New Yorker Festival celebrates the arts with Carell, Gyllenhaal and Yo-Yo Ma

(AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR)

The 11th annual cultural arts festival organized by The New Yorker magazine at various venues around New York City, October 1-3, features authors, actors, musicians, scientists, and other notable guests.

Concerts with musicians such as Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor and Common are scheduled. Conversations will cover topics from "The Magical Year of 1975" to "Your Brain on the Internet."

Film screenings include The Social Network with a panel afterwards including actors Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin ( The West Wing). Also, director Werner Herzog will present his new 3D documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, exploring ancient art from France's Chauvet cave. Ed Zwick will discuss Love & Other Drugs along with actor Jake Gyllenhaal ( The Prince of Persia).

One panel, 'The Vampire Revival," includes novelist Stephen King, Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg and Matt Reeves, director of Let Me In starring Chloe Moretz ( Kick-Ass).

Other special guests lined up include actors Alec Baldwin ( It's Complicated), Steve Carell ( Date Night) and Mark Ruffalo ( The Kids Are Alright), and the cast of the long-running television comedy sketch show, Saturday Night Live, in talks conducted by New Yorker editors and contributors.

Interviews with best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning writers include Jonathan Safran Foer ( Eating Animals), Junot Díaz ( The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao), Michael Chabon ( Wonder Boys), Zadie Smith ( The Book of Other People), Orhan Pamuk ( Istanbul: Memories and the City), Nicholson Baker ( Mezzanine), and more.

Sunday's program features guided excursions at the Frick Museum and architect Philip Johnson's Glass House, food tours, as well as a cartoon workshop in which the audience writes new captions.

http://www.newyorker.com/festival

RC