Host a viewing party for films about the White River—and apply for a stipend

Three new short films about the White River—and the lives it touches—are available to stream for free online and Indiana Humanities is offering $150 stipends to nonprofits and schools that want to host community viewing parties to discuss the films.

Over the last year Indiana Humanities focused its award-winning Next Indiana Campfires program on the White River watershed and the larger question of how Hoosiers relate to water and to each other across watersheds. To explore these connections further—and to document a particularly exciting moment for Indiana waterways—Indiana Humanities selected local filmmakers to create three short films about the White River. The films are each between 11 and 15 minutes in length and debuted to standing-room-only audiences in Noblesville, Indianapolis and Muncie earlier this year.

Through the films, viewers meet volunteers, artists, activists, farmers, engineers, developers, city officials, hikers and parents. They paddle downstream with Friends of the White River, tunnel under the city with Dig Indy, and soar overhead with the great blue herons of our region.

“Shot entirely in Indiana, the films show views of the river and perspectives on the White River watershed you never knew existed,” said Leah Nahmias, director of programs and community engagement at Indiana Humanities. “Individually or collectively, they are a great jumping-off point for discussion about how nature shapes our sense of place, how we connect to one another across the watershed and what our hopes for the future of the White River, and all of Indiana’s natural resources, are.”

Along with the films, Indiana Humanities has produced a free discussion toolkit designed to help people talk about the ideas they raise with neighbors, students, friends and family. Tax-exempt organizations and teachers can apply for $150 stipends for community viewing parties which can go towards room or A/V rental, facilitator fees, snacks and nonalcoholic drinks, printing, marketing or advertising costs, childcare costs and/or host organization overhead/staff time.

The films and filmmakers include:

• Braided with the Current by Katelyn Calhoun and Hannah Hodges: Katelyn Calhoun has spent the past five years in Indianapolis creating documentary content. Hannah Hodges co-founded and runs Hodges Marketing Solutions, a digital marketing agency, with her husband Mark.

• Onward Ever: The Becoming of Indiana’s White River by Brandon Walsh: Brandon Walsh is an Indy-based video producer. His narrative short films have screened at a number of festivals across the Midwest, and he has made national award-winning commercial work with the advertising agency CVR.

• White River: Perspectives by Hannah Lindgren: Hannah Lindgren is a visual storyteller who works for The Story Shop in Pendleton and hails from the northeast side of Indianapolis. She specializes in telling the stories of nonprofits, causes, small businesses and communities through short videos. This is her fourth documentary film.

A trailer is available to watch at www.IndianaHumanities.org/CampfiresFilms.

Next Indiana Campfires Films is supported by Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This initiative was made possible in part through the “Democracy and the Informed Citizen” initiative of the Pulitzer Prizes and is part of Indiana Humanities’ two-year theme called INseparable.