CHAMPAIGN — Ebertfest, now under way in Urbana-Champaign, began 25 years ago as Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival, a chance to bring audiences into the critic’s hometown to see movies he thought deserved another look.
While the festival does include the occasional premiere, its focus has always been films that Ebert described as “empathy machines,” the movies that tell stories that enlarge our understanding of human lives.
One premiere this year is “Albany Road,” starring Renée Elise Goldsberry (“Hamilton” and “Girls 5Eva”), who is scheduled to present the film Saturday along with her co-star Lyn Whitfield (“Greenleaf”). They play women who have a history of animosity and betrayal but are stuck sharing a long car trip through the snow after their flight is canceled. Though the story takes place on the East Coast, it was shot in Champaign.
Writer-director Christine Swanson said Illinois has three things she needed: “a great crew base, a competitive tax credit and snow.” She is delighted to have local audiences see this movie first.
“I love exploring complexity in storytelling with a humor and pathos,” she said. “If done right, those types of stories transcend genre and time. My goal is to create a space to explore a deeper exploration of humanity in ways not often seen in stories with Black people. I am most proud that ‘Albany Road’ is a transcendent movie that supersedes race as it speaks to the soul of all humanity in a timeless fashion.”
On Thursday, director Andrew Davis (“The Fugitive,” “Under Siege”) brought his first film, 1978’s “Stony Island,” to the festival. It is a joyful tribute to Chicago’s vibrant musical scene, with lively numbers that range from jazz, to blues, to gospel, to Hebrew prayer, to Dixieland, all recorded live.
And it is a time capsule of Chicago in the ‘70s, as the characters visit the Lincoln Park Zoo, discuss the death of Mayor Richard J. Daley, ride the L and drive along Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street as well as the title neighborhood.
Davis said that making it taught him “that location can be a character and should be a character in your movies. I learned that going with your gut, collaboration and taking chances with unknown talent is worth it. I also learned that not having a lot of money can be an asset.”
In the Q&A following the film, Davis and his musician brother, Richard, who stars in the film, talked about raising money (from Leonard Nimoy and “Chicago gangsters”), and casting future stars Susannah Hoffs, Dennis Franz, and Rae Dawn Chong, as well as their own father.
One disappointment was not being able to include the St. Patrick’s Day parade. “But I got to do it in ‘The Fugitive,’” Andrew said with a smile.
A highlight of the festival each year is a film from the era before movies had sound, accompanied by the Anvil Orchestra, musicians and “sound artists” who compose original scores for silent movies. This year’s title is 1929’s “Blackmail,” directed by a young Alfred Hitchcock, still in London, before his move to Hollywood.
Opening night on Wednesday featured a screening of Bob Fosse’s “Star 80,” about the murder of an actress and Playboy centerfold, followed by a Q&A with star Eric Roberts.
Director Malcolm D. Lee will appear Friday with his beloved 1999 film “The Best Man” an ensemble story with an almost all-Black cast about a group of old friends who gather for a wedding, since followed by a sequel and a Peacock series.
At most film festivals, there is a lot of FOMO as screenings in different locations with limited seating leave attendees constantly worrying about what they missed. Ebertfest is unique because there is just one screening at a time, always in the grand 103-year-old Virginia Theatre, where Ebert saw films as a child and as a student at the University of Illinois.
This shared experience creates an extraordinary sense of community that builds as the attendees experience the films together. As festival director Nate Kohn explains it. “That togetherness in the dark, the shared experience of seeing a movie with others, builds community. New and lasting friendships blossom under the theater dome. And that pleases us more than anything.”
Chaz Ebert, who created the festival with her husband and continues to oversee it, said, “Neither Roger nor I could have envisioned that EbertFest would still be going strong 25 years later! More now than ever EbertFest seeks to bring people together. At the end, it’s all about love.”
Nell Minow is a film critic and contributing editor at Rogerebert.com.