at the Virginia Festival of American Film
Charlottesville, VA-Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times and "Siskel and Ebert at the Movies") returns for the fourth year to the Virginia Festival of American Film. This fall, Ebert will conduct a 3-day, 6-hour workshop exploring The Third Man, the 1949 classic movie directed by Sir Carol Reed.
Mr. Ebert selected The Third Man for its relationship to the Festival's theme, U.S. and Them: The Cross-Cultural Politics of American Film. Screenwriter Graham Greene and director Reed's memorable evocation of post-World War II Vienna tells a tale of two world-weary Americans abroad, stars Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles as black marketeer Harry Lime. Other stars in the film are Trevor Howard and the unforgettable Valli. Moviegoers around the world will also recall the film's haunting score of Viennese zither music. The Third Man was a co-production of David O. Selznick and Alexander Korda, reflecting further the film's cross-cultural resonance.
Since 1992, Roger Ebert's seminars have been fulfilling the Festival's mission of celebrating film as education and entertainment. As founding patron of the Festival Patricia Kluge says: "Roger brings to his audiences a unique combination of scholarship and accessibility. He masterfully sustains the academic standards to which the Film Festival is committed, and entertains us too with every word."