Roger Ebert's festival still on despite illness

Two thumbs up for film critic Roger Ebert’s successful fight against cancer. The Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic, who writes for the Chicago Sun Times, underwent his third surgery on his throat in January 2008.

Ebert was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002 when doctors found a cancerous growth on his salivary gland. These types of cancer are seldom seen and often grow rather slowly.

Ebert was lucky that doctors found the cancer in an early stage, but his problems did not stop there. In July 2007, he was left barely able to speak because of an emergency surgery that repaired a burst blood vessel very close to the place where the cancerous growth was removed a few months earlier.

The cancer left Ebert completely unable to speak after a third surgery was performed earlier this year. A tracheotomy was completed– a procedure that opens an airway through an incision in the windpipe.

Even though Ebert is still without a voice, doctors say that his recent battle with cancer has been won for now, and hopes are still high for his voice to recover.
Ebert’s frequent hospital visits don’t stop there. He returned for another non-cancer related surgery this month. After Ebert tripped at the Pritikin Center in Florida where he was undergoing physical therapy in preparation for his film festival, he suffered a minor hip injury. The injury was taken care of and he was released from the hospital.

Despite his recent hospital visits, Ebert has not slowed down. The legendary film festival, Ebertfest, is still scheduled to kick off April 23 at the University of Illinois.
This is the tenth annual Ebertfest.  It was originally known as Roger Ebert’s Overlooked Film Festival, but more commonly, it is referred to as Ebertfest.  

The College of Media at the University of Illinois will host the event at their Virginia Theatre. Roger Ebert is a native of the adjoining town of Urbana, Ill., and is an alumnus of the University.

Ebert said on his Web site, “As film exhibition in North America crowds itself ever more narrowly into predictable commercial fodder for an undemanding audience, we applaud those brave, free spirits who still hold faith with the unlimited potential of the cinema.”

Ebertfest is unlike typical film festivals. It does not accept submissions. Ebert selects films for the festival which have been overlooked by the public or by film distribution companies.

The films presented at the festival are chosen from a selection of movies Ebert sees in the course of his normal reviewing work.
There will be 13 films shown over five days at the 2008 Ebertfest. The films range from romantic comedies to psychological political dramas.