CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Final plans are in place for the sixth annual Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival, or "Ebertfest," coming April 21-25 to Champaign-Urbana.
Six panel discussions or presentations, all free and open to the public - as well as a book signing by Ebert - have been added to the previously announced schedule of 12 film screenings.
The schedule of added events:
Thursday, April 22
9-10:30 a.m. - Panel discussion "How to Make a Movie for Peanuts," moderated by Ebert, in the Pine Lounge of the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana.
10:45 a.m.-noon - Discussion on the "Impact of Digital Technology," with Jack Valenti , president and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, in the Pine Lounge.
Friday, April 23
9-10:30 a.m. - Panel discussion "Publicists and the Movies," moderated by festival director Nate Kohn, professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Georgia, in the Pine Lounge.
10:45 a.m.-noon - Panel discussion "Once Upon a Time," the Brown v. Board of Education Commemorative Year panel, moderated by Eric Pierson, a professor of communication studies at the University of San Diego, in the Pine Lounge.
10:30 a.m.-noon - Book signing by Ebert, for his books "The Great Movies" and "Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2004," on the second floor of the Illini Union Bookstore, 809 S. Wright St., Champaign.
Saturday, April 24
9-10:30 a.m. - Panel discussion "Looking Over the Past: Film, History and Memory," moderated by Christine Catanzarite, associate director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, in the General Lounge on the second floor of the Illini Union.
9 a.m.-noon - Mini-seminar "The Principles of Independent Film Making," conducted by Michael Wiese, a filmmaker, author and publisher, in the Pine Lounge.
Tickets for individual Ebertfest films, all screened at the Virginia Theater in downtown Champaign, are on sale through the theater box office (phone: 217-356-9063; fax: 217-356-5729). Tickets are $8 each. Festival passes, as well as all tickets for "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Gates of Heaven," have been sold out.
