"Hide Your Smiling Faces" wins top prize at Heartland

"Hide Your Smiling Faces" won the top prize at the 2013 Heartland Film Festival this weekend. "The Network" won the award for feature documentary film, and "The Amber Amulet" and "Wrinkles of the City -- La Havana" took honors for narrative and documentary short, respectively. Here is the press release:

(INDIANAPOLIS) – This evening the 22nd Annual Heartland Film Festival (Oct. 17-26) has announced its four Grand Prize Award Winners at its Awards Ceremony at the Indiana Repertory Theatre.

The black tie event was emceed by Michael Grady, Indiana Pacers/Indiana Fever emcee and ESPN Radio personality, and introduced by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard. Special guest presenters included professional basketball player Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), radio personality Scott Hoke (WFYI) and Janet Allen (Indiana Repertory Theatre). Actor Vanessa Hudgens received the Pioneering Spirit: Rising Star Award for her role in “Gimme Shelter,” the Festival’s Opening Night Event film that held its world premiere on Thursday.

“Every year it’s exciting to see amazing filmmaker talent from around the world right here in Indianapolis,” said Tim Irwin, Heartland’s artistic director. “Our Festival does an amazing job of connecting films to audiences and audiences to filmmakers. Heartland is proud to honor the very best in international, independent films that do more than just entertain. As evidenced by this year’s winners, Heartland continues to grow artistically and redefine expectations of what inspiring film looks like.”

Winners and nominees include:

Narrative Feature ($50,000 Grand Prize)

• “Hide Your Smiling Faces”

  • Directed by Daniel Patrick Carbone, accepted by Producer Jordan Bailey-Hoover

• “The Forgotten Kingdom”

• “Life Inside Out”

• “This is Where We Live”

• “When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep”

Documentary Features ($50,000 Grand Prize)

• “The Network”

  • Directed by Eva Orner

• “Barzan”

• “Blood Brother”

• “The Genius of Marian”

• “Life According to Sam”

Narrative Short ($5,000 Grand Prize)

• “The Amber Amulet”

  • Directed by Matthew Moore

• “Liquidation”

• “Rhino Full Throttle”

• “Springtime”

• “The Sweatshop”

Documentary Short ($5,000 Grand Prize)

• “Wrinkles of the City – La Havana”

  • Directed by José Parlá and J.R., accepted by Rey Parlá

• “Atomic Dream”

• “The Circle”

• “Herd in Iceland”

• “How the Light Gets In”

High School Film Competition ($2,500 Grand Prize)

• “Uprooted”

  • Directed by Carol Nguyen

• “The Painted Girl”

• “Media Matters”

• “Paradigm”

• “Quicksand”

As an Academy Award®-qualifying festival within the Short Films category, Heartland is widely respected in the independent film community. Offering 282 film screenings, Q&A sessions with filmmakers, workshops and special events, Heartland gives fans the opportunity to see films from around the world and meet the filmmakers who craft them.

Visit HeartlandFilmFestival.org for tickets, press materials and additional information.