Coming to the Virginia Theatre for the 13th year in a row this Wednesday through Sunday is the annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, also known as Ebertfest.
For the movie lover in the Champaign-Urbana area there may not be a more exciting time of year. Every year Ebertfest offers the community a chance to see numerous films that are not usually found in the area.
If that wasn’t enough, Mr. Ebert always does a fantastic job of assembling panel discussions that bring actors, directors and producers of the films together to talk with film critics and film professors about the films that are screened during the festival.
By the looks of the lineup this year, the Champaign-Urbana area is in for a treat at Ebertfest 2011.
The festival kicks off this Wednesday at 7 p.m. with Fritz Lang’s 1927 classic silent film “Metropolis,” which will be accompanied by the Alloy Orchestra, a three man musical orchestra that writes their own scores to silent films and performs them live for audiences. This will be the fourth consecutive year the Alloy Orchestra performs at Ebertfest, appearing the last three years with “Man with a Movie Camera”, “The Last Command” and “Underworld”.
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Wednesday night concludes with the film “Natural Selection,” which won seven awards at this year’s South by Southwest, SXSW, film festival.
Thursday the festival continues at 1 p.m. with Vittorio De Sica’s 1952 film “Umberto D,” the animated film “My Dog Tulip” at 3:30 p.m. and the 2010 SXSW Narrative Feature winner “Tiny Furniture,” which begins at 8 p.m.
Friday afternoon starts with the documentary “45365,” the documentation of life in a small American town. At 4 p.m. the festival will show “Me & Orson Welles” accompanied with a panel discussion with the film’s director Richard Linklater, who is known for “Dazed and Confused”, “School of Rock” and “A Scanner Darkly”. At 8:30 p.m., the third day of Ebertfest concludes with “Only You” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Marissa Tomei and directed by festival guest Norman Jewison.
Saturday of Ebertfest begins at 11 a.m. with the inspiring documentary “A Small Act” followed by a 2010 Cannes selected film “Life, Above All”.
Saturday night includes two of the most anticipated guests at Ebertfest. At 6:30 p.m. “Leaves of Grass” will show at Ebertfest, and actor/director Tim Blake Nelson, known for “O Brother Where Art Thou?” will be on hand. Following “Leaves of Grass” will be the Italian film “I Am Love” with special guest and Oscar winner, Tilda Swinton, whose film credits include “Michael Clayton”.
The last film of Ebertfest will be “Louder Than a Bomb”, a story of Chicago Poetry Slam. The film will show at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
With all the exciting films and guests set this weekend at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign, you will want to make sure to get your tickets early.
Passes for the festival have already sold out months ago, but tickets for individual screenings are available at the Virginia Theatre Box Office.
Be sure not to miss one of the community’s most exciting annual events this Wednesday through Sunday at the Virginia Theatre when Ebertfest 2011 hits town.
_Tim is a senior in Media._
