CHAMPAIGN — Ebertfest began in 1999 as a star-studded, red-carpet affair showcasing the overlooked indie film darlings in Hollywood at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign. It continued in that legacy for more than two decades.
This fall, Ebertfest organizers said they won’t be coming back – although there’s some discussion of a possible encore in 2026.
Ebertfest completely changed the local film sphere in Champaign-Urbana, and many in the film community say they’re making plans to move forward — picking up the mantle by highlighting overlooked films and creating a space where movie-lovers can gather to watch films they can’t see anywhere else.
The festival was founded by the late film critic Roger Ebert and his wife Chaz Ebert.
Nate Kohn, founding director of the festival, said the seeds were planted in the late ‘90s when Roger Ebert was invited to host a special screening of “2001: Space Odyssey.” They met and decided to hold it at the then-closed Virginia Theatre.
“We reopened the theater, discovered that there was still 70-millimeter projection in the theater, and showed the film to a large audience and it was very successful,” said Kohn in a 2024 interview with IPM News.
They began to talk about hosting an annual festival.
Though Roger Ebert was a film critic, he was known for his accessible movie reviews and his reverence for the way movies hold a mirror to society. He and his co-host Gene Siskel became household names through their TV show “At the Movies.” Ebert rarely wrote a scathing review, even trademarking the phrase “two thumbs up” with Siskel.
During its 26-year run, Ebertfest, originally named Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival, aimed to emulate these values.
“Chaz and I select films important in the particular moment, films that deserve a second look, and films that just generally deal with themes of empathy, which Chaz and Roger were very cognizant of,” Kohn said.
A memorable experience for movie-lovers
Andrew Stengele, who worked at Ebertfest for more than a decade, said it was an event unlike any other for C-U. Over the years, the festival hosted many celebrity guests, both on-screen and in-person, including Spike Lee, Tilda Swinton, and just last year, Francis Ford Coppola.
“When you get to see classics, sometimes from film, silent movies with live music accompaniment, and then have guests that were maybe involved with the movies, it’s not something that happens every day, and in fact, it doesn’t happen most of the time,” Stengele said.
Ebertfest provided movie-lovers with a packed three-day weekend of memorable experiences at a beautiful venue, he said.
“Everyone will probably remember the Tilda Swinton dance party. There’s a video of it online. You can see me very briefly running directly in front of Tilda Swinton because I was fixing a problem at the time,” Stengele said.
Ayana Patidar, an organizer of the Illini Watchers movie discussion club at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said being able to attend discussions with filmmakers was a formative experience for her as a young movie-lover.
“There wasn’t really anything like it,” Patidar said. “There was a screening of ‘Megalopolis’ by Francis Ford Coppola, which you can only really watch at film festivals at this point because there’s basically no distribution for it.”
Nat Dykeman, director of the Chambana Film Society, said without Ebertfest, it will be much harder to promote his film events.
“It was the defining event that everyone went to,” he said.
When Ebertfest announced in September that it wouldn’t be back next year, Stengele said he wasn’t surprised.
“In general, since Roger passed away attendance has gone down a bit. And you almost got the feeling that this was coming for a few years now anyway,” Stengele said. “The previous year, 2024, Chaz Ebert was very wishy-washy on whether they would do another one.”
Chaz Ebert sent an email to Virginia Theatre patrons in November about a possible encore for 2026 titled, “One Last Dance.” The email linked a survey on public interest for the return of Ebertfest.
Chaz Ebert declined an interview for this story and didn’t respond to questions about when a final decision will be made.
Moving forward without Ebertfest
Stengele, who is also the head of the filmmaking organization Champaign Moviemakers, said he expects the film scene will take a hit without Ebertfest, but they’re making it work.
“International films are being shown on campus all the time, we still have the Insect Fear Film Festival going. I wouldn’t be surprised if within five years something that’s kind of like Ebertfest happens again,” he said.
Dykeman said he hopes for the return of Ebertfest, but regardless, he’ll be holding his independent film festival, the Savoy Lumiere, next spring.
The first Savoy Lumiere festival took place in May as a five-day event that included 14 screenings of films Dykeman calls “true independent.”
“I’m hoping to double in size, I’m hoping to have two rooms next year: one of them solely dedicated for documentaries, and one solely dedicated for narratives,” he said. “We’re hoping to add an educational component, some lectures or workshops about filmmaking.”
Until then, he’ll be hosting screenings at the Savoy 16 called “Savoy ArtHouse” a few times a month.
He said he’s excited about what is to come for Savoy Art House. One of his upcoming screenings is a black-and-white slapstick film called “Hundreds of Beavers.” He said it’s an homage to Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Wile E. Coyote cartoons.
“It has engaged its audiences in such a way that people come dressed up as beavers and other characters in the film,” Dykeman said. “It’s really a hilarious smash hit.”
Dykeman said he has been able to put on more than 40 showings in the past year with the help of the community.
“I think that any film scene should have sort-of well-rounded options,” Dykeman said. “The idea that I’m able to pull a different film every week and do a screening is what’s really been enticing to me.”