Emanuel Levy

Emanuel Levy is an American film critic and professor who has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinema studies at New York University.

Career

Levy has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, Arizona State University and UCLA Film School. Levy currently teaches in the department of cinema studies at New York University.

He is a voting member of eight groups: Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), Los Angeles Film Critics (LAFCA), Broadcast Film Critics (BFCA), National Society of Film Critics (NSFC), New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO), Gay and Lesbian Critics Association, Online Film Critics Society and the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci).

His first book, The Habima—Israel's National Theater, 1917–1977, launched his writing career. His critical chronicle of the Oscar Awards, And the Winner Is was published in 1986. He has published updated editions of the book, including, Oscar Fever in 2000 and, All About Oscar in 2003. Of his nine books, his magnum opus is considered to be 1999's Cinema Of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film. Levy wrote the first comprehensive biography of Vincente Minnelli, Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood's Dark Dreamer in 2009.

Levy has written for various newspapers and magazines, including American Film, The Los Angeles Times and The Financial Times. While in Arizona, he ran the ASU Film Society, and then the Scottsdale Independent Film Festival. Formerly a senior critic at Variety, and chief film critic of the UK publication Screen International, Levy established a website of film reviews and essays in 2004. As of 2014, the site contained over 20,000 film reviews, profiles, interviews and commentaries, written by Levy and a staff of writers.