Published: June 19, 2017| 11:15 AM

Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin has been writing about film for more than fifty years. In fact, he wrote his first movie review when he was fifteen years old. Today, he is one of the world’s most widely respected film critics, and his film encyclopedia Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide, which is an indispensable guide for film fans and experts alike, has been published in multiple updated editions. Maltin has written for many leading newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Esquire and Playboy, he is the author of numerous books on film and television, and he has worked on television shows and as a teacher. His significance to and special place in film journalism has been confirmed among other things by the fact that he has been portrayed in the animated series South Park  and was mentioned in an episode of the cult show The Simpsons. More info: http://leonardmaltin.com/ .

The world’s leading film publications are also sending a large number of representatives to this year’s festival. Reporting on the festival for Variety will be Peter Caranicas, Jessica Kiang and Guy Lodge, The Hollywood Reporter will be represented by Scott Feinberg and Boyd van Hoeij, Ben Croll will be writing for The Wrap, Laurence Boyce will be writing festival reviews for Screen International, from Playlist we welcome Greg Ellwood and from IndieWire Andrew Lapin.

In fact, this year the films for the section Six Close Encounters, in which leading personalities select the films that have had a significant influence on them, will be chosen by leading film critics: Edna and Dan Fainaru, Boyd van Hoeij, Carmen Gray, Scott Feinberg, Barbara Hollender and Guy Lodge.