Film fest brings Hispanic stories into focus – Heartland hopes emphasizing Spanish-language lineup and international flavor will draw a wide audience – Indiana

“Heartland, which opens Thursday, has always had an international flavor, with movies from a variety of countries and languages. This year, more than a quarter of the 47 films have a foreign influence, with a special emphasis on Spanish-language films that organizers hope will lure the local Hispanic community.

Jeffrey Sparks, the festival’s president and chief executive officer, decided the 2007 event should have a Latin theme. The result is five films in Spanish or with Hispanic stories, including two of the five movies in contention for Heartland’s $100,000 Grand Prize: “Bella” and “Mia Sarah.”

“This is actually the first year that Heartland has focused on Latin-based films,” said Malissa Escalante, a festival volunteer. “Hopefully we’ll get a pretty good turnout from the Latin community.”"*

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