The late Chicago Sun-Time's film critic Roger Ebert made an endowment, prior to his death, to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, to have the center created and Friday is the first official lecture in the center, according to a news release.
Ebert's wife Chaz is expected to be on hand for the event. Renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese will join the event via video.
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Ebert graduated from Illinois with a degree in journalism and went on to become the first film critic to earn a Pulitzer Prize and to be given a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The mission of the film studies center will focus on all aspects of film including the analysis and study of films, according to the release.