April 01--Designed, according to Chaz Ebert, to "realize Roger's dream for a crossroads of film studies, production and ethics," a new film and critical studies program to be housed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is halfway to its $5 million fundraising goal.
The project will be called the Ebert Center, named after the late, beloved Sun-Times film critic and longtime TV co-host of "At the Movies." Ebert died in 2013; he and his wife, Chaz, donated the first $1 million toward the program in 2009. Ebert graduated from the U. of I. in 1964 and wrote and edited for the Daily Illini.
The annual Ebertfest film festival, held at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign, this year runs April 15-19. Among the titles: "The End of the Tour," a David Foster Wallace biopic starring Jason Segel, with Segel scheduled to attend. Festival favorite Ramin Bahrani ("Goodbye Solo") returns with his latest drama, "99 Homes."
