Editor

For the 14th consecutive year, Heartland Film Festival® celebrated and honored some of the world’s brightest and most ambitious filmmakers at the annual Crystal Heart Awards Ceremony at Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday. Awards and more than $100,000 in cash prizes were presented to a record 24 Truly Moving PicturesSM. Heartland announced “End of the Spear” as the $50,000 grand prize winner for best dramatic feature and presented the award and cash prize to Producer Bill Ewing, Actor Louie Leonardo and Associate Producer Jen Clymer. Heartland’s $50,000 grand prize remains one of the largest single cash prizes awarded by a film festival.

Actor Judge Reinhold ("Beverly Hills Cop," "The Santa Clause," "Into the West") emceed the formal awards ceremony with special guests Adam Hicks (“The 12 Dogs of Christmas,” “Titus,” “How to Eat Fried Worms”), Alisha Mullally (“The 12 Dogs of Christmas,” “Bee Season”) and Greg Paul (The Stewart Foundation and President of Castle Rock Entertainment) as award presenters. Heartland paid special tribute to Producers Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins of Tollin/Robbins Productions ("Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story," "Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream," "Radio," "Coach Carter") with the Saab Pioneering Spirit Award for their creative spirit in filmmaking and for supporting Heartland’s mission. Tollin and Robbins have won two Heartland Truly Moving Picture Awards for “Coach Carter” and “Radio” and three Crystal Heart Awards for “Hardwood Dreams,” “Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream” and “Hardwood Dreams: Ten Years Later.”

“Heartland is thrilled to honor two extremely deserving filmmakers, Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins, with the Saab Pioneering Spirit Award,” said Jeffrey L. Sparks, president of Heartland Film Festival. “Mike and Brian first came to Heartland as young aspiring filmmakers in 1993 with a wonderful documentary. Since then, we have honored them with five Heartland awards. We thank them for their dedication to making films that enrich lives and for inspiring young filmmakers and Hollywood to follow in their footsteps.”

“Heartland Film Festival has played a significant role in our career,” said producer Mike Tollin. “Any success we have we owe to Heartland and Jeff Sparks.”

For the first year, Heartland presented the Vision Award. Sponsored by Vision Racing, the award recognizes an emerging filmmaker who shows vision in filmmaking. All awarding-winning dramatic, documentary and animated short films were eligible for this award. “A Kiss on the Nose” was honored as the inaugural Vision Award winner, and Laura Neri was on hand to accept the award.

During the awards program, a record 24 dramatic, documentary and animated shorts and features were honored by Heartland. Four films were awarded Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Awards for best student films while 20 received Crystal Heart Awards. These films were selected from 558 submissions for demonstrating excellence in filmmaking and for best meeting Heartland's mission.

The filmmakers honored with Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Awards for student films included: Laura Neri for “A Kiss on the Nose,” Jaron Henrie-McCrea for “Knock Knock,” Andy Nguyen for “A Silent Night” and Jeffrey Courter and Tim Sutherland for “Thin Ice.”

The filmmakers honored with Crystal Heart Awards included: Kelly Kennedy for “The Baseball Card Shop,” Simon Vaughan for “A Bear Named Winnie,” David Hunt, Patricia Heaton and Sarah Rush for “The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania,” David Mahanes and Brent Gudgel for “Dear Francis,” Wolfgang and Candice Bayer for “Earthling,” Bill Ewing and Jen Clymer for “End of the Spear,” Doug Hansen for “Five Children and It,” Don Bernier for “In a Nutshell: A Portrait of Elizabeth Tashjian,” Michael Husain and Dr. Jane Abramson for “The Innocent,” Oscar Torres for “Innocent Voices,” Norton Dill for “Kathryn: The Story of a Teller,” Jeff Garton for “Lift,” Michael Sporn for “The Man Who Walked Between the Towers,” Gary Wheeler for “Midnight Clear,” Owen Carey Jones for “A Mind of Her Own,” Sidney King for “Pearl Diver,” Laura Paglin for “Shadow of the Swan – A Composer’s Story,” Hank Rogerson for “Shakespeare Behind Bars,” Andy Collen and Amy Blumenstein-Collen with “Winter/En Hiver” and David Meyers with “Wood Diary.”

Heartland also honored 11 films selected as 2005 recipients of the Truly Moving Picture Award, which honors theatrically released films that inspire and enrich lives. "Cinderella Man," "Coach Carter," Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story," "Duma," "The Game of their Lives," "The Greatest Game Ever Played," "Ice Princess," "Mad Hot Ballroom," "Madison," "Millions" and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" each received a Truly Moving Picture Award designed by Mark Aronstam of Aronstam Designer/Fine Jewelers. Filmmakers on hand to receive awards included: Producers Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins for “Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story” and “Coach Carter,” Director David Anspaugh and Producer/Writer Angelo Pizzo for "The Game of Their Lives," Director Bill Paxton for “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” Director Tim Fywell and Producer Bridget Johnson for “Ice Princess,” Producer/Director and Writer Bill Bindley for “Madison” and Director Ken Kwapis for “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.”

Heartland once again awarded more than $100,000 in cash prize money to the winning filmmakers. The Crystal Heart Award cash prizes are given in honor of Max Simon by his parents, Melvin and Bren Simon, through the Max Simon Charitable Foundation. The grand prize winner received $50,000, and the Jimmy Stewart Memorial Crystal Heart Award winners for best student films and the Crystal Heart Award winners shared the remaining money. Filmmakers also received a Crystal Heart Award designed by Mark Aronstam of Aronstam Designer / Fine Jewelers. To date, Heartland has awarded more than $1.4 million to support filmmakers in their quest to create Truly Moving Pictures. Heartland’s cash prizes are one of the largest monetary awards given by film festivals around the world.

Gala emcee Judge Reinhold (lft) and award presenter Amy Reinhold (rt) pose with star Louie Leonardo, producer Bill Ewing and associate producer Jen Clymer from “End of the Spear,” the 2005 Heartland Film Festival $50,000 grand prize winner for best dramatic feature.

Photo by Rob Banayote / Banayote Photography