<\/p>\n
Magnolia Pictures<\/strong><\/span><\/a> has unveiled during the past two weeks their one-sheet poster art and trailer for the Roger Ebert<\/strong> documentary LIFE ITSELF<\/strong>, a candid portrait fleshed out by rare material as well as new interviews with friends and confidants such as widow Chaz Ebert<\/strong>, filmmakers Martin Scorsese<\/strong> (THE WOLF OF WALL STREET<\/strong>), Werner Herzog<\/strong> (CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS<\/strong>), and Errol Morris<\/strong> (TABLOID<\/strong>), fellow critics Richard Corliss<\/strong> (Time<\/strong><\/span>), A.O. Scott<\/strong> (The New York Times<\/strong><\/span>), and Jonathan Rosenbaum<\/strong> (Chicago Reader<\/span><\/strong>), and Marlene Iglitzen<\/strong>, wife to the late Gene Siskel<\/strong>. Additional details can be gleaned<\/span><\/a> from several Web pages launched by Magnolia<\/span><\/a> and producer Kartemquin Films<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, including a release date of Friday, July 4<\/strong>, on demand, through iTunes, and theatrically in the United States<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, producer Garrett Basch<\/strong> and executive producer Steven Zaillian<\/strong> approached me about doing this film,\u201d recounts director Steve James<\/strong> in Magnolia\u2019s press notes. \u201cAfter I read Roger\u2019s remarkable memoir, I was ready to leap in.\u201d Known for telling empowering tales of the disenfranchised such as HOOP DREAMS, THE INTERRUPTERS<\/strong>, and STEVIE<\/strong>, James intended to capture the Eberts\u2019 livelihood in direct odds with the journalist\u2019s well-publicized ailments. \u201cIn our final meeting before filming,\u201d he explains, \u201c[Ebert] complained of a sore hip. The very next day he was diagnosed with a hip fracture and hospitalized \u2026 we couldn\u2019t have known then, that Roger would be with us only four more months. But during that time, he showed his trademark wit, good spirits, and toughness. I hope the film captures that.\u201d<\/p>\n