Roger Ebert tribute to be hosted on UGA campus
The University of Georgia Grady College, Film Studies and the University Union are teaming up to present a weekend-long tribute for renowned film critic Roger Ebert from Feb. 6 to 9 at the Tate Theater. All events are open to the public.
· Feb. 6 – “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” 8 p.m., $1 for UGA students, $2 for non-students
· Feb. 7 – “Life Itself,” 8 p.m., free admission
· Feb. 8 – “Citizen Kane,” 6 p.m., 9 p.m., $1 for UGA students, $2 for non-students
· Feb. 9 – “La Dolce Vita,” 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m., $1 for UGA students, $2 for non-students
The main highlight of the weekend takes place Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. with the screening of “Life Itself,” a new documentary about Ebert based on his memoir of the same name. Directed by Steve James and produced by Martin Scorsese, this will be the first screening of the film after its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Looking to extend her late husband's legacy, Chaz Ebert will be present before the documentary screening for a pre-reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the fourth floor reception area of the Grady College.
“To have Chaz Ebert talk about Roger after the screening of “Life Itself” and answer audience questions affords a rare opportunity for film and journalism students to learn about the legendary film critic's life and work,” said Nate Kohn, Grady professor and director of the annual Roger Ebert Film Festival in Champaign, Ill.
The tribute weekend also includes the screening of “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” the only film Ebert ever wrote himself, as well as “La Dolce Vita” and “Citizen Kane,” two of Ebert's all time favorite films.
“The program is an excellent mix that reflects the wide scope of Roger's taste in movies-from Fellini to Welles to Russ Meyer,” said Kohn.
Ebert was a film critic, journalist and screenwriter. He worked for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Ebert and Chicago Tribune critic Gene Siskel hosted a series of popular review shows in which they created and trademarked the phrase “two thumbs up,” used when they both gave the same film a positive review.
In 1975, Ebert was the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. As of 2010, his reviews were syndicated to more than 200 newspapers in the United States and abroad. Ebert also published more than 20 books and dozens of collections of reviews.
Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times said Ebert “was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic,” Tom Van Riper of Forbes described him as “the most powerful pundit in America,” and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called him “the best-known film critic in America.”
Date: January 22, 2014
Author: Samantha Slappey, shslappe@uga.edu
Contact: Sarah Freeman, freemans@uga.edu