29 Apr 2015

Hardacre Film Festival taking a break to focus on fundraising to save theater

By Will Valet

TIPTON, Iowa–The Hardacre Film Festival is taking a year off.

The staff behind Iowa's longest-running film festival announced today their decision to delay the next festival until 2016 so the group can help with fundraising to save the festival's namesake, the historic Hardacre Theater in downtown Tipton.

The nonprofit Hardacre Theater Preservation Association (HTPA) purchased the theater in February 2014 and has been raising money to renovate, restore and reopen the theater ever since. The group recently announced that the renovation will cost approximately $3.8 million.

Some Hardacre Film Festival staffers also volunteer with the HTPA and decided to focus this year on helping the group save the theater.

"It was a really tough decision because the festival has been going strong annually since 1996, and we want to keep that going. But we also really want the next festival to be held in the renovated Hardacre Theater," said Will Valet, festival director and HTPA vice president. "The film festival staffers are going to put their energy this summer into saving the theater."

The Hardacre Film Festival shows recent short and feature-length independent films from around the world. The 2014 festival was held in the Tipton High School auditorium as volunteers spent last summer gutting the Hardacre Theater. The festival typically is held the first full weekend of August, although last year's festival was a one-day event to accommodate the high school venue.

The Hardacre Theater Preservation Association is planning a series of summer fundraisers while applying for grants and seeking private donors to help reopen the theater. The Hardacre Theater will celebrate its 100th anniversary in April 2016.

"The Hardacre Film Festival has built a loyal audience over the last 17 festival events, and we can't thank them enough for their enthusiastic support," Valet said. "The festival will return, without a doubt. We just need to make saving the Hardacre a top priority this year."

The festival staff urge moviegoers to check out the many Iowa film festivals still to come in 2015, including:

  • Interrobang Film Festival, Des Moines, June 26-28

  • Snake Alley Festival of Flim, Burlington, Aug. 6-8

  • Landlocked Film Festival, Iowa City, Aug. 14-16

  • Iowa Independent Film Festival, Mason City, Oct. 23-25

  • Wild Rose Independent Film Festival, Des Moines, November

For more information on the "Save the Hardacre" campaign, go to thehardacre.org.

-- END --

23 Dec 2013

Hardacre Theater launches month-long online fundraiser

By Will Valet

Crowdfunding campaign will use funds to purchase the theater as a nonprofit; kickoff event Dec. 28


TIPTON, Iowa?The Hardacre Theater Preservation Association (HTPA) has launched a fundraising campaign to purchase the theater using the crowdfunding website Indiegogo. The campaign's goal is to raise $60,500 before Jan. 30, 2014.


The HTPA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is using Indiegogo to fund Phase 1 of its fundraising campaign, with the goal of purchasing the theater on Jan. 31, 2014. Phase 2, which will begin after the purchase, will involve raising funds to renovate and rehabilitate the theater.


The "Save the Hardacre" Indiegogo campaign will use a "flexible funding" option, meaning the campaign must reach its goal to receive the total funds donated. If the fundraising goal is not met, the HTPA will only receive 91% of the money raised.


"This is why it's incredibly important to meet our fundraising goal of $60,500," said Greg Brown, HTPA president. "While this is less severe than the all-or-nothing crowdfunding campaign we originally planned to use, meeting our goal will mean the difference between making the purchase deadline or failing to make it."


To access the campaign, go to indiegogo.com and search for "Hardacre Theater" or find the link at the HTPA website at thehardacre.org. Donors can give via credit card.


"Crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo are used to fund projects big and small and have a worldwide reach in terms of potential donors," said Brown. "This opens our donor pool considerably, but we need donations from local community members to really pull this off."


The purchase price for the theater is its assessed value, $96,100. One donor has pledged a $40,000 matching donation toward the purchase price. The Indiegogo campaign is designed to raise the remaining amount, in addition to $4,400 in campaign fees.


Campaign donations are tax deductible, and donors can choose from a variety of donor rewards, depending on their level of giving. Those rewards include free tickets to post-renovation Hardacre movies, T-shirts and art prints of the theater designed by local artists, and invitations to the Hardacre's post-renovation grand opening event.


Donors will also get special perks from local businesses throughout the campaign, including freebies and discounted items from local businesses.


Kickoff pizza party Dec. 28


There will also be a campaign kickoff pizza party Dec. 28. The event will be held at noon Saturday, Dec. 28, at A Place to Land, 523 Cedar St., in Tipton. The public is invited to attend and learn about the Indiegogo fundraising drive.


In addition to food and drinks, a "donation station" will be set up for participants to join the funding drive. HTPA board members will be on hand to answer questions and thank donors and those interested in volunteering to save the Hardacre.


