Ebertfest: Roger Ebert's Film Festival

File:Virginia Theatre Roger Ebert's Film Festival.jpg

A view of the Virginia Theatre's marquee in 2014 for Roger Ebert's Film Festival

Roger Ebert's Film Festival, originally known as Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival but commonly referred to as simply Ebertfest, is an annual film festival held every April in Champaign, Illinois, United States, organized by the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Roger Ebert was a native of the adjoining town of Urbana, Illinois and is an alumnus of the University.

Selection criteria

Unlike typical film festivals, Ebertfest does not accept submissions. Roger Ebert, the TV and Chicago Sun-Times film critic selected films for the festival which in his opinion are excellent, but have been overlooked by the public or by film distribution companies. All films are selected from those that Ebert saw in the course of his normal reviewing work.

The original purpose of the Overlooked Film Festival, as reflected in the name, was to showcase films that had not been given enough attention by the public, film critics, or even distributors. Ebert had cheerfully admitted that he can bend the definition of "overlooked" to accommodate any film that he would like to include, since entire genres and formats can be overlooked as well as individual films. The selection philosophy is expected to continue, but with the name change there will no longer be a need to come up with a pretext for including any film.

70 mm

In most years the festival has included a film in the 70 mm format. The films may be major releases, like 2001: A Space Odyssey or Patton, or less well-known, like 2005's showing of the French film Play Time. These films were all chosen primarily due to their use of the 70mm process, which Ebert felt was overlooked.

Silent film

Each year a silent film is shown with live orchestral accompaniment. The films selected are generally well-known (for example, Nosferatu), but Ebert felt that silent films in general are overlooked by the majority of moviegoers. The festival also strives to include a musical film for the same reason. Performers providing live accompaniment have included the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra and the Alloy Orchestra.

Festival format

At the festival before each screening Roger Ebert would make a few introductory remarks. After the film is shown he will have a discussion on stage with the filmmakers or others connected with the film, sometimes hosting a brief panel discussion.

Twelve to fourteen films are presented at each festival, opening with a single film on a Wednesday night and concluding with a single movie the following Sunday. On each day during the interim four films are presented.

After Ebert lost his speaking voice due to cancer, his wife Chaz has taken on many of the hosting duties. Post-show panels are led by his "Far-Flung Correspondents" or other respected film professionals, such as film historian David Bordwell and film critic Christy Lemire.

On April 4, 2013, Ebert died after a long battle with cancer. Despite his death, the film festival went along as scheduled, simultaneously acting as a tribute to Ebert's legacy. The festival will go on for many more years. At the opening of the 15th annual Ebertfest, it was announced by Ebert's wife, Chaz, that his alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will be establishing a new Film Studies program within the College of Media in honor of his legacy. The program will be funded in part by a $1 million grant from Ebert and his wife to the University. The non-degree program will be both a collection of film-related seminars and classes as well as a platform for Ebertfest to continue.

Admission

Festival goers can purchase tickets to individual shows or full-festival passes. As passholders do not necessarily attend every show, it is often possible to obtain tickets at the last minute after empty seats are counted.

Venue

Ebertfest is held at the Virginia Theatre, an old-time movie palace in Champaign now owned by the Champaign Park District. Ebert spoke of having attended films at the Virginia while growing up in Champaign-Urbana and attending the University.

Origins

The festival is a direct descendant of a program put on at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1997 called Cyberfest which used the supposed birthday of HAL (the computer in the 2001 film) to highlight the University's involvement in the history of computers and computing. The film was to be shown as part of Cyberfest, Roger Ebert had agreed to host and actor Gary Lockwood was a special guest. It was suggested that the film should ideally be shown as it was originally, in 70 mm format. The original plan was to have the screening at the University's performing arts center but time constraints vs. the need to install projection equipment and elaborate six channel sound made this impossible. Someone suggested looking at the Virginia Theatre, as 70 mm films had been shown there in the past. At this point the theatre was in the hands of a local live theatre group and had not run films since sold by a theatre chain. All concerned were pleasantly surprised to learn the chain had left behind not only what is reputed to be the finest 35/70 mm projector made but also the screen and speakers. The rest of the equipment was brought in for the special showing which went perfectly.

