Fests and events, 4/3.

"I am happy to say my Ninth Annual Overlooked Film Festival will be held as scheduled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign April 25-29," writes Roger Ebert. "I'll be there, but friends and colleagues will take over the onstage Q&A duties. I'll watch from the audience. I think of the festival as the first step on my return to action. Because I will be under scrutiny there, I'll tell you what to expect: a sick guy, getting better, who still loves the movies and the festival.... I plan to gradually increase my duties in the months to come. I still love writing about the movies. Forty years is not enough."

"Although opinions about his directorial skills vary, there's no denying his historical importance." David Bordwell reviews highlights of a "massive retrospective" of works by Li Han-hsiang at the Hong Kong Film Archive.

Michael Guillén and Peter Nellhaus meet up at the Modernist Master: Michelangelo Antonioni series in Berkeley (through April 22).

Michael also reviews Starcrash (Scontri stellari oltre la terza dimensione), one of three features that launched the Dead Channels Sleazy Sundays series in San Francisco.

Bryan Whitefield offers "Some Quick Impressions from New Directors / New Films" at ScreenGrab. Like Michael Tully and just about everyone, it seems, he's quite impressed with Reprise.

William Goss at Hollywood Bitchslap: "SXSW 2007: What Went Down."

Posted by dwhudson at April 3, 2007 5:19 AM