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Jeffrey Sparks

"We didn't know what we were doing at the beginning," Sparks says. "And honestly, there's something to be said for that, because we didn't try to duplicate other film festivals. We wanted to be about celebrating filmmakers and their work—filmmakers first, their work second. It's about the writer and the director. So we wanted to give a good, big cash prize."

They got $100,000 in funding, and Sparks and friends were quickly on to something big. Independent filmmakers certainly appreciate the awards they pick up at festivals, but without money, they can't go back and make more movies. That's why Heartland has always focused on giving significant cash prizes to the filmmakers it recognizes.

"I don't know a lot of great things, but carving out that niche really helped us to get noticed," says Sparks. "But it wasn't just about the money for the filmmakers. From the beginning, we said it's about affecting culture, having a positive impact."

The first Heartland Film Festival was held in Indianapolis in 1991, attracting about 2,500 attendees to its multiple screenings. That has grown to a nine-day event this year, October 16-24, and is expected to draw some 22,000 moviegoers to various screenings of 37 Official Selection films and a few other special events.

while celebrating indie filmmakers and their movies was a good idea, Sparks and his friends soon found that much of the public wasn't paying attention. So they decided to start recognizing major theatrical releases to increase the recognition factor.

"When you start talking about independent films that most people haven't heard of, that didn't help [in trying to raise the festival's profile]," Sparks says. "But when you can say, 'Hey, we honored Forrest Gump and Babe,' people start to get what you're doing."

Thus was born the idea of the Truly Moving Pictures award, which Heartland gives to major films before they release. There's no cash prize—the big studios don't need the money—but it's a recognition that the studios covet when trying to market to an audience that appreciates hopeful, inspirational films. (For a complete list of Truly Moving Pictures, click here.)

"It's a great phrase [Truly Moving Pictures] because people love talking about movies that moved them," Sparks says. "Now we've got a 'descriptive' of what we do. The problems I had before of telling people what we're about started to fall into place. Studios started using it more and more."

Studios are not only using it to promote their theatrical releases, but also by putting the Truly Moving Pictures logo on their DVD releases as a marketing technique.

When describing what Heartland is, it's also important to note what it isn't. The movies it lauds are not necessarily "safe for the whole family," though most are. Some of the films are edgy and tackle difficult content, but the theme—"artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life"—remains intact.

And while Sparks is a devout Christian, as are many of the co-founders and those working with Heartland today, it's not a Christian film festival. Films with Christian themes and by Christian filmmakers are frequently among those honored, but "Christian content" is not among the criteria for Heartland.

Sparks elaborates: "We fight with the Coasts on the mentality about Heartland. I don't want to say we fight with 'the industry,' because it's more about the Coasts. They assume because it's 'Heartland' that it's 'family' or 'conservative' or 'Christian' or—and the 'ors' go on and on. But that's not what we are.

"The assumptions are very frustrating at times. We do have films that are family-friendly and kid-friendly. We have films that have a faith walk from time to time. But that's not what we are."

Sparks adds, "I don't mind personally talking about my faith, but Heartland is not a Christian organization. We have people of faith who are connected with us, and we have people connected with us who aren't people of faith."

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