Quite the title, I know, but this was quite the event. May 1st was the Mel Novikoff Award at the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival. According to Rachel Rosen, the Director of Programming at SFIFF, Roger Ebert was the unanimously elected recipient. After she invited Roger Ebert and his wife Chaz to the stage, Rachel informed the audience that Tilda Swinton was unable to make the awards ceremony (cue the disappointed “awwww” from the audience) because of a scheduling conflict with the production of Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to talk about Kevin”. (Which, by the way, is a book my friend Emily gave me months ago and I’ve been putting off reading it for months…but now that I know Tilda Swinton will be starring in the movie version, I’m more motivated to read it!) After Tilda’s touching letter, the evening began in earnest with a series of tributes. Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World) was the first to take the stage:
The man strikes me as a hybrid between John Cleese and Tim Burton (I think it was the combination of the mustache, wild curly hair and witty, sarcastic, bitterness). “I first met Roger at Telluride Film Festival in 1984 where I had my first film, “Louie Bluie”…I think 12 people showed up to see the film…But one of the first people in line was Roger Ebert, which was a big deal to me. I remember that I was in the lobby selling LPs, which sort of dates the whole thing.” [cue audience laughing] “They were soundtracks to the film and Roger wanted to buy a few. I said, ‘Just take a few, you know, I’m a fan.’ And he seemed rather put off by that, rather irritated, like I was trying to bribe him or something…I’m so socially retarded that I don’t think I’ve ever become friends with Roger in the traditional sense. I did have dinner with him and Chaz once, but [John] Malkovich’s whole crazy family was there so I couldn’t get a word in.” Zwigoff wrapped up his section of the presentation by inviting Errol Morris up to the stage. “Ebert called Morris’s “Gates of Heaven” one of the 10 greatest films of all time” Zwigoff said.
Errol Morris, a large, shy man, leaned down over the podium. “I think this is true, many films later — you don’t really know if they’re good or bad. You really depend on someone to tell you that they’re really not as bad as you might think and in fact they might be good! For me, very early on in my career, it was Roger Ebert,” Morris said. “[Roger] champions unlikely films. His overlooked film festival is a perfect example of this. It’s my favourite trophy by the way, the golden thumb. It’s something I’m very, very proud of. Although I was disappointed to learn that it was not actually Roger’s thumb.” At that, Roger gave Morris his famous “Thumbs Up” and nodded proudly. “Oh, is that your thumb?” Errol asked. “Well now I like it even more.”
Next up was the only director I was really familiar with (I apologize for being such an uninformed Film Studies graduate): Jason Reitman, the director of “Thank you for Smoking” and “Juno” took the stage. Unlike the other directors, he had written a speech. Reading from his notes, he said: “I remember arriving at the Toronto Film Festival with this tiny movie about teenage pregnancy starring an unknown Canadian actress named Ellen Page and I really thought that it would be a festival movie, it would not be seen otherwise. And I remember the movie ended and people started to clap and I saw Roger who was actually just sitting a few rows away from me and he nodded at me. By the next morning he had already started talking about the film and he had shone a spotlight on it. He gave people a reason to pay attention to it. I believe that Roger is one of the very few reasons people know the name ‘Juno.’ ”
Reitman, in turn, shone a light on Ebert’s online alter ego, @ebertchicago, saying,
“I know teenage girls that tweet less than Roger Ebert. The Roger Ebert twitter feed is one of the best publications we have running. I don’t mean it sarcastically; I mean it honestly. It’s thoughtful, it’s political, it’s funny, it’s daring, it’s self-effacing. His instincts to write and to share can only be seen as one thing: he wants you to experience what he has experienced.”
