The Shape of the 2026 Run
The 35th Heartland Film Festival runs October 8 to October 18, 2026. The organiser calls it an 11-day festival in its 17 September lineup release, and its own festival page lists the same window. A Thursday-to-Sunday span puts two full weekends inside one booking window: Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October, then Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October.
The festival page carries the scale line. The 35th edition shows more than 100 independent films, and the release splits the slate into 24 World and U.S. premieres, 36 regional premieres, 24 Spotlight Screenings from major distributors and 8 Indiana Spotlight films. The organiser bills the edition as its 35th and credits 35 years of audience support.
Screenings Sit in Six Venues
The festival page names six venues. They are Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Indy Arts Center, Kan-Kan Cinema, Living Room Theaters, Newfields and the Scottish Rite Cathedral. The release adds an address and its own run dates to each: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at the Square, 3898 Lafayette Rd, October 9-19; Indy Art Center, 820 E 67th St, October 12-18; Kan-Kan Cinema, 1258 Windsor St, October 15-19; Living Room Theaters, 745 E 9th St Suite 810, October 10-19; Newfields, 4000 N Michigan Rd, on October 9, 11, 12, 15 and 19; and the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 650 N Meridian St, on October 7 and 8.
The organiser's ticketing platform holds the working schedule. Its event feed returned 261 in-person records on 25 September 2026. 260 of them sit inside the eleven festival days, and one preview screening on 7 October sits outside the run.
The platform files the 261 entries across sixteen named rooms. Six rooms at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at The Square carry 152 of them. Three screens at Living Room Theaters carry 78.
A Presenting Sponsor Signed for Three Octobers
The festival page presents the 35th edition as presented by Alamo Drafthouse Cinema at The Square, and it lists that property as the marquee sponsor in its 2026 sponsor block. The three-year term is the announcement itself. WISH-TV reported on 29 January 2026 that Heartland Film named the venue presenting sponsor for the next three years, and Michael Ault, president of Heartland Film, is quoted in that article on the partnership. The organiser's own news list dates the same item 31 January 2026.
Three consecutive Octobers now carry a named presenting sponsor and a host venue. The festival's prior-edition record sits on the same news list, with the 34th edition winners item dated 20 October 2025.
What the Organiser Publishes for Rooms
Lodging appears once across the organiser's published material. The filmmakers page offers one complimentary hotel night for filmmakers, dependent on availability, and names Sam Opsahl, film programming coordinator, at sopsahl@heartlandfilm.org. A sweep of all 35 addresses in the organiser's sitemap returns zero hits for room block, group rate, host hotel and shuttle, and the word hotel appears four times across the site in the filmmaker hospitality blocks on the two festivals' filmmakers pages.
Attendee pricing is published in full. The festival page lists the VIP Fest Pass at $220 with a $176 member price, the Duo Fest Pass at $430 and $344, the Theater 10-Pack at $120 and $96, and the Streaming 10-Pack at $140 and $112. Members take 20 percent off. The release prints the exclusions and the screening prices: Fest Passes and Ticket Packs exclude Premium Events, theater screenings cost $13, virtual screenings cost $15, and the five Premium Events run between $10 and $20.
The Calendar Shape on a Property Sheet
Eleven consecutive days, two weekend blocks, and a screening load on every day of the week is the pattern an October hotel calendar has to hold. The release's own per-venue dates reach past 18 October on four of the six properties: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema to 19 October, Kan-Kan Cinema to 19 October, Living Room Theaters to 19 October and Newfields to 19 October. The Scottish Rite Cathedral opens on 7 October.
Opening night lands on Thursday 8 October at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. All six venues are ADA-accessible by the organiser's own line, and the box office answers at boxoffice@heartlandfilm.org. The organiser publishes the festival as the number one Best Film Festival in the 2026 USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.