CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Organizers of the 19th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, also known as “Ebertfest,” coming April 19-23 to downtown Champaign, have announced the slate of panel discussions for the festival.
In a change from previous festivals, the discussions will be held this year at the Hyatt Place Hotel, 217 N. Neil St., Champaign, two blocks from the theater, not on the University of Illinois campus.
All of the panels address the themes of the festival this year: empathy, compassion, kindness and forgiveness, principles that Roger Ebert believed cinema should inspire. Panelists include festival filmmaker guests, critics, scholars and Ebert Fellows.
The full schedule of discussions and panelists can be found at ebertfest.com/panel-discussions.
The discussions are free and open to the public and will be streamed live at ebertfest.com/livestream, as will all film introductions and after-film discussions.
Additional information about films, guests and tickets can be found at ebertfest.com.