Despite being unable to speak, film critic Roger Ebert will return to the Conference on World Affairs for the second consecutive year following a two-year absence while battling cancer.

This year's list of CWA speakers includes another big name from the movie industry: Werner Herzog, the acclaimed director of such films as "Rescue Dawn," "Grizzly Man" and last year's "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans."

Ebert, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times film critic, will visit Boulder for the 62nd annual conference at the University of Colorado April 5 through 9 with a yet-to-be-named film in tow for the 35th session of his popular commentary "Cinema Interruptus."

"I'll be there," Ebert wrote in an e-mail Thursday.

Every afternoon during the conference, Ebert consistently stops the featured film to answer audience questions and offer commentary, similar to the modern DVD commentary track.

Ebert, whose health struggles are the subject of a lengthy piece in the current issue of Esquire, attended 36 consecutive conferences before his battle with thyroid cancer derailed his plans and forced him to miss the conference in 2007 and 2008. Ebert returned to the CWA last year, when he presented and discussed the film "Chop Shop" with the help of Jim Emerson, a Seattle-based critic and Webmaster of RogerEbert.com.

After

Film critic Roger Ebert returned to the Conference on World Affairs last year after a two-year absence while battling cancer. Ebert said he ll be back in April for the 62nd annual conference. ( MARTY CAIVANO )
a series of surgeries beginning in 2006, Ebert lost his ability to eat, drink and speak, but that will not stop him from leading his CWA series through handwritten notes and computerized communication. This year Herzog will join in the "Interruptus," but his role is still undetermined, said CWA spokesperson Graham Gerritsen.

"We discussed the possibility of using one of Herzog's films for the series or just adding him into the discussion as a commentator, but nothing has been decided at this point," Gerritsen said. "Herzog will play a significant role in the conference this year, not just during Ebert's screenings."

Herzog is no stranger to CU. He appeared as a guest lecturer in 2001 as part of a program that is a year-long extension of the CWA, but this year will be his first time attending the week-long conference.