Sick of Summer Sequels? Hardacre Film Festival Gives Film Buffs a Cinema Substitute

Iowa’s Longest-Running Film Festival Celebrates 14th Year with Outdoor Screening, 3-D Short, and Worldwide Cinema

TIPTON, Iowa—A romantic comedy—but it’s a documentary. A dazzling 3-D short—but shot in the style of silent cinema. A comic book tale without a cape or magic ring in sight. A documentary on the night sky—shown under the stars. Movie lovers can expect the unexpected at the Hardacre Film Festival Aug. 5 and 6.

Iowa’s longest-running film festival, celebrating its 14th year, will be held at the historic Hardacre Theater in Tipton.

"We’re really out to upend expectations this year, to make the festival a truly interactive experience for people who love movies," said Will Valet, Hardacre director. "Hardacre patrons always get an opportunity to interact with filmmakers, but we’re taking extra steps this year, including our first-ever outdoor screening and our first 3-D film."

Hardacre 2011 will feature 24 films from all over the world—six feature-length films and 18 shorts. These include narratives, documentaries, animation and experimental films. The festival received more than 150 entries from 15 countries this year.

Among this year’s highlights:

Features:

• Boy Wonder—A gritty, graphic novel–style tale of a teenager who becomes a vigilante after his mother’s murder.
• Breaking and Entering—A documentary about people obsessed with breaking Guinness World Records, including a stationary bike rider, a juggling jogger and a man who catches grapes in his mouth.
• The City Dark—A stunningly photographed documentary about the disappearance of the night sky in urban areas, to be screened outside the Hardacre Theater (weather permitting). From the co-creator of the highly regarded "King Corn."
• Married in Spandex—A documentary about a young lesbian couple who travel from Philadelphia to Ames, Iowa, to get married—by a lady rapper in spandex.
• My Heart Is an Idiot—A "romantic documentary" about one man’s search for love, featuring appearances (and romantic advice) by politician Newt Gingrich, actress Zooey Deschanel and NPR’s Ira Glass.
• Norman Mailer: The American—An up-close look at the controversial, Pulitzer Prize–winning author, filmmaker and social critic.

Shorts:

• The Dungeon Master—Shane and his friends want to recapture their youth with a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Then someone shows up in a cape. Co-directed by Rider Strong of "Boy Meets World" fame.
• Fatakra—Naveen left India to chase his dreams in America. Three years and a recession later, his wife and son reluctantly join him.
• GoldenBox—Two videogame-obsessed twentysomethings must steal a suspicious golden package from a shipping facility before one of them moves out of the country.
• The Magic Man—A film in the style of silent cinema about a vaudeville magician who turns to the dark arts. To be shown in 3-D.
• The Secret Friend—An elderly widow receives regular, silent phone calls from a stranger—first with annoyance, then with giddy anticipation.

The complete list of films and a schedule for the 2011 festival will be released online at hardacrefilmfestival.com in early July. Watch for updates on the Hardacre Facebook page and Twitter feed (twitter.com/hardacrefest).

Several filmmakers will attend and take questions from the audience following screenings. Hardacre 2011 patrons can join a tasting of local wines and listen to area musicians during the Saturday session. Tipton’s Ridiculous Days sidewalk sale event will be held alongside Hardacre 2011.

The festival will give out awards including Best Feature Film, Best Documentary, Best Short Film, Best Student Film, Best Animated Film, Best Experimental Film and the Audience Award, which is voted on by audience members during the festival. Award winners will be announced in July.