The Black Mountain Institute’s series of occasional lectures becomes a partnership with local festival CineVegas for “Books Into Film: How Novels Become Movies.”

The panel includes Elvis Mitchell (pictured), that rare movie reviewer whose takes are generally recognized to rise to the level of criticism. This makes him either the brainiest reviewer out there, or the most comprehensible academic writer on cinema. Either way, Mitchell typically has interesting things to say and a flair for making his complicated views understood.

Also, on the panel: writer Russell Banks, whose career has found him on all sides of the book-into-film equation—from having his novel Affliction made into a movie to writing a screen treatment of On the Road. Rounding out the group will be actress and screenwriter Guinevere Turner, whose credits include the screenplay for American Psycho and cameos in such films as Chasing Amy.