From April 23-26, 2025, Roger Ebert’s official film festival, EbertFest, will celebrate its 26th year with a host of new festival favorites and beloved classics. With twelve features and seventeen guests gracing the Virginia Theater at the College of Media at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, there’s a lot I and co-host (and Festival Director) Nate Kohn are excited to show you this year.
We’re thrilled to open the festival with a Western for the first time this year with John Ford’s “The Searchers” and close out with the crowd-pleasing comedy “The Hangover,” with a host of incredible works new and old in between. And gracing each screening are special guests ranging from film critics to scholars to the filmmakers themselves (including Francis Ford Coppola, who will be accompanying our screening of his latest, “Megalopolis.”).
You can find all the information (including where to buy tickets) at ebertfest.com. But we’ve put together a little preview of what (and who) to expect.
Read on to learn more about what exciting titles and guests you can expect at this year’s fest!
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23
6:30 PM: THE SEARCHERS — John Ford’s opus about the collapse of the American West, with an all-timer performance from John Wayne.
Guests: Eric Pierson, Film Scholar
THURSDAY, APRIL 24
9:oo AM: MEGALOPOLIS — Francis Ford Coppola’s sprawling, ambitious epic of an empire in collapse stars Adam Driver as an architect sacrificing everything to achieve his vision.
Special Guests: Michael Barker, Co-President and Co-Founder, Sony Pictures Classics; Francis Ford Coppola, Director/Writer/Producer (via satellite).
1:30 PM: DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN — Susan Seidelman’s touching, hilarious tale of female friendship, with funny and heartbreaking turns from Rosanna Arquette and Madonna.
Special Guests: Susan Seidelman, Director; Rosanna Arquette, Actor.
5:00 PM: HARLAN COUNTY U.S.A. — The ins and outs of the American working class is laid bare in Barbara Kopple’s incredible documentary, one of the shining stars of the cinema verite movement.
Special Guest: Barbara Kopple, Director/Producer
9:30 PM: HIS THREE DAUGHTERS — Azazel Jacobs crafts a suitably intimate tale of three sisters in mourning (Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, and Natasha Lyonne) for a father (Jay O. Sanders) in his final days.
Special Guest: Azazel Jacobs, Director/Writer/Producer
FRIDAY, APRIL 25
10:30 AM: A LITTLE PRAYER — “Junebug” writer Angus MacLachlan arrives with an underappreciated festival gem, starring David Strathairn as a man who finds himself in the uncomfortable position of advising his daughter-in-law (Jane Levy) through his son’s infidelity.
Special Guest: Angus MacLachlan, Director/Writer/Producer
2:30 PM: I’M STILL HERE — Walter Salles’ latest, most political work yet features a searing, Oscar-nominated performance from Fernanda Torres as a resolute woman searching for her long-missing husband, kidnapped by Brazil’s military dictatorship.
Michael Barker, Co-President and Co-Founder, Sony Pictures Classics
7:30 PM: RUMOURS — Guy Maddin (along with co-directors Evan and Galen Johnson) poke mirthfully at the vagaries of international politics, with an international cast headlined by Cate Blanchett and a heaping helping of weird.
Special Guest: Guy Maddin, Director/Writer/Producer (via satellite)
SATURDAY, APRIL 26
9:00 AM: THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED — Considered the first feature length animation and inspired by the tales known as the Arabian Nights, The Adventures of Prince Achmed tells the story of a young prince tricked by a wicked sorcerer into mounting a magical, flying horse steered on a course to their own demise.
Special Guests: The Anvil Orchestra, Musicians
11:30 AM: COLOR BOOK — David Fortune’s feature-length debut charts the patient journey of father Lucky and his young son, Mason, as they move through the world after the sudden death of Mason’s mother.
Special Guests: David Fortune, Writer/Director; Kiah Clingman, Producer; William Catlett, Actor; Jeremiah Daniels, Actor
4:00 PM: TOUCH — Baltasar Kormákur’s drama follows an elderly man, facing cognitive decline, who embarks on an emotional journey to find his first love before time runs out.
Special Guest: Baltasar Kormákur, Writer/Producer/Director
9:00 PM: THE HANGOVER — Todd Phillips’ riotous 2009 frat-boy misadventure about a trio of bros (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis) dealing with the aftermath of a crazy bachelor party made stars of its leads and defined a new genre of comedy.
Special Guest: Scott Budnick, Executive Producer
Get tickets to Ebertfest by visiting the official website.
