WE ♥ DOCS

Magnolia Pictures Picks Up Roger Ebert Doc 'Life Itself' for Distribution

by Ethan Anderton
February 4, 2014
Source: THR

Magnolia Pictures has already picked up Happy Christmas from director Joe Swanberg and Frank starring Michael Fassbender from the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, but now they have a documentary from the indie fest under their wing. THR reports Magnolia has just picked up Life Itself, the documentary from Hoop Dreams director Steve James about the late legendary film critic, Roger Ebert. Borrowing the title and stories of the critics book of the same name, the film chronicles Ebert's career and life story interspersed with glimpses at Ebert's final days as he underwent hospital care following the removal of his jaw. Read on!

The film features interview with some of Ebert's oldest friends, co-workers and his wife Chaz Ebert, not to mention some recognizable faces like Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog and more. It covers Ebert's career at the Chicago Sun-Times and his love/hate friendship and professional work with fellow critic Gene Siskel. In my review from Sundance, I called the documentary "endearing, inspiring and honest." It's certainly a tearjerking story, but one that's full of inspiration and affirmation. There's no release window yet for the documentary to hit theaters, but you'll probably see it sometime this year.

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