The following press release was sent to the Bloomingtonian Monday:
“For Immediate Release
February 7, 2022
Hoosier Films Annual Festival announces 2022 lineup, Festival to be held in-person March 24-27
The third Hoosier Films Annual Festival will be held in downtown Bloomington, Indiana on March 24-27, 2022 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and other nearby venues. The festival was established three years ago to highlight independent films with strong Indiana connections, including films with central cast and crew from the state, or documentaries with an exclusively Indiana-based topic.
This year, the festival includes three evening features: Chasing Rabbits on Thursday, The Addict’s Wake on Friday, and a pair of featurettes, The Dealer Smiles and The Paper Angel, on Saturday. Multiple short films are scheduled in themed blocks on Friday and Saturday afternoons. A trailer for the festival can be viewed on the festival homepage: festival.hoosierfilms.com.
The films come from a wide variety of genres, including comedy, drama, animation, documentary, romance, mystery, dance, and experimental films. Many students and graduates of Indiana film programs are included in the festival, including from Ball State University, Goshen College, Indiana State University, Indiana University, Purdue University, Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW), and Taylor University.
“We’re really excited to finally have this celebration in-person this year,” says Hoosier Films co-founder and CEO Meredith McGriff. “We shifted to a virtual format for the first two years to due to concerns about Covid, and while those online fests were a huge success, this was always meant to be an in-person event. This year, we feel there are enough safety protocols in place that we can invite folks to come see these films in the theater.” The festival venues will require proof of vaccination or negative test results, and masks must be worn during the events.
The festival organizers are still offering a virtual pass to the festival this year for those who cannot travel or do not feel comfortable attending in person. “It was wonderful to have people join us from all over the country – sometimes all over the world – for previous virtual events. We hope that family and friends or cast and crew who cannot join us in person will enjoy this opportunity to watch the films online. But of course, we hope that those who can will come out to support them in person,” adds McGriff.
The full schedule can be explored on the festival website at festival.hoosierfilms.com/2022-schedule. The in-person festival also includes workshops, receptions, and other social events and opportunities for networking.
Hoosier Films is a multi-platform distribution company that focuses on regional promotion of Indiana-based filmmakers, but distribution through Hoosier Films is neither required nor contingent upon submission to the festival. Further details about the upcoming festival and the history of Hoosier Films can be found at festival.hoosierfilms.com/about.
Hoosier Films can also be found on Facebook (www.facebook.com/HoosierFilms), Instagram (www.instagram.com/HoosierFilms), and Twitter (www.twitter.com/Hoosier_Films), and by following the festival hashtag, #HFAF2022.”
