London, Apr 22: Hollywood actors Uma Thurman, Meg Ryan, Whoopi Goldberg and Adrien Brody have been chosen to head the judging panel at this year''s Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

The stars will be joined by fellow celebrities James Franco, Mary-Kate Olsen, Bradley Cooper, Melissa Leo, Parker Posey and Morgan Spurlock, who are all among the 32 jurors at Robert De Niro''s movie event, which kicks off today.

The line-up was announced at a press conference in the Big Apple on April 21, which featured Thurman, director Spike Lee and festival founders De Niro and Jane Rosenthal.

Thurman has expressed her delight at getting to play such a key role in the eighth annual festival.

“For me and people who enjoy films, Tribeca has been a major event for which all look forward to with major anticipation. As a New Yorker, it''s wonderful to see the impact it has on the city,” the Daily Express quoted her as saying.

“This year is especially exciting because I get to be a part of it as a juror,” she added.

De Niro founded the event with Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff to help revitalise the lower Manhattan area after the terrorist attacks of 9/11
- and he is proud to continue celebrating New York City as a major filmmaking centre.

“It''s great to see how much the festival has grown since we started it in 2002 and how it has impacted this neighbourhood,” he said.

The Tribeca Film Festival, which will host the world premiere of Woody Allen''s new movie ‘Whatever Works’, runs until May 3. (ANI)