Growth

Since that time, through generous donations, the Virginia has been able to fully equip its projection and sound system with a second projector, the latest in digital sound equipment and top quality lenses.

Instrumental in these upgrades has been notable Chicago-based projection expert James Bond who doubles as one of the projectionists during the festival.

Films

The following is an incomplete list of films presented at Ebertfest.

2013

Title	Director	Year	Starring	Notes
Days of Heaven	Terrence Malick	1978	Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz	Post-film Q&A included Haskell Wexler (cinematographer)
I Remember (short)	Grace Wang	2012	Lily Huang, Chris Chang
Vincent: The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh	Paul Cox	1989	John Hurt, Marika Rivera, Gabriella Trsek
To Music (short)	Sophie Kohn	2013	Paul Cox, Roger Glanville-Hicks, Henriett Tunyogi, Tamás Vásáry
In the Family	Patrick Wang	2012	Sebastian Banes, Patrick Wang, Trevor St. John	Post-film Q&A included Wang and St. John
Bernie	Richard Linklater	2011	Jack Black, Shirley McLaine, Matthew McConaughey	Post-film Q&A included Linklater and Black (via conference call)
Oslo, August 31st	Joachim Trier	2011	Anders Danielsen Lie	Post-film Q&A included Trier
The Ballad of Narayama	Keisuke Kinoshita	1958	Kinuyo Tanaka, Teiji Takahashi, Yuuko Mochizuki	Post-film Q&A included David Bordwell (film historian)
Julia	Erick Zonca	2008	Tilda Swinton, Aidan Gould, Saul Rubinek, Kate del Castillo	Post-film Q&A included Swinton
Blancanieves	Pablo Berger	2012	Maribel Verdú	Post-film Q&A included Berger
Kumaré	Vikram Gandhi	2011	Vikram Gandhi	Post-film Q&A included Gandhi
Escape from Tomorrow	Randy Moore	2013	Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor	Post-film Q&A included Moore, Soojin Chung (producer), Abramsohn, Schuber, Mahendru
The Spectacular Now	James Ponsoldt	2013	Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler	Post-film Q&A included Ponsoldt and Woodley
Not Yet Begun to Fight	Sabrina Lee, Shasta Grenier	2012	Navy SEAL Elliott Miller, Sgt. Erik Goodge, Col. Eric Hastings	Post-film Q&A included Lee and Goodge

2012

Title	Director	Year	Starring	Notes
Joe Versus the Volcano	John Patrick Shanley	1990	Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Abe Vigoda	Post-film Q&A included Stephen Goldblatt (director of photography)
The Truth About Beauty & Blogs (short)	Rosalyn Coleman Williams	2011	Kelechie Ezie	Post-film Q&A included Kelechie Ezie, also writer and co-producer
Phunny Business: A Black Comedy	John Davies	2011	Raymond Lambert	Post-film Q&A included John Davies, Reid Brody (producer), Raymond Lambert (also writer and producer), Ali LeRoi (comedian featured in film)
Big Fan	Robert Siegel	2009	Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport	Post-film Q&A included Robert Siegel. Patton Oswalt was scheduled to attend, as well as introduce a public screening of Kind Hearts and Coronets, but was detained by filming commitments
Kinyarwanda	Alrick Brown	2011	Hassan Kabera, Edouard Bamporiki, Cassandra Freeman	Post-film Q&A included Alrick Brown, Ishmael Ntihabose (actor and executive producer), Darren Dean (producer), Tommy Oliver (producer), Deatra Harris (producer)
Terri	Azazel Jacobs	2011	Jacob Wysocki	Post-film Q&A included Azazel Jacobs and Jacob Wysocki
On Borrowed Time	David Bradbury	2011	Paul Cox	Paul Cox
Wild AND Weird: The Alloy Orchestra Plays 10 Fascinating and Innovative Films 1906–1926		1906–1926		Alloy Orchestra played live accompaniment
A Separation	Asghar Farhadi	2011	Peyman Mouadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini, Sarina Farhadi	Peyman Mouadi was scheduled to attend but did not. The post-film Q&A, moderated by blogger Nell Minow, included Paul Cox, blogger Omer Mozaffar and distributor Michael Barker of Sony Pictures Classics
Higher Ground	Vera Farmiga	2011	Vera Farmiga, Joshua Leonard, Norbert Leo Butz, Donna Murphy	Post-film Q&A included writer Carolyn S. Briggs, who based the film on her memoir This Dark World, with blogger Nell Minow
Patang (The Kite)	Prashant Bhargava	2011	Seema Biswas, Nawazuddin Siddiqui	Post-film Q&A included Prashant Bhargava, Vijay Bhargava (executive producer), James Townsend (writer), Seema Biswas, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Take Shelter	Jeff Nichols	2011	Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain	Post-film Q&A included Jeff Nichols, Michael Shannon, distributor Michael Barker of Sony Pictures Classics
Citizen Kane	Orson Welles	1941	Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Ruth Warrick	The film was shown using Roger Ebert's commentary track, recorded in 2006 (before Ebert lost his voice). The post-show Q&A featured scholar David Bordwell with audio commentary producer Jeffrey Lerner. Chaz Ebert was visibly moved, stating that although she had seen the film, she had never heard the commentary track, and felt lucky to hear her husband's voice again in the Virginia Theatre

