Star power fuels 25th ‘Ebertfest’
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It’s that time of year again, friends and former neighbors, when the siren call of Roger Ebert’s Film Festival attracts thousands of filmgoers to Park Avenue in downtown Champaign to enjoy a particular kind of cinema community at the venerable Virginia Theatre. Commiserate with friendly faces you haven’t seen in a long while? Check. Compare notes with the armchair movie maven sitting next to you in your favorite section? Check. Purchase concessions and collectibles from the friendly and dependable ‘Ebertfest’ volunteers who always return to help out? Check. Step outside for a breather and sneak in a snack from a food tent or truck camped out on the block? Check. Get in a photo op under the marquee or with the Roger Ebert “thumbs up” statue that is a permanent fixture out front? Check. Walk away satisfied and grateful the College of Media at Illinois, Chaz Ebert, and Nate Kohn still put on a good show? Check. Turning out is the best policy to ensure an event like this can continue in the C-U every spring, dearest viewers, especially given all of the lumps the exhibition industry and festival circuit have endured recently.
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Our traditional “short form” version of the ‘Ebertfest’ schedule is below, but you should always visit the official event website for much more about the selections, their guests, and other details. You can also visit this Media subsite for information about the annual Ebert Symposium, which is facilitated in part by the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies and begins tonight, Tuesday, April 22, as a direct lead-in to ‘Ebertfest’ itself. Individual tickets, bundles, and festival passes are still available through the Virginia’s box office during business hours at (217) 356-9063 as well as on their website. Enjoy your experience and make your memories, ‘Ebertfest’ faithful, as coming together for something artful is an honorable act in the current cultural climate of America. Opportunities to do so freely should never be taken for granted.
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2025 Ebert Symposium schedule
@ Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Tuesday, April 22
7:00 p.m. screening and discussion: HER (2013, 126 min., Dir. Spike Jonze)
Wednesday, April 23
Symposium topic: “Artificial Intelligence Imagined and Realized”
9:30 a.m. keynote address by Scott Bukatman, Stanford University
11:00 a.m. roundtable discussion with UI faculty Alison Duncan Kerr, Ben Grosser, Heng Ji, and Robert Markley
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2025 Roger Ebert’s Film Festival schedule
@ The Virginia Theatre, 203 W. Park Ave., Champaign, IL
Wednesday, April 23
6:30 p.m. THE SEARCHERS (1956, 119 min., 70 mm, Dir. John Ford)
Thursday, April 24
9:00 a.m. MEGALOPOLIS (2024, 138 min., Dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
1:30 p.m. DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (1985, 104 min., Dir. Susan Seidelman)
5:00 p.m. HARLAN COUNTY U.S.A. (1977, 103 min., 35 mm, Dir. Barbara Kopple)
9:30 p.m. HIS THREE DAUGHTERS (2024, 105 min., 35 mm, Dir. Azazel Jacobs)
Friday, April 25
10:30 a.m. A LITTLE PRAYER (2023, 91 min., Dir. Angus MacLachlan)
2:30 p.m. I’M STILL HERE (2024, 136 min., Dir. Walter Salles)
7:30 p.m. RUMOURS (2024, 104 min., Dir. Guy Maddin)
Saturday, April 26
9:00 a.m. THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED (1926, 80 min., Dir. Lotte Reiniger) Accompanied by the Anvil Orchestra
11:30 a.m. COLOR BOOK (2024, 96 min., Dir. David Fortune)
4:00 p.m. TOUCH (2024, 121 min., Dir. Baltasar Kormákur)
9:00 p.m. THE HANGOVER (2009, 100 min., Dir. Todd Phillips)
Special guests who are scheduled to appear include Susan Seidelman and Rosanna Arquette (DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN), Barbara Koppel (HARLAN COUNTY U.S.A.), Azazel Jacobs (HIS THREE DAUGHTERS), Guy Maddin (RUMORS), Michael Barker of Sony Pictures Classics (I’M STILL HERE), and via remote, the great Francis Ford Coppola (MEGALOPOLIS). Film critics and personalities who are also scheduled to participate include Brenda Butler, Brian Tallerico, Dion Metzger, Eric Pierson, Lauren Morton, Matt Zoller Seitz, Michael Phillips, Nell Minow, Omer Mozaffar, and Richard Roeper.
The Virginia Theatre, 203 W. Park St., Champaign, Illinois, which first opened in December 1921, is directed by Steven Bentz and operated by the Champaign Park District.
~ Jason Pankoke
Publicity still from I’M STILL HERE is courtesy Sony Pictures Classics. | Publicity still from RUMOURS is courtesy Bleecker Street. | Poster artwork from TOUCH is courtesy Focus Features.
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