Tribeca Film Festival, now in its 12th year, is sticking to its mission statement: to help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience. What makes it one of the most entertaining and accessible festivals in the country is that - like our outstanding Little Rock Film Festival - it’s always changing the ways it accomplishes that goal.

When Tribeca began, most of the screenings, panel discussions, interviews with filmmakers, parties, family-friendly gatherings and peripheral events took place in - surprise! - the Tribeca (triangle below Canal) neighborhood of New York.Since then it has expanded all over the city, with a preference over the last couple of years for Chelsea, the West Side district from 14th Street to 30th Street that’s full of art galleries, bistros, cool little bars, locally owned shops and practically nonstop screenings of hot tickets - such as this year’s Before Midnight (with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke), Almost Christmas (with Paul Rudd and Paul Giamatti), Adult World (with Emma Roberts and John Cusack), The Reluctant Fundamentalist (directed by Mira Nair) and Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic - at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas on W. 23rd St.

Other activities, including the annual Family Festival Street Fair and Tribeca Drive-In, continue to take place in Tribeca.

Despite its ever-expanding venues - The Apple Store in Soho, Union Square, the Lower East Side - the organizers of this year’s festival, which started Wednesday and continues through April 28, know that not every film fan can make it to Manhattan to be part of the experience.

So Tribeca Online Festival is providing free streaming of festival films. Seven features, including Alias Ruby Blade: A Story of Love and Revolution (a documentary focused on establishing democracy in Timor-Leste), Lil Bub & Friendz (a documentary on the famous Internet cat) and Farah Goes Bang (described as “three girls, two candidates and a gun”) and shorts RPG OKC, Delicacy, The Exit Room and A Short Film About Guns, will be accessible on tribecaonlinefestival.com. Several conversations with filmmakers will be streamed, as will the TFF awards show April 25.

Tribeca Film will also release 2013 TFF selections What Richard Did, Greetings From Tim Buckley, Fresh Meat and The English Teacher nationwide via on-demand during the Festival window. The titles will be available through major cable video-on-demand providers and on iTunes, Amazon Watch Instantly, VUDU, Xbox, GooglePlay and YouTube.

“We are always looking for ways to expand our community and engage new audiences,” said Geoff Gilmore,chief creative officer, Tribeca Enterprises. “For the past three years, viewers nationwide have been able to take in a selection of Festival films and activities, even if they aren’t able to make it to Tribeca.” For more information, visit tribecafilm.com.

MovieStyle, Pages 31 on 04/19/2013