"This event is our way of thanking community members for the incredible support we've received in the past year," said Brown. "We want to bring as many people together in the community as possible and thank them for joining our cause."


For more information, go to thehardacre.org.


--END--

06 Jul 2010

News from the Hardacre Film Festival of Tipton, Iowa

By Will Valet

Hardacre Film Festival 2010:

Independent Film Returns to Iowa's Longest-Running Festival

TIPTON, Iowa?Stuck elevators, foul balls and the world's largest lava lamp are among the filmed subjects of this year's Hardacre Film Festival. Iowa's longest-running film festival, celebrating its 13th year, will be held Friday and Saturday, August 6 and 7, at the historic Hardacre Theater in Tipton.

"We're really excited about this year's lineup?a terrific variety of subjects and filmmakers to present them," said Will Valet, festival director. "Many of our films have shown at the world's most prestigious film festivals, while others are premiering at the Hardacre. It's a world-class festival that gives movie lovers in our region a great opportunity to experience them and meet the people who made them."

T he 2010 festival will feature dozens of feature-length and short films from all over the world, including two feature-length narrative films, six documentaries, seven animated films and more than a dozen short live-action films.

Among this year's highlights:

Features:

  • American Grindhouse?This documentary (from Iowa-raised director Elijah Drenner) covers the history of the American exploitation film. The movie examines this often-overlooked category of U.S. "shock" cinema in an informative and amusing way.

  • Ballhawks?This documentary tells the story of Cubs fans who chase baseballs?and dreams?outside the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field. Filmed in 2004, when Wrigley announced plans to expand the bleachers and change "ballhawking" forever.

  • Between Floors?This funny, claustrophobic and arresting film examines the human condition through five stuck elevators and the people trapped inside them. Each elevator forces its occupants to confront their isolation, themselves and each other in varied and unexpected ways.

  • Cleanflix?This documentary explores the companies that make R-rated films "clean" for families and religious groups and the unhappy film directors whose work is going under the knife.

  • My Vietnam, Your Iraq?This heartbreaking and inspiring documentary tells the stories of Vietnam veterans and their children who have served in each generation's war. This looks at the pride, challenges, fears, prejudices and emotions they have gone through during and after deployment.

  • World's Largest?Shot partially in Iowa, this documentary captures the changing landscape of small-town America. Desperate for tourism, hundreds of small towns claim the "world's largest" objects, from 15-foot fiberglass strawberries to 40-foot concrete pheasants. This film visits 58 such sites and profiles one Washington town's four-year struggle to build the world's largest lava lamp.

Shorts:

  • The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger?In this animated film from animation legend Bill Plympton, a bovine is mesmerized by a marketing billboard and chases the goal of being the best hamburger he can be.

  • Heartland Transport?This short documentary, shot partially in Iowa City, concerns 17 gay and lesbian couples who define marriage equality as they take a chartered bus from St. Louis to Iowa City to be legally married.

  • Mind the Gap?In this hilarious short from Canada, a beautiful young woman sits next to a sweet elderly man on a train. The ride is anything but boring in this sweet comedy about first and last im pressions.

  • Patient?In this short, a man and a woman meet at a coffee shop for the first time. As if on an awkward date, they exchange timid pleasantries. But as their conversation unfolds, the horrifying truth behind their meeting is revealed.

  • Plastic Bag?This timely short film by hot indie filmmaker Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart, Goodbye Solo) traces the existential journey of a plastic bag (voiced by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog) searching for its lost maker, the woman who took it home from the store and eventually discarded it.

  • Trophy Wife?This short film (from Marion, Iowa) concerns a husband who struggles with failu re and rejection in his hobby and in his marriage. When everything finally falls apart, Frank finds a way to resolve his taxidermy hobby and come to terms with his wife.

The complete list of films and a schedule for the 2010 festival will be released online at www.hardacrefilmfestival.com in early July.

Filmmakers are regularly in attendance, present their films, and take questions from audience members following screenings. The festival takes place during Tipton's Ridiculous Days sidewalk sale event.

The Hardacre will give out awards including Best Feature Film, Best Documentary, Best Short Film, Best St udent 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.

SIDEBAR

Hardacre Film Festival

Friday-Saturday, Aug. 6 and 7

Hardacre Theater

112 E 5th St.

Tipton, Iowa

Admission to any of the Hardacre's three programs?Opening Night, Saturday Day or Closing Night?is $8 each. An all-festival pass can be purchased for $20. Films on Friday beg in at 6 p.m. On Saturday, screenings will run all day; from 9 a.m. through 11 p.m.

For a full schedule or more information about the Hardacre Film Festival, go to www.hardacrefilmfestival.com.

--END--

 

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