Later, when I was in line for popcorn, a woman asked me if I followed Roger Ebert on Twitter. “Not yet” I replied. “Today he tweeted about how you should go for walks in the park with the ones you love” she said, “because you never know when you won’t be able to do it again”. “That’s lovely,” I said. Of course, the thought of Roger’s health weighed on my mind. Roger seemed to have problems standing and walking. I thanked the stars for my good health and told myself I would go for a walk in the park the next day. I had been shocked to see how Roger looked after jaw surgery. His mouth was perpetually open, in what seemed to be a huge grin. “It makes him look younger” said my neighbour, when I showed him a picture after the awards ceremony. Speaking of which, it’s not done yet:
The final speaker was Philip Kaufman (“The Right Stuff, ” “Henry & June,” “Quills”). He sat next to Roger, instead of standing at the podium as the other directors had done. His speech was definitely the most personal, and it seemed that he and Roger had a friendship that extended beyond the Film Maker/Film Critic relationship. Kaufmann explained that during the battle to get “Henry & June” into theatres, Ebert fought along beside him. “Once, Roger called me, woke me up at about 6 in the morning. The ratings board had dropped the dreaded Rated X on the film, which meant essentially that it couldn’t be distributed. Roger had been fighting the same fight with the ratings system for years and was calling to tell me that the ratings board had backed down. Because Roger had led the forces of change, they were finally coming up with a new rating, NC-17. Later, he mentioned “Of course since then they’ve found a way to make NC-17 the new X, but that’s another story.”
Kauffman is also from Chicago, and told the audience that “everything you’ve read by this kid Ebert over all these years should be in the context, in the tradition of the Chicago writers. Tough, give-em-hell, non-compromising, no bullshit, tell it like it is, compassionate writers. Like them, Ebert spoke from his heart, spoke against the big boys, championed the little man against small-minded bullies. He told us the truth according to Ebert.” He continued: “Roger and I are both lucky enough to have found the loves of our lives.” Kauffman told the most touching story about his wife, Rose: “We went to see a film, I can’t even remember the name of it or what theater it was in…but anyways, it ended up that one of us liked the film and one of us didn’t, and it escalated into such an argument that Rose slugged me in the face. I spent the night in a series of bars, thinkin’ y’know, ‘who needs this shit?’ and I went home all ready to end it all. But Rose had bolted the door. I was locked out on a cold, windy Chicago night. I went around the side of the house, and I saw that Rose had left our bedroom, our tiny bedroom, window open just a crack. I crawled in and lay down on the bed. Rose had been crying, she had tears all over her face.” Kauffman choked up. “I’m sorry, I thought I’d be able to make it through, but this is really hard.” He took a moment while the audience sat in silence or tried clapping in encouragement. His wife had died in December. “She wrapped herself around me and said ‘enough of this shit baby, let’s make our own films. Let’s make our own films.” Kauffman thanked Roger Ebert for leaving the window open just a crack, although I can’t remember how he contextualized it to make sense, I was still wrapped up in the love story. He had described it such detail that I was already picturing it as a scene from a film. At the end of his speech, Kaufman presented Ebert with both the Mel Novikoff Award as well as a proclamation from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom stating that May 1st would from that point on be known as Roger Ebert Day in the city and county of San Francisco.
Next it was Roger’s turn to speak. It was obvious that he wasn’t able to speak “the traditional way”, since he had been pantomiming the whole evening. He unfolded his laptop to at last say a few words. He typed in some commands, and a computer generated voice filled the Castro Theatre:
“How is it that Eric Zonca’s film “Julia”, starring Tilda Swinton, only grossed $64,000 at the national box office?” He questioned rhetorically . “We are in a crisis of cinema. Incredibly, some studios have announced that they will no longer make what we think of as real movies. They will specialize entirely in 3D, franchises, sequels, special effects, and superheroes. We all know stories about how the best projects from even a few years ago could no longer be financed today. The studios are running like lemmings towards 3D. 3D is an annoying gimmick useful primarily for increasing ticket prices.” The audience seemed to agree…or at least I did. Ebert gestured grandly as the computer pronounced what he’d written: “Truffaut said the most beautiful sight you will see in a cinema is if you sit in the front and turnaround to gaze at all those eyes lifted up to the screen. They are a characterization of the movie and they are an audience. An audience forms a personality. It forms an identity. It is how we shape our collective dreams. I love my DVD collection. I love streaming video. But when I finally am able to see the restored ‘Metropolis’ I promise you it will not be at home on television.” The audience cheered. 
After his speech, Roger Ebert and his wife walked off stage, and Eric Zonca’s film began. At first I was shocked by Tilda’s psycho, alcaholic, American character…It wasn’t until the second half of the film that I began to really enjoy the dark comedy and irony. It’s an excellent film. You should watch it. Here’s the trailer!
While I was in Mill Valley I found this incredible bubble hem rain coat by Montreal designer Joseph Ribkoff…The BCBG dress is first though…
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