The Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF), running November 7 – 11, 2012, has announced that Leonard Maltin will be the President of the Jury for the second annual festival. From the official press release:
The Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF) has announced that Leonard Maltin has accepted the position of President of the Jury for its second annual festival to be held November 7 – 11, 2012.
Leonard Maltin, a respected veteran film critic and historian, is best known for his essential paperback Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide, published every year. In addition to a long list of published and celebrated books, he also curates a list of recommended pay-per-view movies for Comcast, and hosts his own television show, Maltin on Movies. His criticism has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Premiere, Smithsonian, TV Guide, Esquire, The Village Voice, and more. In 2006, he was selected by the Library of Congress as a Board Director of the National Film Preservation Foundation. He guest curated the Museum of Modern Art, served more than once as the President of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and created, hosted and co-produced the Walt Disney Treasures DVD series.
Respected by his film industry peers and adored by the public, Maltin has built a reputation as one of the foremost authorities on the art of film, the American audience, the industry, and the cultural machine which binds them together.
As President of the Jury at NVFF, Maltin will oversee the Judging process, providing leadership to the other Jurors grouped into three categories: Narrative Features, Narrative Shorts, and Documentary Features and Shorts. Mr. Maltin will participate most closely in the evaluation of films in the Narrative Features Competition. He will also preside over the festival’s Closing Night Awards Ceremony on Sunday, November 11, at which both Juried and Audience Awards are presented. These include:
The Meadowood Best U.S. Narrative Feature Award, which includes a $10,000 cash prize from Meadowood Napa Valley, a NVFF sponsor.
Best U.S. Narrative Short
Best U.S. Documentary Feature
Best U.S. Documentary Short Subject
Special Jury Awards
Audience Awards (presented in various categories)“The NVFF is honored to have such an active member of the American film community accept the integral role of President of the Jury at the festival,” said NVFF Co-Founder/Artistic Director Marc Lhormer. “Mr. Maltin’s commitment to the festival reflects NVFF’s own commitment to make a name for itself – on a national and global scale – as a film festival on par with the likes of Sundance and Tribeca when it comes to the caliber of the films shown and the professionals involved in this momentous meeting of art, food, and wine this November in Napa.”
