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Heartland Film Festival opens Thursday, continues for 11 days.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – For 27 years the Heartland Film Festival has opened up to filmmakers from around the country, around the world and from Indiana. During the 2018 festival 136 films in total will be screened and more than $80,000 in prize money will be awarded.  One of those films is a movie about a man whose name you may recognize but his story you might not know.

Documentary filmmaker Julia Whitehead’s movie is about Mickey Maurer. Mickey is a known Hoosier serving as Indiana’s secretary of commerce in 2006 for Gov. Mitch Daniels until 2008. His woodworking won a blue ribbon at the Indiana State Fair. In 1999, he successfully climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. In 2003, Maurer authored a book of underwater photography entitled “Water Colors.” There is something else behind this man and that’s what Whitehead wanted to capture.

“He has made a number of contributions to the state and I think people need to know it,” said Whitehead. “Not only that, it’s a life of adventure and art and entrepreneurship and business and interesting things that people needed to know.” 

“I told Julia one I said I’d let you do this film but you can’t show it until after I’m dead and she disregarded my instructions,” said Mauer.  “I think maybe there’s a lot of pieces of advice there that one might take but the one that we talked about how important it is to give back to society, is a thread through Julia’s movie.” 

You can catch Maurer’s story and Whitehead’s documentary Monday, Oct. 15 at 6:00 p.m. or Friday, Oct. 19 at 2:45 p.m. at AMC Castleton Square 14 or Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 5:15 p.m.

“The Roby at Newfields”, the special Ticket to Heartland produced by Great Day TV airs again on Wish-TV Sunday, Oct. 14 at 10:30 a.m.. 

 Patty Spitler and Heartland President Craig Prater host the special. 

For more on the Heartland Film Festival, click here.