Chaz Ebert, president of Ebert Digital LLC and CEO of RogerEbert.com, is moving into the director’s chair for the primary time.
At this 12 months’s Chicago Worldwide Movie Pageant, she is going to premiere her brief movie “Wellness Warrior,” which explores the unimaginable lifetime of Deborah Szekely, who has been known as the “Godmother of Wellness” for her advocacy of the trendy wellness motion.
A synopsis of the movie from a press launch reads:
“As World Conflict II raged across the globe, a professor from Japanese Europe and his 17-year-old bride created an oasis simply throughout the Southern California border in Tecate, Mexico. It grew to become generally known as Rancho La Puerta, a sanctuary for folks from all around the world to return and find out about well being and wellness. That 17-year-old woman, Deborah Szekely, is now 102 years outdated and is the residing embodiment of every thing the Ranch aspires to be and to show. The Ranch and its sister property, The Golden Door in San Marcos, California, proceed as we speak to serve celebrities, royalty, and anybody seeking a more healthy life. Szekely is taken into account the founding father of the modern-day spa trade, the Godmother of Wellness, and this movie explores her unimaginable life, together with the obstacles and triumphs of being a lady entrepreneur.“
Nonetheless vibrant and vivid in her second century, Szekely spends her days planting bushes in Tecate, taking lengthy walks each day, and constructing the Inexperienced Umbrella Fund to assist that initiative. You could contribute to it right here.
Ebert is not any stranger to movie manufacturing, having govt produced movies akin to “Passing,” “The Empire of Ebony,” and “Selah and the Spades.” However having been a frequent customer to Rancho La Puerta and the Golden Door, Chaz has been so impressed by the girl’s wonderful life, in addition to her “vitality, knowledge, and compassion.”
Chaz stated she felt somebody ought to make a movie about Szekely. She by no means dreamed she would wind up directing it.
“Ladies stored saying they had been going to make a film about Deborah Szekely, however nobody began it, so my daughter Sonia inspired me to do it,” Ebert stated in a press launch. “I feel Deborah is wonderful. Probably the most wonderful issues about her is that she reinvents herself each ten years.”
“Wellness Warrior” is produced by Ebert, Scott Dummler and Sonia Evans. Ms. Szekely will seem on the movie’s premiere, together with a couple of others highlighted within the movie. It is going to be screened on Saturday, October 26, at 3:45 p.m. at AMC New Metropolis 14. Ebert can also be the writer of “It’s Time to Give a FECK: Elevating Humanity by means of Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion and Kindness” (Forefront Books, 2024).
The Chicago Worldwide Movie Pageant runs October 16-27 at venues throughout town; you’ll find extra info at chicagofilmfestival.com.
