CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Festival passes will go on sale Nov. 1 for the 10th annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival, to be held April 23-27 at the Virginia Theater in Champaign, Ill., and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The festival previously was called "Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival," but "overlooked" has been dropped because the festival is no longer overlooked, Ebert said. It will continue, however, to feature films he believes have been overlooked by audiences, critics and distributors.
The passes, which cover all 12 screenings during the five-day event, are $100. They can be purchased through the theater box office (217-356-9063) or through TicketWeb by way of the festival Web site.
Tickets for individual movies will be available April 4. Admission is $10 ($8 for students and seniors).
The 1,000 festival passes available for last spring's (2007) "Ebertfest" sold out in the first two weeks after they went on sale last Nov. 1, according to Mary Susan Britt, the festival's associate director. That was four months before the films were announced and five months before the festival. The same number of passes will be available again this year.
Ebert, a 1964 Illinois journalism graduate, adjunct professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, will again host the event.
The lineup of films, along with additional information on film-associated guests and other festival events, will be announced several weeks before the festival. Updates on the festival, an event of Illinois' College of Communications, will be posted on the festival Web site.
Sponsors and volunteers for the festival are being sought. Those interested should get in touch with Britt at 217-244-0552, or by e-mail at marsue@illinois.edu.