INDIANAPOLIS — A 33-minute long movie shot inside an Indiana ice cream shop won the Indiana Spotlight Audience Choice Award at the Indy Shorts International Film Festival.
"The Ice Cream Man" is set during the Holocaust in Amsterdam. But much of it was shot inside Zaharakos in Columbus, Indiana.
It's the story of Amsterdam ice cream shop owner, Ernst Cahn, who is targeted by a Nazi officer known for torture. Cahn, despite the danger, chooses to become part of the resistance.
"He was a well-loved person in the community, and he was Jewish," said Carol Frische, associate producer on the film and events coordinator at Zaharakos. "So the Nazis felt like if they made an example of him, it would frighten the rest of the people."
"The Ice Cream Man" had two sold-out showings at the Indy Shorts International Film Festival.
In a post on Facebook, the team behind the movie thanked everyone who attended the screenings.
"The Ice Cream Man" also shot scenes in the Hague in the Netherlands and on the dunes in Michigan City. It's already received accolades and quickly sold out two screenings at Heartland's Indy Shorts.
But Hoosiers say the ice cream shop in Columbus really made the movie. The Indiana setting is the cherry on top of a very memorable movie.
"It's a really powerful story that's being told, so to be a part of it's really exciting," Frische said.
Although the in-person screenings are sold out this week, you can still watch "The Ice Cream Man" virtually from July 23-28, through the Heartland Films website, under "Indy Shorts."