Ebertfest 2025!

I was in Champaign-Urbana recently for the Illinois Marathon Weekend, but this year's marathon weekend coincided with Ebertfest - the annual film festival held at the beautiful Virginia Theatre in Champaign in honor of film legend (and Urbana native) Roger Ebert - and I was able to sneak away from work and the marathon festivities to attend a couple screenings. Roger's wife Chaz has been leading the festival since his passing, and they always select an intriguing mix of newer and older titles, with a particular emphasis on bringing in guests to facilitate post-film discussion just as Ebert inspired so many to do during his lifetime.

I had previously attended Ebertfest once, in 2019, when I was still a student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I caught a screening of Sideways, with a Skype appearance by Virginia Madsen after the film. It remains one of my all-time favorite theatrical experiences, and I promised myself I would attend the festival in its entirety the next year. Unfortunately in 2020, our old pal the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and I never made it back to Ebertfest - until now.

I was only able to squeeze two films into my busy weekend schedule, but they were both great screenings of older classics with some esteemed guests. First up was Desperately Seeking Susan, which featured in-person appearances by both the director Susan Seidelman and lead actress Rosanna Arquette.

Susan Seidelman, Chaz Ebert, and Rosanna Arquette introduce the film

I had seen Desperately Seeking Susan once before and liked it well enough, but it played even better than I remembered this time, fusing together screwball comedy, mistaken identity, and late night cult film chaos (and so much more) into a fun poppy mid-'80s bottle of fun. I had the added pleasure of seeing this alongside my mom (who saw it originally back in 1985!) and we both had a great time.

Seidelman, Ebert, and Arquette dance to Madonna's "Into the Groove" during the end credits

During the Q&A, other guests (including Chicago film critic Richard Roeper) joined Seidelman and Arquette to discuss the film and get some insight into the behind-the-scenes process. I mentioned some of the highlights from the Q&A in my Letterboxd review here.

The second film I saw was Barbara Kopple's documentary Harlan County, U.S.A., which Roger Ebert had been praising over and over ever since he first saw it. It's a powerful film centering on the coal miners' strike in Harlan County, Kentucky in the 1970s that is both ambitious and daring from a filmmaking perspective and also covers ever relevant topics like workers' rights, corporate greed, and corruption.

Barbara Kopple receives a "golden thumb" for her work. All guests received this as part of the festival.

In Kopple's Q&A, which included Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips, the harrowing elements of filming were discussed (including the machine gun scene) as well as some of the behind-the-scenes elements regarding the film's theatrical release and its importance to the Harlan County community. While I had to leave the Q&A a tad early, I still made note of some of the highlights in my Letterboxd review here.

The Virginia Theatre looked beautiful as ever, and I'm so happy the Champaign-Urbana community has a gorgeous historic theater to witness films and live performances. The rest of the Ebertfest lineup certainly sounded interesting, including screenings of classics like The Searchers as well as 2024 highlights (His Three Daughters, Touch, Megalopolis) and a couple films that have yet to be officially released (Color Book, A Little Prayer). While I would have liked to see more, I'm thrilled I made it to two films on this year's slate, and I hope I can squeeze in a movie or two at next year's Ebertfest!