CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Festival passes now are on sale for the sixth annual Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival, to be held April 21-25 at the Virginia Theater in Champaign, Ill., and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The passes, which cover all screenings during the five-day event, are $75. They can be purchased through the theater box office (phone: 217-356-9063; fax: 217-356-5729) or through TicketWeb by way of the festival Web site. Tickets for individual films will be $8 each when they become available closer to the event.
Ebert, a 1964 Illinois journalism graduate, adjunct professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, will again host the event and select the films that he believes have been overlooked by audiences, critics and distributors. The lineup of films, along with additional information on film-associated guests and other festival events, should be available after Feb. 1.
Updates on the festival, a special event of Illinois’ College of Communications, will be posted on the festival Web site.
About 21,000 admissions were recorded for the 14 featured films, associated panels and other events at the 2003 festival, most of which was held at the Virginia Theater, a 1920s-era Champaign movie palace. The festival also attracted more than 50 producers, directors, writers, actors and other guests associated with the film industry.
Sponsors and volunteers for the festival are being sought. Those interested should contact Mary Susan Britt, assistant festival director, 217-244-0552; marsue@illinois.edu. For more information and updates on films, guests and festival events contact Britt or festival director Nate Kohn, 706-542-4972; nkohn@arches.uga.edu.
