2026 EBERTFEST: Charliebird (2025)

RESERVED SEATING TICKETS:
$20 Individual / $15 Student (valid Student ID required)
Plus an additional per-ticket processing fee of $3
FRI, APRIL 17, 2026
2026 ROGER EBERT'S FILM FESTIVAL
An intimate drama following Al (Samantha Smart), a dedicated music therapist at a Texas children's hospital who forms an unexpected bond with Charlie (Gabriela Ochoa Perez), a resistant, terminally ill 17-year-old patient. The film explores grief, healing, and connection as they both navigate terminal illness and past trauma.
2026 ROGER EBERT'S FILM FESTIVAL
An intimate drama following Al (Samantha Smart), a dedicated music therapist at a Texas children's hospital who forms an unexpected bond with Charlie (Gabriela Ochoa Perez), a resistant, terminally ill 17-year-old patient. The film explores grief, healing, and connection as they both navigate terminal illness and past trauma.
SPECIAL GUEST: Samantha Smart
Not Rated
98min
EBERTFEST 2026 "THE LAST DANCE" is presented by:

Roger Ebert’s Film Festival celebrates films, genres, and formats that have been overlooked by distributors, audiences, and/or critics. These include independent, international, and studio films that did not win wide audiences; overlooked formats such as 70mm; and overlooked genres such as documentaries and musicals.
The festival screens one film at a time – so that everyone sees the same films – promoting a strong sense of community among audience members, filmmakers, guests, students, and scholars.
Ebertfest was founded in 1999 by Roger and Chaz Ebert, with Professor Nathaniel Kohn as Festival Director. Roger was an Urbana native, U of I Journalism graduate, and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times.
For a complete list of the films, visit this page.
For more, visit www.ebertfest.com
Not Rated
98min
EBERTFEST 2026 "THE LAST DANCE" is presented by:

Roger Ebert’s Film Festival celebrates films, genres, and formats that have been overlooked by distributors, audiences, and/or critics. These include independent, international, and studio films that did not win wide audiences; overlooked formats such as 70mm; and overlooked genres such as documentaries and musicals.
The festival screens one film at a time – so that everyone sees the same films – promoting a strong sense of community among audience members, filmmakers, guests, students, and scholars.
Ebertfest was founded in 1999 by Roger and Chaz Ebert, with Professor Nathaniel Kohn as Festival Director. Roger was an Urbana native, U of I Journalism graduate, and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times.
For a complete list of the films, visit this page.
For more, visit www.ebertfest.com
