If you read any of my dispatches from Champaign, you know this year’s Ebertfest was mostly a somber affair. The passing of its founder and programmer Roger Ebert; a slate of films about death, addiction, and suicide; cold, rainy weather; and the unfolding crisis in Boston made for an emotional couple of days.
By Saturday, though, the collective mood started to improve. Boston police caught the suspects in the marathon bombing. For the first time all week, the sun came out. And Tilda Swinton lifted all of our spirits by leading 1500 Ebertfest attendees in a massive dance-along. To the sounds of Barry White’s “You’re the First, the Last, My Everything,” she bounded off the stage and into the aisles of the Virginia Theatre, where everyone (who wasn’t taking pictures) danced right along.
Eagle-eyed film nerds: see if you can spot David Bordwell and Dana Stevens as Swinton dances past them. They’re in there.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
