CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Passes for the 22nd annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, or “Ebertfest,” will go on sale Nov. 1.
The festival passes cover all screenings during the festival, which will run April 15-18 at the Virginia Theatre, a restored downtown Champaign movie palace, with related talks and panel discussions at other local venues.
“Ebertfest” films are screened in the restored Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign.
The festival presents celebrated films, as well as other cinematic works overlooked by audiences, critics or distributors. Each screening is followed with on-stage discussions with directors, actors, critics or others associated with the film.
Among the films at last year’s festival were the features “Sideways” and “Almost Famous,” documentaries on Maya Angelou and Fred Rogers, and a restored Aretha Franklin concert film. Among the guests were actresses Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly.
Roger Ebert was an Urbana native, U. of I. journalism graduate and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times who died in 2013. He co-founded the festival with his wife, Chaz.
Chaz Ebert is the festival’s executive producer and serves as the host; Nate Kohn is the festival director. They select films from lists Roger Ebert made over the first 15 years of the festival, as well as others based on established criteria.
The lineup of films, guests and other events will be announced several weeks before the festival, which is sponsored by the U. of I. College of Media and Chaz Ebert.
The passes are $150, plus processing, if purchased before Jan. 1. Four passes purchased together are $510 instead of $600, or 15% off. Prices may increase closer to the festival.
Also available are a small number of U. of I. student passes at $100 each.
One thousand passes will be available. They can be purchased through the Ebertfest website, the Virginia Theatre website or the theater box office, 203 W. Park Ave., Champaign, 217-356-9063.
Updates will be posted on the festival website. Tickets for individual movies will be available April 1.
Those interested in being a festival sponsor should contact Andy Hall, the festival’s project coordinator, at amhall2@illinois.edu.
