By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

49th Chicago International Film Festival Dedicates Opening Night To Roger Ebert

Posted Friday, October 4th, 2013 - Comments Off on 49th Chicago International Film Festival Dedicates Opening Night To Roger Ebert
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>CHICAGO  (October 4, 2013) — Roger Ebert didn’t just write about the movies — he was the movies. Roger Ebert didn’t just live in Chicago — he was Chicago. The 49th Chicago International Film Festival is proud to dedicate this year’s Opening Night, Thursday October 10 at The Chicago Theatre (175 N. State St.), to the man who, for more than 40 years, was the beloved face (and the thumb) of film criticism.

The event will include a short video tribute to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning movie critic and will precede the screening of the Festival’s Opening Night Film, The Immigrant, directed by James Gray and starring Academy Award®-winning actress Marion Cotillard (in her first English-language lead role), Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner. The red carpet event starts at 6 p.m.  Ebert’s late wife, Chaz Ebert and director James Gray are scheduled to attend.

Considering the Festival “an adornment to our city,” Roger Ebert credited the event for introducing him to the work of Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Gregory Nava. Over the years he collaborated with the Festival on such projects as the special appearance of Kim Novak during a presentation of the restored Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, and discussions with luminaries including George Cukor, Sydney Pollack and Alan Parker.

“Roger has been an integral part of the Chicago International Film Festival from its earliest days,” said Festival Founder and Artistic Director Michael Kutza. “He long supported our mission of introducing Chicago moviegoers to the newest and brightest filmmakers from around the world. He leaves a strong legacy not only through his website, RogerEbert.com, where a large roster of top critics continue in his footsteps, but in the works of many filmmakers who fell in love with the movies through his reviews.”

“Roger admired how Michael Kutza kept the film festival going all these years and I thank him for honoring Roger once more,” said Chaz Ebert, Roger’s wife and publisher of Rogerebert.com, the website she co-founded with her husband. “I would also like to thank the Festival for their support.”

Opening Night Ticket Information

Tickets for Opening Night of the 49th Chicago International Film Festival are on sale now and can be purchased online at the Festival Store: www.ticketmaster.com or by in person at The Chicago Theatre (175 N. State St.) box office (Monday to Friday, 12-6 pm). Film-only tickets are: Balcony, $25 for Cinema/Chicago members and $30 for non-members; Main Floor, $30 for Cinema/Chicago members and $35 for non-members. VIP Ticket packages including a main floor seat and admission to the after-party at The Preston Bradley Hall of The Chicago Cultural Center (77 E. Randolph St., 4th Floor) are priced at $150 per ticket.

Ticket, Festival Passes and Theater Information

Festival Passes are on sale through October 9. Pass options include:

Moviegoer (10 regular admissions): $95 for Cinema/Chicago members, $125 for non-members.

Passport (20 regular admissions): $180 for Cinema/Chicago members, $240 for non-members

Passes can be purchased online at www.chicagofilmfestival.com.

Tickets can be purchased online via Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.com/chicagofilmfestival; by phone at 312-332-FILM (3456); or by visiting the Festival box office at AMC River East 21 (322 E. Illinois St.) or at the Cinema/Chicago office (30 E. Adams, Suite 800).

Apart from the opening night, all festival screenings will be held at the AMC River East 21 Theater (322 E. Illinois St.).

Festival Sponsors

Led by Presenting Partner Columbia College Chicago, the 49th Chicago International Film Festival’s sponsors include: Official Airline – American Airlines; Headquarters Hotel – JW Marriott Chicago; Official Vehicle – Mercedes-Benz; Producing Partners: AMC Theaters, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Major Partner: Intersites; Supporting Partners: DePaul University School of Cinema and Interactive Media, Stella Artois, Effen Vodka, WBBM Newsradio 780 and 105.9FM, Cultivate Studios; Participating Partners: State Farm, AARP, Tres Generaciones®, Comcast, Allstate, Spotlight Cinema Networks, Casale del Giglio, Second City Computers, Shutterbox Entertainment, Gibson’s Restaurant Group, RL Restaurant, Creative Technology and Lavazza Espression.

 

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About Cinema/Chicago

Cinema/Chicago is a not-for-profit cultural and educational organization dedicated to encouraging better understanding between cultures and to making a positive contribution to the art form of the moving image. The Chicago International Film Festival is part of the year-round programs presented by Cinema/Chicago, which also include the International Screenings Program (May-September), the Chicago International Television Competition (April), CineYouth Festival (May), Intercom Competition (October) and year-round Education Outreach and Member Screenings Program.

 

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

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There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

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My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
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