The 35th Heartland Film Festival runs October 8 to 18, 2026 across six Indianapolis venues and a streaming hub. The organiser’s release counts 100 films. The theatre schedule on the festival’s sales system carried 261 dated entries when this desk read it on 23 September 2026, 259 of them inside the eleven days.
The published price ladder
The organiser publishes three single-ticket lines. A theater screening is $13. A virtual screening is $15. Premium events run $10 to $20. The festival preview screening of First Five on Wednesday, October 7 at the Scottish Rite Cathedral carries a $25 ticket.
Heartland Film members receive 20 percent off tickets and Fest Passes.
The pass products and the exclusion
The festival sells four pass products beside the single tickets. The VIP Fest Pass is $220 for one ticket to any theater screening plus access to stream all available films. The Duo VIP Fest Pass is $430 for two theater tickets plus streaming access. The Theater 10-Pack is $120 for ten in-person screenings. The Streaming 10-Pack is $140 for ten virtual screenings. Member prices run 20 percent lower on each.
Passes and ticket packs exclude Premium Events. The release names those as Opening Night, Centerpiece, Closing Night, the Kick-Off Party and the Awards Brunch. A reader who wants all five buys them singly.
The pass page carries one condition that decides a pass’s value. Every pass must be redeemed for individual tickets to ensure admission. The organiser reserves the right to treat a seat as forfeited and reissue the ticket when the holder is not scanned in by the start time.
The calendar the room sits inside
The eleven days load unevenly. This desk counted the published schedule on 23 September 2026. Saturday 10 October carries 33 entries, Sunday 11 October 29, Saturday 17 October 38 and Sunday 18 October 23. The midweek run carries 19 on Monday 12 October, 23 on Tuesday 13 October, 19 on Wednesday 14 October and 23 on Thursday 15 October.
Opening Night is JIMMY on Thursday 8 October at 6:30 PM at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, and the listing reads sold out. The preview screening of First Five runs Wednesday 7 October at 7:00 PM at the same venue. Closing Night is The Debut on Sunday 18 October at 6:00 PM. Two further entries read sold out on 23 September 2026: The Only Living Pickpocket in New York and Union County. The sold-out and limited-ticket flags move between reads, so confirm them on the schedule before ordering.
The venues on the published record
The release lists six venues with addresses and run dates. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at the Square at 3898 Lafayette Rd carries the longest published run, from October 9 to 19. The Living Room Theaters at 745 E 9th St, Suite 810 runs October 10 to 19. The Scottish Rite Cathedral at 650 N Meridian St runs October 7 and 8. Newfields at 4000 N Michigan Rd runs October 9, 11, 12, 15 and 19. The Indy Art Center at 820 E 67th St runs October 12 to 18. The Kan-Kan Cinema at 1258 Windsor St runs October 15 to 19.
Straight-line distances from 1 N. Meridian St., read on 23 September 2026: the Scottish Rite Cathedral 975 m, the Living Room Theaters 1,784 m and the Kan-Kan Cinema 3,092 m.
What the festival publishes for the room
The festival site carries no lodging page. Its published pages carry no organiser room rate and no block deadline for attendees. The site’s one lodging benefit is the filmmaker line: one complimentary hotel night for filmmakers, dependent on availability.
The room is the larger line on an eleven-day trip. hotelhaggle publishes its own terms for that ask. One request reaches 50 or more hotels, and each hotel decides to accept, counter or decline. Responses typically arrive within 24 to 72 hours, and the platform charges nothing to submit. The brand publishes savings of 15 to 40 percent off published rates across 103,857+ hotels in 46 states.
The brand also publishes its restricted states. Florida, Hawaii, Iowa and Washington restrict name-your-price bookings under state travel laws. Indiana is not among them.
The ask to put in the request
Name all eleven nights. Name the Sunday-to-Thursday block inside them. Ask for the room rate beside the ticket spend on the same stay, and ask whether the rate holds across both Saturdays or moves between them.
Ask for the cancellation cut-off date and any attrition terms in writing. A festival with no published block leaves those terms open for the guest to set.