2011

Title	Director	Year	Starring	Notes
Metropolis	Fritz Lang	1927	Brigitte Helm, Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge	2010 restoration. Alloy Orchestra played live accompaniment
Natural Selection	Robbie Pickering	2010	Rachael Harris	Post-film Q&A included Robbie Pickering and Rachael Harris
Umberto D	Vittorio De Sica	1952	Carlo Battisti	Post-film Q&A included Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and Omer Mozaffar
My Dog Tulip	Paul Fierlinger and Sandra Schuette Fierlinger	2010	Christopher Plummer (narrator)	Post-film Q&A included Paul Fierlinger and Sandra Schuette Fierlinger
Tiny Furniture	Lena Dunham	2010	Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, Alex Karpovsky, David Call	Post-film Q&A included David Call and distributor Ryan Werner
45365	Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV	2009	Townspeople of Sidney, Ohio	Post-film Q&A included Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV
Me & Orson Welles	Richard Linklater	2009	Christian McKay, Claire Danes, Zac Efron	Post-film Q&A included Richard Linklater
Only You	Norman Jewison	1994	Robert Downey, Jr., Marisa Tomei, Bonnie Hunt	Post-film Q&A included Norman Jewison
A Small Act	Jennifer Arnold	2010	Chris Mburu, Jane Wanjiru Muigai, Hilde Back	Post-film Q&A included Jennifer Arnold, Hilde Back and producer Patti Lee
Life Above All	Oliver Schmitz	2010	Khomotso Manyaka, Keaobaka Makanyane, Harriet Lenabe	Post-film Q&A included Oliver Schmitz, Khomotso Manyaka and distributor Michael Barker
Leaves of Grass	Tim Blake Nelson	2009	Edward Norton, Tim Blake Nelson, Susan Sarandon	Post-film Q&A included Tim Blake Nelson
I Am Love	Luca Guadagnino	2010	Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Marisa Berenson	Post-film Q&A included Tilda Swinton and Michael Barker
Louder Than a Bomb	Jon Siskel and Greg Jacobs	2010	Kevin Coval, Adam Gottlieb, Elizabeth Graf, Kevin Harris and other students	Post-film Q&A included Jon Siskel, Greg Jacobs, founder and artistic director Kevin Coval and Steinmetz High School poets Lamar Jorden, Charles Smith, She'Kira McNight, Kevin Harris and Jésus Lark

Name change

In April 2007 it was announced that beginning in 2008 with the tenth festival "overlooked" would be dropped from the name and subsequent events would simply be known as "Roger Ebert's Film Festival." This does not necessarily indicate any change in the philosophy or theme but will simply eliminate the need to explain when current or even unreleased films are included which has sometimes been the case. They have sometimes been jokingly referred to as "pre-overlooked."

External links

• Official website
• Rotten Tomatoes feature
• Critic Doctor