Great Movies
The Ebertfest Film Festival is pleased to welcome Champaign native Molly Cornyn as the new Project Coordinator at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's College of Media, the alma mater of Pulitzer-Prize winning film critic Roger Ebert. Cornyn will be in her new role for this year's installment of the festival, running Wednesday, April 19th, through Saturday, April 22nd, next week at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, Illinois.
“Molly’s experience managing the logistics for multiple complex projects in the entertainment industry makes her a perfect fit, and she has jumped right in,” said Dean Tracy Sulkin in an article published by Kelly Youngblood on the College of Media's official site. “Moreover, we’re happy to welcome home a Media alum who understands and is invested in the mission of Ebertfest.”
Cornyn earned her MFA in producing for film and television from Chapman University in California, and subsequently worked over a five-year span for Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas, where her roles included entertainment public relations coordinator and then film and special events manager. After coordinating the performances of visual artists at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, her love of film resulted in her accepting the coveted Project Coordinator position for Ebertfest, a festival where she volunteered as a student years ago. Said Cornyn of Ebert: " It’s important to remember people like him. He’s from this community, he cared about it, and gave a lot to it.”
Festival Co-Founder, Producer and Host, Chaz Ebert said: "Nate Kohn and I have been impressed with the way Molly stepped in and immediately picked up the mantle amidst all of the hub-bub of putting the festival together. When Festival Coordinator Andrew Michael Hall was called back to Scotland, I have to admit we were worried because Andy worked so seamlessly with us the last few years. But when Andy gave Molly a Thumbs-Up, we knew we were in good hands."
THE SCHEDULE FOR NEXT WEEK'S FESTIVAL:
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19
6:30pm "Nine Days"
THURSDAY, APRIL 20
9:30am "Tokyo Story"
2pm "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"
4pm "My Name is Sara"
9pm "American Folk"
FRIDAY, APRIL 21
10am "To Leslie"
2:30pm "Marian Anderson: The Whole World in Her Hands"
7:30pm "In & Of Itself"
SATURDAY, APRIL 22
9am Ebertfest Double Short Feature: "Team Dream" and "Club Alli"
10:30am "Fresh"
3pm "Wings of Desire"
8:30pm "Forrest Gump"
Passes to see all films at Ebertfest 2023 with reserved seating, as well as individual movie tickets, are available to purchase online or by calling the Virginia Theatre box office at 217-356-9063.
