The 35th Edition at a Glance
The 35th Heartland Film Festival runs 8 to 18 October 2026 across six Indianapolis venues. Heartland Film counts 100 films on its festival page. Its ticketing platform, read on 25 September 2026, lists 261 in-person entries, and 260 of them fall inside the eleven festival days. One preview screening on 7 October sits outside the run.
The 17 September release from Heartland Film splits the slate into 41 feature documentaries, 52 feature narratives, 24 World or U.S. premieres, 36 regional premieres, 24 Spotlight Screenings and 8 Indiana Spotlight films. The festival page carries its own line from the 2026 USA TODAY 10BEST Readers' Choice Awards, where the festival took Best Film Festival.
Daily volume runs from one screening on Thursday 8 October to 38 on Saturday 17 October. Saturday 10 October carries 33 entries and Sunday 11 October carries 29.
Five Premium Events, Five Prices
Heartland Film names five Premium Events: Opening Night, the Centerpiece Screening, Closing Night, the Kick-Off Party and the Awards Brunch. Passes and Ticket Packs exclude all five.
Opening Night is the Festival World Premiere of "JIMMY" on Thursday 8 October at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 650 N Meridian St. The ticketing platform opens it at 6:30 p.m. and closes it at 9:10 p.m. The single published bucket is Reserved Seating with the VIP after party at $75, and the platform carried the event as sold out on 25 September. The organiser's release gives tickets from $25.
The Kick-Off Party runs Friday 9 October from 8 to 11 p.m. on the second floor of Living Room Theaters, 745 E 9th St Suite 810. General admission is $15, and the release states the ticket includes a drink ticket and appetizers.
The Centerpiece Screening of "Wild Horse Nine" runs Wednesday 14 October at 7 p.m. at the Tobias Theater at Newfields, 4000 N Michigan Rd, at $15.
The Awards Brunch runs Sunday 18 October at Tinker House Events, 1101 E 16th St. The release gives breakfast at 10:30 a.m. and the ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $15 and include breakfast, coffee and a drink ticket.
Closing Night screens "The Debut" on Sunday 18 October at 6 p.m. at Newfields for $20.
What the Rooms Hold
The ticketing platform publishes two room capacities. Tinker House Events holds 230. The Living Room Theaters Bar & Lounge holds 75, so a party of 80 exceeds the published size of the Kick-Off Party room.
The platform also publishes ticket counts, read on 25 September 2026. The Centerpiece Screening had 148 main-floor seats left. The Awards Brunch had sold its 75 general-admission places. The Kick-Off Party had 14 of its 30 general-admission places left. Closing Night offered balcony seating at $20 and no other bucket. Two Saturday 17 October screenings were sold out: "The Only Living Pickpocket in New York" and "Union County".
What a Block of Tickets Costs
The organiser's single-ticket ladder gives theater screenings at $13, virtual screenings at $15 and Premium Events at $10 to $20. On the platform, 250 of the 261 in-person entries price standard admission at $13.
A Theater 10-Pack is $120 and works out at $12 a ticket. The member price is $96, which works out at $9.60 a ticket. Members take 20 percent off tickets and Fest Passes. The VIP Fest Pass is $220 and the Duo Fest Pass is $430.
What Heartland Publishes for Groups
The organiser's site carries no group rate, no room block, no cut-off date and no shuttle. The filmmakers page links Visit Indy for city transport and parking, and the festival publishes no parking programme of its own.
One lodging term sits on the filmmaker page: one complimentary hotel night for filmmakers, dependent on availability, through Sam Opsahl at sopsahl@heartlandfilm.org.
A group books rooms on the open market. The published planning facts are the six venue addresses and the clock on each anchor night.
Where the Venues Sit
Four venues form a downtown cluster. Scottish Rite Cathedral at 650 N Meridian St, Living Room Theaters at 745 E 9th St, Tinker House Events at 1101 E 16th St and Kan-Kan Cinema at 1258 Windsor St sit within 1.64 miles of one another. Tinker House Events and Kan-Kan Cinema sit 0.58 miles apart.
Newfields at 4000 N Michigan Rd sits 3.56 to 4.11 miles from that cluster. Indy Art Center at 820 E 67th St sits 6.19 to 7.06 miles away, and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at The Square at 3898 Lafayette Rd sits 5.57 to 6.53 miles away. The distances are straight-line measurements taken from coordinates for each published address.
Three Ways to Host Inside the Eleven Days
A film club can work the general programme. A Theater 10-Pack covers ten screenings at $12 a ticket, and Saturday 17 October carries 38 entries from 11:45 a.m. to 9:46 p.m.
A client party can take one premium event. The Awards Brunch room holds 230 and the Kick-Off Party room holds 75, and both carry a $15 ticket on a fixed clock.
An alumni group can take a daytime screening. The Family Matinee of "Fing!" runs Friday 16 October from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Indy Art Center Frank Basile Theater for $6.
Every festival venue is ADA-accessible, and the box office takes accessibility questions at boxoffice@heartlandfilm.org.