Passes go on sale Nov. 1 for Ebertfest 2010, which will be held April 21-25, 2010 at the restored Virginia movie palace in Champaign-Urbana. The cost is $125, which covers all 12 screenings. The panel discussions are free and open to the public.
The annual festival is sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Media Studies, and is held in the restored 1,600-seat Virginia movie palace. Visting actors and filmmakers are guests at most screenings; the extended Q&A sessions take place on a stage where Houdini and the Marx Brothers once performed.
The program is always kept secret until a week or so before the festival. But one 2010 attraction can be revealed. We will show a rare big-screen print of “Apocalypse Now,” the first film to be shown in Dolby Stereo with surround sound.
All films are selected by me in consultation with Nate Kohn, director of the festival and professor at the University of Georgia. Prof. Kohn is also director of the Peabody Awards.
Passes can be purchases online at www.ebertfest.com, or at the Virginia theater box office. Individual tickets go on sale April 5, 2010, and are $12; student and seniors are $10.