{"id":3389,"date":"2011-05-05T21:00:06","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T03:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=3389"},"modified":"2014-09-06T14:54:15","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:54:15","slug":"article-du-c-u-ebertfest-01-pt-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=3389","title":{"rendered":"Article du C-U: Ebertfest \u201901, pt.7"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cNot Much Ado About Ebertfest 2011\u201d<\/strong>
\nComing to Terms During the
\n2011 Roger Ebert\u2019s Film Festival<\/p>\n

by Jason Pankoke<\/em><\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

C-U Blogfidential<\/strong> is not designed to be a \u201cfilm appreciation\u201d Web site, even though such editorial would hardly be out of place here. Rather, our self-appointed task is to aggregate film activity as it applies to MICRO-FILM Country<\/strong> and frame it in terms of cinema history and industry as a whole, along with encouraging such things to flourish in our backyard now and forevermore. We give props and cheers to local efforts while figuring out what it all means so everyone can understand a little better why we do what we do.<\/p>\n

That said, it\u2019s pretty apparent we don\u2019t need to spend extensive time and energy in discussing Roger Ebert\u2019s Film Festival<\/strong> on CUBlog<\/strong>, other than in basic terms and for the record, because everyone else<\/em> seems to be doing it already. As mentioned in Part 1 of this series, a small legion of loyal Roger Ebert<\/strong> colleagues and correspondents has been hand-picked to provide the play-by-play for the Internet and print masses. \u201cEbertfest<\/strong>\u201d sells itself now regardless of the press it receives; fans pack the Virginia Theater<\/strong> religiously every April for the love of this \u201cfilm lovers\u2019 event\u201d if not just Ebert himself, so bully for them.<\/p>\n

Amidst all this hoopla and despite producing C-U Confidential<\/strong> digest for Ebertfest attendees to tuck in their swag bags, CUBlog<\/strong> finds itself mostly sequestered to the sidelines looking in \u2013 or up at the Virginia\u2019s silver screen \u2013 as the fun times are otherwise shared between everyone else. We\u2019re grateful to be given clearance every year to offer CUZine <\/strong>and MICRO-FILM<\/strong> on site, but we\u2019ve maintained for too long the position of \u201clocal flavor\u201d instead of \u201cactive participant.\u201d We\u2019re bummed about the UI College of Media<\/strong>\u2019s seeming indifference to our presence but unapologetic for not courting their attention with sponsorship dollars. We simply don\u2019t have them.<\/p>\n

To drown our mild malaise, we did the best thing we possibly could have to seek clarity during Ebertfest 2011 \u2013 we mostly stayed in a galaxy far, far <\/em>away from Park Street<\/strong>, one that we like to call Champaign-Urbana, Illinois<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There is a healthy C-U movie\/arts life outside of Ebertfest, otherwise CUBlog <\/strong>would have no reason to exist. In fact, there is a healthy C-U movie\/arts life during <\/em>Ebertfest that we\u2019re guilty of slighting due to Ebertfest, CUBlog\/CUZine<\/strong>, and other responsibilities. The tawdriest non-secret is, because a healthy C-U movie\/arts life does <\/em>take place during Ebertfest, we think CUBlog<\/strong> might function just fine by experiencing that satellite world at the end of every April without feeling obligated to step foot in the Virginia except for shows that really <\/em>excite us.<\/p>\n

And you know what, friends? We came away quite satisfied with our Ebertfest 2011 respite thanks to: one student science fiction film, nine student films exploring feminism, one indie doc about love, one Midnite Movie with rude accompaniment, one sweet little musical based on a movie, one bawdy Restoration era farce, one indie media showcase with local filmmakers\u2019 panel, one Ebertfest selection not <\/em>seen at the Virginia, one Ebertfest filmmaker elbow-rub, and the second of two theatrical screenings of the same filmmaker\u2019s big-studio experimental release, coming nearly a decade after the first and both immediately after your humble editor lost his day job.<\/p>\n

You read that correctly, dearest readers. Mr. JaPan<\/strong>\u2019s employment status went \u201ckaput\u201d during Ebertfest. Hrmph<\/em>. Anyway\u2026<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t hate Ebertfest one bit. Maybe a breather was simply necessary this year. Maybe we also needed to find a different springtime calling in the C-U and not worry about whether to report right alongside the herd. You\u2019ll be able to read about our \u201cAlternative Ebertfest Break\u201d in the coming weeks and let us know if we\u2019re on the right track in communicating what else<\/em> goes on in Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond at this time of year.<\/p>\n

In all sincerity, we hope everyone who attended Ebertfest 2011 enjoyed themselves in that \u201cthumbs up\u201d sort of way and refrains from equating this post to a middle finger. We\u2019d like to believe we aim a lot higher than that and plan to prove it to you shortly.<\/p>\n

~ Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n

:: Part 6<\/a> ::<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

Article \u00a9 2011 Jason Pankoke. Used with permission.<\/p>\n

Cover Graphic: \u00a9 Roger Ebert\u2019s Film Festival<\/a>\/Daily Illini<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

Back to the fore, MacDuff\u2026<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Visit the Article Index<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Return to Home Page<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our exclusive EbertFlashBackFest wraps up with a brand-new conclusion as editor Jason Pankoke tells you why C-U Blogfidential willingly abstained from taking in Roger Ebert’s Film Festival last week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,14,137,13,30],"tags":[1705,72],"class_list":["post-3389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alums-done-good","category-area-festivals","category-article-du-c-u","category-public-events","category-roger-ebert","tag-c-u-blogfidential","tag-roger-eberts-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}