A very special event will happen at the opening night of the 20th annual Black Harvest Film Festival at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
At the 6:15 p.m. ceremony Friday night, Chaz Ebert and her late, great husband and Pulitzer Prize-winning Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert will be presented with the Deloris Jordan Award for Excellence in Community Leadership.
The honor will be presented by Deloris Jordan herself, in her role as president of the James R. Jordan Foundation, named in memory of NBA legend Michael Jordan’s late father.
“Through their tireless championing of emerging diverse filmmakers and how they have dedicated their lives to movies, we are honored that Chaz will be present to accept this award on behalf of both her and Roger. … With the advocacy of the Eberts, festivals like Black Harvest would not be celebrating their 20-year history of presenting filmmakers from the African Diaspora,” said Jean de St. Aubin, the Siskel Center’s executive director in a statement.