bertfest, the unique film festival created to give films overlooked by critics and audiences a second chance, celebrates its 20th year on April 18-22 in the quaint college town of Champaign, IL. The festival, started by Roger Ebert and his wife Chaz, continues even after Ebert’s death 5 years ago.
The festival has changed over the past 20 years and I had the opportunity to sit down with Chaz to discuss these changes, life before Roger, and the inspiration that drives her forward. With a genuine
smile and unmistakable
contagious calm, Chaz and I sat
back and chatted.
A Chicago native, Chaz a grew
up on the Near West Side with
her 8 siblings - 4 sisters and 4
brothers. She fondly recalled
her love of movies that
began with television,
watching movies like “Porgy
and Bess” and “Imitation of
Life.” TV series like
‘Ponderosa’ were
special to her
as well,
watching
them
with
her
father
and
brothers.
“Each one
of my
brothers to me was like one of the brothers [on ‘Ponderosa’]...my oldest brother was like ‘Adam,’ he was the responsible one...” Chaz and I reminisced and as I brought up Lucille Ball, she lit up. “I loved ‘I Love Lucy!’ And Roger, that was one of his nicknames for me. He called me Lucy because he thought I was so funny and so unpredictable.”
E
Photo by Thomson Reuters