This week marks the 25th anniversary of Ebertfest, Roger Ebert’s film festival hosted every year at the Virginia Theatre in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. From April 17th to April 20th, this year’s fest spans thirteen features both old and new, one panel, and twenty-five guests.
Here’s a quick preview of what you can expect from the fest’s quarter-century milestone:
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17
6:30pm – STAR 80 (1983): Bob Fosse’s haunting chronicle of Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten, and her tragic murder at the hands of husband Jeff Snider.
Guests: Actors Eric Roberts and Mariel Hemingway
THURSDAY, APRIL 18
9:30am – LITTLE INDIAN GIRL COLLECTIVE PANEL: A panel from the new women’s filmmaking collective, about the power of women, Indigenous and two-spirit artists to bring about revolution through art.
Special Guests: Panelists Gingger Shankar and Tara Houska
11:00am – CONDUCTING LIFE (2022): The improbable journey of conductor Roderick Cox and his quest to succeed in the highly competitive field of orchestral conducting.
Special Guests: Producer-Director Diane Moore and Conductor Roderick Cox
11:00am – THE LIGHT OF TRUTH: RICHARD HUNT’S MONUMENT TO IDA B. WELLS (2024): This documentary weaves together sculptor Richard Hunt’s process and life story with that of civil rights crusader, suffragist, and antilynching activist Ida B. Wells.
Special Guest: Producer-Director Rana Segal, Producer Laurie Little, Camera/Producer Vincent Singleton, and Grandson of Ida B. Wells Dan Duster
3:00pm – STONY ISLAND (1978): This charming 1978 music drama charts the rise of a fictional R&B band in Chicago, complete with gorgeous cinematography of the city at the time courtesy of Tak Fujimoto.
Special Guests: Director Andrew Davis, Actor-Musician Richard Davis, Musicians Isaiah Robinson, Larry Gray, Steve Eisen, Tony Cazeau, Wayne Stewart
8:00pm – THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE (2023): When one of her students is suspected of theft, teacher Carla Nowak decides to get to the bottom of the matter.
Special Guest: Sony Pictures Classics Co-President and Co-Founder Michael Barker
FRIDAY, APRIL 19
9:00AM – COOKIE’S FORTUNE (1999): Robert Altman’s unassuming ensemble comedy about the quirky denizens of a small Mississippi town, featuring Glenn Close, Charles S. Dutton, Liv Tyler, and more.
1:30PM – ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004): For its twentieth anniversary, Ebertfest screens Michel Gondry’s sci-fi romantic fantasia, about a separating couple (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet) who choose to erase their memories of each other through experimental technology.
4:30PM – LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING (2023): The soul sensation gets a suitably kaleidoscopic look at his life and hits, with an emphasis on Little Richard’s queerness and how it informed his flamboyant look and life.
Special Guest: Producer-Director Lisa Cortes
9:30PM – THE BEST MAN (1999): Malcolm D. Lee‘s charming Black ensemble dramedy sees a group of longtime friends navigating adulthood, relationships, and responsibilities at a friend’s wedding.
Special Guest: Writer-Director Malcolm D. Lee
SATURDAY, APRIL 20
9:30AM – BLACKMAIL (1929): A seminal transition between the silent and sound eras, Alfred Hitchcock’s British thriller follows a Scotland Yard detective (John Longden) protecting his girlfriend (Anny Ondra) after a crime of passion.
Special Guest: Musicians The Anvil Orchestra
1:00PM – OMOIYARI: A SONG FILM BY KISHI BASHI (2024): Violinist and songwriter Kaoru Ishibashi travels on a musical journey to understand WWII-era Japanese Incarceration, assimilation, and what it means to be a minority in America today.
Special Guest: Singer, Multi-Instrumentalist, and Songwriter Kishi Bashi
4:00PM – ALBANY ROAD (2024): Christine Swanson‘s latest is a touching, romantic road movie about a New York ad exec (Renee Elise Goldsberry) and her ex’s mother (Lynn Whitfield) forced to reconcile their chilly relationship on a long drive to DC.
Special Guests: Director Christine Swanson, Producer Michael Swanson, Actors Lynn Whitfield and Renée Elise Goldsberry
9:00PM – MAN ON THE MOON (1999): Milos Forman’s probing look at the life and laughs of Andy Kaufman, with an Oscar-nominated turn by Jim Carrey as the infamous comedian.
Special Guests: Screenwriters and Producers Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander
