Ebertfest passes on sale Nov. 1
Yessiree, it’s that time of year when the hardcore fans of Roger Ebert’s Film Festival stand in virtual line (e.g., the Internet) to snap up the 1,000 festival passes offered by the College of Media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign each fall, well in advance of the actual event and with the selections sight unseen…
…except for one courtesy of Roger Ebert himself, who revealed this past week that the opening night 70mm film will be APOCALYPSE NOW (1979). C-U Blogfidential crosses its collective fingers that the “Ebertfest” think tank might be savvy enough to also schedule the lauded documentary, HEARTS OF DARKNESS: A FILMMAKER’S APOCALYPSE (1991), as an instructional counterpoint appealing to the cineastes as well as all the perspiring filmmakers in the audience. We know how much additional opportunity UIUC provides its students and the community-at-large to learn about the technical craft of making movies. Hmmmm-mmm.
Passes for Ebertfest ’10 (or Ebertfest XII, if you prefer) will cost you $125 and go on sale Sunday, November 1, starting at 12 a.m., CST, through TicketWeb. One can also purchase them at the Virginia Theater in Champaign beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, November 2, by calling their box office at (217) 356-9063 or stopping by at 203 W. Park St. Individual tickets will not be available until Monday, April 5, 2010.
Ebertfest is scheduled to run Wednesday, April 21, through Sunday, April 25, 2010. And, trooper that he is, we expect Ebert to join us so be sure to save him the comfy sofa aisle seat.
~ Jason Pankoke
p.s. Yes, that is me standing under the marquee in the photo on Ebert’s Web site. If you see me pounding that Park Street pavement next spring like so, make it a point to hit me up for a copy of C-U Confidential no. 4 as well as pointing out “that guy” to the Ebertfest populace whenever possible!
[Updated 10/29/09, 12:50 p.m. CST]