick–it’s perfect for girls, boys, moms and dads!

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Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is also the latest FILM Project selection. The FILM Project is creating a one-of-a-kind cirriculum to pair with the movie and the book its based on. Learn more about FILM today!

Do you live in or near New York City, LA, Chicago, Dallas or Alpharetta, GA? Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is playing exclusive engagements in these cities on June 20–that’s a whole week before the movie hits theaters! Stay tuned for updates on how you can enter to win tickets to this exciting advanced screening–details coming soon!

Heartland Interviews: MARC ROTHEMUND

German filmmaker Marc Rothemund (born 1968) began his professional career as assistant director to Helmut Dietl (on Rossini), Bernd Eichinger (on Das Maedchen Rosemarie), Dominik Graf (on Sperling) and Gerard Corbiau (on Farinelli). In 1998, he obtained the Bavarian Film Prize for best young director for his first feature film, Love Scenes from Planet Earth. With 1.7 million admissions, his second feature, Harte Jungs (Just the Two of Us), was one of the most successful films of 1999. His TV thriller Das Duo-Der Liebhaber won the VFF TV Movie Award in 2003.

With Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) was a very important movie to Rothemund because, as he explained, his parents divorced when he was young and his mother raised him. “I went [to the movie] by myself,” he said. “It touched me so much I watched it three times that day.” He said this was the first film in his recollection that demonstrated just how much cinema can involve you in stories and relate to real lives.

Comedies
To Rothemund, the emotions of laughter and tears “belong together.” Thus, his next three film choices are all comedies. What’s Up Doc? (1972) is a screwball comedy by Peter Bogdanovich that stars Barbara Streisand and Ryan O’Neal. Another of Rothemund’s choices is The Blues Brothers (1980), because it is a fun mix of music, comedy, anarchy and “destroying.” “I love the destroying,” Rothemund said.

The final comedic pick is Arsenic & Old Lace (1944); Frank Capra’s classic comedy/thriller, which stars a young Cary Grant. Rothemund said he has watched this film 30 – 40 times in his lifetime and said he still laughs just as hard as ever.

Dramas
Finally, Rothemund talked about the films that kept him thinking a long time after he finished watching them. He described these Truly Moving Pictures as “three movies about human rights and values.”

Sue (1997) is a serious story of a woman struggling with mental and emotional issues as she seeks stability in human relationships.

The Deer Hunter (1978) is a famous Robert DeNiro film about the post-war effects on a Vietnam veteran and the people around him.

Dead Man Walking (1995) is based on the true story of Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Sarandon) and her interactions with a violent death row inmate (Sean Penn).

Passion
Rothemund summarized the criteria of his most Truly Moving Pictures in a single word: passion. “For me, the most important thing in filmmaking is passion,” he said. Each of these films, in his mind, powerfully demonstrated the passion of both the actors and the filmmakers, in front of and behind the camera.