Oscar Winner Sissy Spacek 

Wednesday, April 30------Aside from a multitude of premiere screenings and a rash of industry parties, the Tribeca Film Festival is delivering celebrities and filmmakers up close and personal in a series of special events.

In a number of different discussion serires, the Festival has explored issues and trends in society and the entertainment industry with some of the biggest names in film, literature and media.  The series includes a new program, “Behind the Screens: films and conversations about truth, clarity and responsibility,” and the popular Tribeca Talks Panel Series. 

Sponsored by iShares, “Behind the Screens” has featured three half-hour, in-depth discussions and audience Q&A with film participants following select screenings at the Directors Guild Theater.  “Behind the Screens” debuted this past weekend with the Lake City, a screening of the dramatic feature film followed by a conversation with Oscar-winning actress Sissy Spacek, about her performance in the film. 

The series continued with a rare public appearance by venerable New York filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles on his semi-autobiographical boisterous adventure Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha, which premiered earlier this week at the Festival. Rounding out the trio of special talks will be Under Our Skin, which examines Lyme disease, an often-overlooked ailment on the verge of epidemic, followed by a discussion with director, Andy Abrahams Wilson, author Amy Tan who has suffered from Lyme disease, and Dr. Richard Horowitz, known for his pioneering work with the disease.

Highlights from this year’s Tribeca Talks Panel Series have included a discussion with world-class director, writer and composer Mike Figgis, who talked about his constant evolution in digital filmmaking; a conversation with BAFTA-winning director, writer and sometime actor Shane Meadows, whose newest film Somers Town premiered in competition this week.

Wired Contributing Editor Eric Steuer, Paul “DJ Spooky” Miller and filmmaker and Webby Award founder Tiffany Shlain will discuss technology, intellectual property and the future of participatory media at Reuse, Remix and Renew: Film Tools for the 21st Century.  Another panel , Click to View: The Future of New Media focused on the fast-growing world of new media and what it means for artists and audiences. The panel featured actress-turned-director Isabella Rossellini whose series of short films were created for mobile devices but are being shown on the big screen in front of various feature films at the Festival.

As part of the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival, a provocative panel entitled Injecting the American Dream will focus on the ethics of steroid use and drug enhancement in professional sports. And finally, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and TED Prize-winning filmmaker Jehane Noujaim will talk about the launch of Pangea Day (May 10, 2008) - a moment when the world stops, watches and listens to each other’s stories around the world’s first global campfire- in a conversation moderated by TED curator, Chris Anderson.

Lots of talk to absorb at this year's Tribeca Film Festival.....