With director Steve James in person, Friday, July 18, 2014!

LIFE ITSELF film captures the spirit, wit, and toughness of the late critic and social commentator Roger Ebert. Filmed in the final months before Ebert’s death from cancer, LIFE ITSELF delves deep into the times of a complicated man. The movie features intimate interviews with Ebert, his wife Chaz, friends and colleagues, and directors Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, and Martin Scorsese (who helped produce the film). Just one of the fascinating components of the movie is the degree to which Ebert’s criticism influenced some of the great filmmakers whose work he reviewed. Also featured are interviews with fellow critics Jonathan Rosenbaum, Richard Corliss, and A.O. Scott, all of whom were informed in some way by Ebert’s critical work.

Tapped by Ebert himself to direct a film about his life, James is widely lauded as one of most important documentarians. His 1994 epic HOOP DREAMS is often cited as one of the great accomplishments in nonfiction filmmaking. One of the earliest and most vocal champions of the film was Ebert, saying, “A film like HOOP DREAMS is what the movies are for. It takes us, shakes us, and make us think in new ways about the world around us. It gives us the impression of having touched life itself.”