Biografilm Festival International Celebration of Lives is proud to announce the President of the Jury for the 8th edition of the Festival: Leonard Maltin, the most influential American film historian and film critic will preside the Biografilm Festival Jury.

Since 2005, Biografilm Festival has brought the best selection of biopics, documentaries and short films produced every year on an international basis.

“I am honored to serve as President of the Jury for the Biografilm Festival, 2012. My wife Alice and daughter Jessie will be joining me. We are looking forward to experiencing this wonderful festival and also discovering your beautiful City of Bologna”.

Leonard Maltin is a respected film critic and historian, perhaps best known for his annual paperback reference Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, which was first published in 1969. It was joined by Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide in 2005—newly revised in 2010. His latest book is Leonard Maltin’s 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen. Since 1982 he has appeared on television’s Entertainment Tonight; he also hosts Maltin on Movies for ReelzChannel and introduces movies on DirecTV Cinema. For three years he co-hosted the movie review show Hot Ticket. He teaches at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, and was a member of the faculty at the New School for Social Research in New York City. His other books include Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia, The Great American Broadcast, The Great Movie Comedians, The Disney Films, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, The Art of the Cinematographer, Selected Short Subjects, and (as co-author) The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The London Times, Premiere, Smithsonian, TV Guide, Esquire, and The Village Voice. For six years he was film critic for Playboy magazine. He has served as Guest Curator at the Museum of Modern Art, and was President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in 1995 and 1996. In 1997 he was named to the National Film Preservation Board, and in 2006 was selected by the Librarian of Congress
to sit on the Board of Directors for the National Film Preservation Foundation. He also hosts and co-produces the Walt Disney Treasures DVD series. Perhaps the pinnacle of his career was his appearance in a now-classic episode of South Park. (Or was it Carmela consulting his Movie Guide on an episode of The Sopranos?) He lives with his wife and daughter in Los Angeles. He publishes a newsletter for old-movie buffs, Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy, and holds court at www.leonardmaltin.com.