Ava DuVernay to attend this year’s Ebertfest

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Director Ava DuVernay is scheduled to be a guest at the 20th annual Ebertfest next month in Illinois. The University of Illinois said Monday that the Oscar-nominated director of “Selma” and “A Wrinkle in Time” will attend the film festival in Champaign honouring the late movie critic, Roger Ebert.

She’ll bring her film “The 13th,” which was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary. The festival will open with a showing of the “The Fugitive” starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The 1993 film’s director, Andrew Davis, is a University of Illinois alumnus. He’s also attending the festival. Ebert and his wife, Chaz Ebert, co-founded the event in collaboration with the university. Films are shown in downtown Champaign’s Virginia Theatre.