DANVILLE, IL (Chambana Today) – Fischer Theater Interim Director, Ashton Greer, is calling the newly planned FischerFest, an honor to the legacy of Danville native and Oscar-winning actor, “a way to honor Gene’s legendary career and who helped put Danville on the Cinematic map.”
On Wednesday, Greer excitedly announced the two-day event happening August 16–17 with hosts and film critics, Chuck Koplinski and Pam Powell. In addition to the screenings, a special “Dessert and Discussion” event held on Sunday will be led by Koplinski.
In similarity to “Ebertfest” held at the Virginia Theater in Urbana, Greer said she hopes to see this event grow. “There was a lot of chatter on social media about how the Fischer should honor Gene Hackman after he passed, and there was one Facebook post in particular suggesting the Fischer Theater should have a Gene Hackman film festival, with around 200 comments on it, so our board started talking.” A grant was obtained and set the wheels in motion.
Greer said that this will become an annual event. “We plan to continue doing this, maybe not just FischerFest, but have alternating artists that originated here in Danville.” She is also hopeful to do something special later this year for another beloved and well-known Danville native. “With Dick Van Dyke’s 100th birthday coming up (December 13) we’ve been thinking about doing something cool for that too.”
Additionally, it was announced that the Fischer Theater received $40,000 in donations within a two-month period and is also seeking other donations to complete a $30,000 match. “We had three local family foundations donate $5,000 each for a total of $15,000 knowing that we had some projects that we wanted to tackle by the end of 2026 and they committed it, in a matching donor capacity, for a total of $30,000,” Greer added. Even with recent renovations completed in 2019, the building was not finished and the two upper floors still have not been touched. The Theater relies solely on donations, community support and grants. Cost to keep the Theater open runs about $30,000 a month, even being ran by volunteers and limited paid staff.
Projects include updating the concession area and adding new equipment, and will be named after Terry Lake, who was an advocate and encouraging volunteer. Revitalizing the backstage and the under-stage areas to include dressing rooms and restroom areas and bringing those areas up to code and ADA compatible, while keeping them as original as possible. Organizers are hoping to be able to draw larger artists to the facility since the building currently doesn’t have those amenities. The gift shop is also slated for improvements, where it too will be updated and kept as original as possible.
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. praised the work being done at the Fischer. “I’m so excited to see how much things have evolved and changed and how this place has become a place for everyone, is something that makes me so proud, just seeing the amazing events that we are able to host here, even as a city, to see everything that brings us all together, is something to be celebrated.” He also noted that without the support of the community, downtown would be lost.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS — FISCHERFEST
Saturday, August 16, 2025
(Film intros with Chuck & Pam)
Doors open at 10 A.M.
- Bonnie & Clyde — 11 A.M.
- The French Connection — 3 P.M.
- Unforgiven — 7 P.M.
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Doors Open at 10 A.M.
- Crimson Tide — 11 A.M.
- Dessert & Discussion — 2 P.M.
- The Royal Tenenbaums — 4 P.M.
TICKET PRICING
- One Reel Deal (Any one movie) — $10
- Saturday Pass (All Saturday Films) — $25
- Sunday Pass (Two Sunday Films & Discussion) — $25
- Dessert & Discussion Only — $10
- Reel Deal Pass (Admission for entire weekend, includes Mezz seating & free popcorn) — $75
Ticketing Link:
https://tickets.signupgenius.com/#/wizard/org/org_zs/events/evt_oi