Roger Ebert mourned by director of Toronto International Film Festival

TORONTO – The artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival is mourning legendary film critic Roger Ebert.

Shortly after news broke of Ebert’s death Thursday, Cameron Bailey tweeted: “Movies are human documents. They show us our soul. Roger Ebert taught me that. Rest in peace.”

Ebert was a fixture at the fest, attending a slew of screenings and press conferences each year, and blogging prolifically about the movies he saw.

Festival-goers who spotted Ebert on Toronto streets would frequently greet the critic with his famed thumbs up.

The Chicago Sun-Times, where Ebert had been a film critic since 1967, reported the Pulitzer Prize winner died Thursday at age 70.

News of his death came just two days after he announced on his blog that he was undergoing radiation treatment after a recurrence of cancer.