Wednesday, April 25----Former Vice President (and almost President) Al Gore will serve as the host when the 12-day Tribeca Film Festival opens tonight with a "green theme" (a perfect fit for Gore's new media fame and his Oscar for AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH). The seven films screening tonight were commissioned by SOS (Save Our Selves), the organization behind the Live Earth global concert series which will be held in seven different cities around the globe on July 7, 2007. The mission of the SOS Short Films Program is to create a series of educational and compelling short films that highlight the problems of, and engage people with solutions for, the global climate crisis.The film screening will be held at the BMCC TriPAC and will include musical performances by Live Earth music acts. This event marks the official launch of the SOS Short Films Program, sponsored by General Motors and National Geographic.

“Global warming is a generational challenge requiring both U.S. leadership and a global response. The SOS Short Films Program harnesses some of the world's most creative minds to educate, inform and inspire people across the globe to solve the climate crisis," former Vice President Gore said. "Premiering the SOS films at Tribeca will ensure that these pieces will be viewed all over the world for years to come – and hopefully they will help spur to action the next generation of international leaders to join the effort to solve the climate crisis." Kevin Wall, founder of the SOS campaign and producer of the Live Earth global concert series stated that "the global climate crisis is the paramount challenge facing humanity, and the goal of the SOS campaign and Live Earth concerts is to trigger a groundswell of people worldwide who will make solving the climate crisis a priority and make meaningful changes in their lives.

SOS has commissioned 60 award-winning filmmakers from wide-ranging genres and mediums, including feature films, documentaries, music videos, commercials and animation to create provocative shorts of no more than 10 minutes in length. Participating filmmakers have included: Jonathan Glazer, Director, Birth, Sexy Beast; Kevin MacDonald, Director, Last King of Scotland; Abel Ferrera, Director, King of New York; Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, Directors, Oscar-nominated Jesus Camp; Aardman Animation, Producers, Wallace and Gromit; Amy Berg, Director, Oscar-nominated Deliver Us From Evil;  and Ari Sandel, Director, Oscar-winning, West Bank Story.

In addition to the Tribeca Film Festival, the SOS films will be shown at the Live Earth concerts around the world on July 7, 2007, either on stage screens during band transitions or by broadcast partners who will screen them in advance of, as well as on the day of, the Live Earth concerts. Website: www.liveearth.org. For more information on the films and events of the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, log on to: www.tribecafilmfestival.com

Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Online Dailies Editor