CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) — Ebertfest has announced a slate of films, this year's theme, and guest speaker, Frank Oz.
The long-running film festival has chosen "Empathy at the Movies" as the theme for its 23rd year.
Roger Ebert, a renowned film critic, University of Illinois journalism alumnus, and Urbana native, spoke often about the power of cinema and its ability to transform perspectives. His wife Chaz said his guiding principle was empathy.
“For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy,” said Roger Ebert. “If it’s a great movie, it lets you understand a little bit more about what it’s like to be a different gender, a different race, a different age, a different economic class, a different nationality, a different profession, different hopes, aspirations, dreams, and fears.”
Related Links
Director Frank Oz will be joining this year's Ebertfest. Oz is known for creating and performing many beloved characters on "The Muppet Show" and "Sesame Street", bringing to life Yoda in the Star Wars series, and directing numerous films, from "Little Shop of Horrors" to "What About Bob?" to "The Stepford Wives."
“We are eager to welcome this special guest whose work is the very embodiment of empathy,” said Chaz.
Oz will accompany the screening of his film Derek DelGaudio’s "In & Of Itself" (2020), a biography that explores identity and illusion while the storyteller and magician attempts to answer, “Who am I?”
Frank Oz attends the National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Other Films and Guests
- "Wings of Desire" (1987)
- Michael Barker, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics
- "Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands" (2022)
- Director Rita Coburn and producer Brenda Robinson
- Opera soprano Viveca Richards
- "Nine Days" (2020)
- "Tokyo Story" (1953)
- "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) with live accompaniment from the Anvil Orchestra
Additional films and guests will be announced in the coming weeks.
Passes to see all films with reserved seating are available to purchase online or at the Virginia Theatre box office, 203 W. Park Ave., Champaign, 217-356-9063. Individual movie tickets will go on sale on April 3.
Ebertfest is sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Media and Chaz Ebert.
Copyright 2023. WAND TV. All rights reserved.
