Only one thing is better than having award-winning and acclaimed independent film coming directly to audiences in Johnson County.
That’s being able to see those movies for free.
The Heartland International Film Festival is coming to Franklin, as organizers of the state’s largest movie-centric event have tapped the Historic Artcraft Theatre as an official venue. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, audiences will get to see riveting films ranging from a documentary on the inventor of the jump shot to new footage from the Apollo 11 mission to an all-time classic Indiana Jones movie.
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To help local moviegoers make the most of the opportunity, the Johnson County Public Library will be giving away 600 free tickets.
“(Heartland Film) has a long tradition of putting on really wonderful events. Any time we can bring activities like this, activities that bring people in to our community and the Artcraft, I think it’s really wonderful for our community,” said Sarah Taylor, programming manager for the library.
The Heartland International Film Festival is Indiana’s largest and longest-running. More than 300 screenings of the selected films take place over the course of the festival, and more than 200 visiting filmmakers, actors and other industry professionals come to town for workshops, panels and other events.
Most of the activity related to the festival takes place on the northside of Indianapolis, or at Newfields, the home of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The southside hasn’t hosted festival screenings for 10 years, since the Greenwood Park 14 theater was an official venue.
Festival organizers and the Artcraft have worked together on a number of projects in recent years, starting with special screenings of Heartland films during the year and culminating in a mini-film festival held every February.
Without a presence on the southside in almost 10 years, now was the time to put the actual festival in a Johnson County location, said Adam Howell, director of production and events for Heartland.
“When (the Artcraft) first started, their desire was to bring something new and different and exciting to audiences,” he said during an interview in August. “That’s what we want to do with independent film, maybe bring something (audiences) have never heard of, but find the joy and magic behind.”
The county library system has been in discussion with the Artcraft and Heartland for nearly a year about partnering together on an event, Taylor said.
“They made it clear they wanted to get down to Franklin, and wanted to know what was really important to us. We really wanted to make it accessible for the community, which led to this partnership,” she said.
For the past two years, the library had put on an international film festival at the Artcraft, bringing a variety of different movies spotlighting different cultures throughout the world. With Heartland’s access to a wide variety of unique films, it made sense to expand on that idea, Taylor said.
“They’ve already built an audience, they already have all of these film options. Then we could provide the accessibility,” she said.
To claim a ticket, go to any of the four Johnson County Public Library branches and ask for one. Passes are limited to one ticket per person, and it is good for any screening playing at the Artcraft Tuesday through Thursday.
The library is also supporting independent film at the Artcraft in other unique ways. Prior to the Heartland films showing Thursday, the library is putting on a screening of “Howl’s Moving Castle,” a family-friendly animated film from Japan. Prior to the screening, the library has organized activities such as writing your name in Japanese and a performance from a Japanese drum group.
The event is made possible through a grant given by Festival Country Indiana, the county’s tourism bureau.
“We wanted to build on what Heartland was doing and put on some film series ourselves,” Taylor said. “It’s exciting to provide something fun and free for families who are fall break that week.
On Oct. 29, the library will sponsor a showing of “The Public.” The drama tells the story of a group of homeless individuals who, in an act of civil disobedience, take over a public library in Cincinnati in order to spotlight the problem of homelessness. Emilio Estevez, Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater and Jena Malone star in it.
The library has built an awareness-building panel to talk about homelessness in Johnson County and the area, to provide background information prior to the film.
“It talks about the relationship between communities and the homeless population and libraries, how everyone works together, so it was perfect for us,” Taylor said.
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Heartland International Film Festival at the Artcraft
When: Oct. 15-17
Where: Historic Artcraft Theatre, 57 N. Main St., Franklin
Cost: $7 per film
Free tickets: Johnson County Public Library is giving away 600 passes to the film festival screenings. To obtain your ticket, visit any library branch and ask for a free ticket. Limit one per person. This ticket is good for a movie of your choice playing during the festival at the Artcraft Theatre.
Film schedule:
Tuesday
5 p.m.: "The Keeper," the incredible true story of Bert Trautmann, a German soldier and prisoner of war who, against a backdrop of British postwar protest and prejudice by those who dismiss his as the enemy, secures the position of goalkeeper at Manchester City football club
7:30 p.m.: "Apollo 11," a documentary crafted from a newly discovered trove of 65mm footage, and more than 11,000 hours of uncatalogued audio recordings, taking audiences straight to the heart of NASA’s most celebrated mission that first put men on the moon.
Wednesday
5:30 p.m.: "Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace," which celebrates the splendor and grandeur of the great cinemas of the U.S., built when movies were the acme of entertainment and the stories were larger than life.
7:30 p.m.: "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." The intrepid explorer Indiana Jones sets out to rescue his father, a medievalist who has vanished while searching for the Holy Grail.
Thursday
5:15 p.m.: "When We Last Spoke," a lovable but quirky family deals with their fair share of hard times in 1966 Texas.
7:30 p.m.: "Jump Shot," the inspiring true story of Kenny Sailors, the developer of the modern day jump shot in basketball, and how he defined the game, but why the game never defined him.
Information: historicartcrafttheatre.org or heartlandfilm.org
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