| Published June 27th, 2018 | Leonard Maltin to be honored at the 21st California Independent Film Festival | | By Derek Zemrak | | Leonard Maltin Photo provided | The 21st California Independent Film Festival is less than two months away and planning is already in full swing. The dates for the festival are Aug. 24-30 in Rheem and Orinda Theatres and it will end on Sept. 1 at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco.
CAIFF Director Lindsay Pirkle and I, president and founder, are very pleased to announce our first honoree, Mr. Leonard Maltin.
Maltin is one of the world's most respected film critics and historians. He is best known for his widely-used reference work, "Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide," and its companion volume "Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide," as well as his 30-year run on television's Entertainment Tonight. He teaches at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, appears regularly on Reelz Channel and Turner Classic Movies, and hosts the weekly podcast "Maltin on Movies" with Baron Vaughn on the Earwolf network. His books include "The 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen," "Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons," "The Great Movie Comedians," "The Disney Films," "The Art of the Cinematographer," "Movie Comedy Teams," "The Great American Broadcast," and "Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia." He served two terms as president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, is a voting member of the National Film Registry, and was appointed by the Librarian of Congress to sit on the board of directors of the National Film Preservation Foundation. He hosted and co-produced the popular Walt Disney Treasures DVD series and has appeared on innumerable television programs and documentaries. He is the recipient of awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, American Society of Cinematographers, the Telluride Film Festival, George Eastman House, Anthology Film Archives, and San Diego's Comic-Con International. 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"?)
Leonard Maltin will be honored on Sunday, Aug. 26 at the Orinda Theatre with the 2018 Golden Slate Award, for his years of contribution to film and film history. The afternoon will begin with a VIP reception at Cine Cuvée at 1:30 p.m. followed by a lecture from Maltin on the history of cinema at 3 p.m. Tickets for this event and all other CAIFF events will be going on sale July 1 to CAIFF members first, followed by the public.
"We are very excited about this year's film festival and the reopening of the Rheem Theatre. We will be making more announcements for our amazing list of honorees and the award-winner films from around the world in the upcoming weeks," states Pirkle.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |