7/2/2023 0 Comments Photo redactorOda and Berman took to the stage for the post-screening Q&A moderated by Managing Editor Brian Tallerico (whose interviews are the gold standard) and Film Critic Sheila O'Malley. From left: Brian Tallerico, Nate Kohn, Jason Michael Berman, Chaz Ebert, Edson Oda, Sheila O'Malley. I call it a love letter to Michael's mother, Mrs Deloris Jordan. What came next for Jason Berman is one of the most critically acclaimed films in theaters, "AIR", about the making of the Michael Jordan brand with Nike. They can't wait to see what he will do next. His creativity is unique, the opposite of a cookie cutter approach, and the audience responded in kind. Oda's directorial debut is full of ideas and scenes that make us think. From left: Jason Michael Berman and Edson Oda. Talk about empathy and looking at the lives of others. We were privileged to open the festival with Director Edson Odaand Producer Jason Michael Berman's acclaimed 2020 fantasy, "Nine Days," about an ethereal being ( Winston Duke) who interviews the souls of humans that have yet to be born. He has been the Festival Director since the beginning and we are fortunate to have him. I am so grateful to him for all of his hard work. Nate Kohn was also on hand to make opening remarks. Killeen, at her house, which served as the elegant setting for the festival's opening night reception for filmmakers, sponsors and special guests. Roberta Johnson Killeen, the wife of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign President Timothy L. (All photos are the property of Ebertfest and were taken by Timothy Hiatt for the Roger Ebert Film Festival.) So without further ado, here are the films and Guests of Ebertfest 2023. And we ended the festival with a film that Roger and I loved because of its seeming innocence and goodness at the time, and it is one that made us want to go out and eat shrimp. We went to the future with young filmmakers who found a parallel about inequality in history, and were brought back to the reality of a young drug courier whose mastery of the game of chess literally saves his life.ĭuring these precious days we spent recently in the dark together with these films, we enjoyed the music of the Anvil Orchestra, who adopted a name that was inadvertently given to them by Roger. We swam along with older African-American women who taught us that age is nothing but a number. Our Ebertfest empathy journey took us to the countryside in Tokyo, to Berlin to witness Angels before the fall of the wall, and allowed us to rub shoulders with folksingers in America amidst the backdrop of 9/11. Our minds wrapped around the wonder of a magician helping us to discover who we are and equally at the musings of a being in the ethers making decisions about who was worthy of being born. So Nate and I undertook the careful curation of films that showed various aspects of lives that were different. We experienced vicariously what Marian Anderson endured before her triumphant night at the Metropolitan Opera. We held our breath during courageous acts of survival during the Holocaust, and suffered along with the visceral pain of an alcoholic woman raging out of control. We both believed that cinema at its noblest inspires us to understand others and encourages tolerance, patience and acts of kindness and compassion. It helps us to put ourselves in the shoes of someone who is different from us. This year, to honor his legacy, we chose the theme of "Empathy at the Movies." Empathy, he often said, is the most essential element of civilization. He loved Ebertfest and savored every minute of planning it.
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