Fernando Méndez-Leite

Fernando Méndez-Leite Serrano (born 6 May 1944) is a Spanish film critic, lecturer and filmmaker. He has also worked in theatre and television.^[1] He became the president of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain in 2022.

Fernando Méndez-Leite
Attending the 37th Goya Awards
Born	Fernando Méndez-Leite Serrano (1944-05-06) 6 May 1944 (age 81) Madrid, Spain
Occupations	Film critic film director theatre director cultural manager television director university lecturer screenwriter playwright
Partner	Fiorella Faltoyano

Biography

Fernando Méndez-Leite Serrano was born in Madrid on 6 May 1944,^[1][2] son to Fernando Méndez-Leite von Haffe [ca],^[3][4] a falangist film writer, author of a History of the Spanish Cinema.^[5] He studied filmmaking at the EOC [es] for two years after graduating in law from the University of Madrid in 1968.^[4][6]

He has been active as a film critic since 1966, writing for publications such as Pueblo [es], Diario 16, Fotogramas and Guía del Ocio de Madrid, and, from 1968 to 1981, as a lecturer on Film Theory and History of Contemporary Cinema at the University of Valladolid.^[2]

Among other institutional and academic positions, he has helmed the ICAA (1986–1988), the ECAM (1994–2012), and, since 2022, the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain.^[1] A member of the Málaga Film Festival's managing committee since its inception, he was worked as a film festival programmer and as a liaison with the press there.^[1]

He has had one daughter with her partner Fiorella Faltoyano: actress and acting teacher Clara Méndez-Leite.^[4][7][8]

Filmography

• El hombre de moda [es] (1980; debut feature)^[1]
• El productor (2006)^[1] (documentary)
• Ay Carmen (2018)^[1] (documentary)

Books

• Historia del cine español en 100 películas. Madrid: Jupey. 1985.
• Argentina en el cine español. Madrid: Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales. 1993.