ROGER EBERT’S FILM FESTIVAL BEGINS NEXT WEEK

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE FOR THE 5TH ANNUAL OVERLOOKED FILM FESTIVAL

By Steven Snyder
Starting next Wednesday, April 23, the fifth annual Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival will begin at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, the film critic’s Alma matter.

The unique festival, which has exploded in popularity over the past five years, is held over five days at the gorgeous Virginia Theater in downtown Champaign, Illinois, and the purpose of the festival is to highlight films and formats that Ebert believes have been underappreciated by the mainstream public.

In past years, the festival has included such works as “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the Kris Kristoferson film “A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries,” the 40 millimeter version of “Patton” and the world premier of the independent local film “Kwik Stop.”

This year, thirteen films will be shown from Wednesday through Sunday, including “Thirteen Conversations About One Thing,” which I considered to be one of the best films of 2002, the 1983 Philip Kaufman astronaut film “The Right Stuff,” and the independent, soon-to-be-released feature “Charlotte Sometimes.”

Other festival highlights will include a presentation of several short silent films on Saturday morning, the 1926 silent film “The Black Pirate” with a live accompaniment provided by the Alloy Orchestra, and a family matinee screening of the best musical ever made, “Singin’ In The Rain.”

This festival is a wonderful event, attracting visitors from around the country, and offering many a rare opportunity to see obscure works for the first time on the big screen. Each film is introduced by Ebert and is followed by an open question and answer session with special guests relevant to the film.
Both David Johnson and I will be attending the festival starting Wednesday and you can look for our daily updates beginning Thursday morning both on www.zertinet.com and www.rottentomatoes.com.

If you are interested, tickets are still available for the festival. To learn more, visit the Ebertfest website at www.ebertfest.com or call the Virginia Theater at (217) 356-9063. Single tickets and festival passes are both available.