Emanuel Levy began his studies at Tel Aviv University, where he received B.A. in sociology, anthropology and political science. He did graduate work in sociology, film, and culture studies at Columbia University, where he earned a Ph.D. Among his mentors were Sigmund Diamond, a professor of social history and the distinguished film critic Andrew Sarris.

Most of his film education in the pre-VCR era was done at French Cinematheque, New York's Museum of Modern Art, Film Forum, Thalia, and other art houses.

Levy belongs to a small group of scholars who have juggled two full-time careers, as film professor and as film critic. He has taught at Columbia University, New School for Social Research, Wellesley College, ASU, where he was chair between 1990 and 1992, and now at UCLA Film School.

He is a voting member of five groups: Hollywood Foreign Press (HFPA), Los Angeles Film Critics (LAFCA), Broadcast Film Critics (BFCA), National Society of Film Critics (NSFC), and the International Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci). He has served on the grand juries of 45 international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Montreal, Locarno, Taormina, San Francisco, Hawaii.

Levy is the author of eight film books, the most recent of which is the first comprehensive biography of Vincente Minnelli: Hollywood's Dark Dreamer, by St. Martin's Press. Levy has written for various newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Time 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 the UK publication Screen International, Levy established a website of film reviews and essays in 2004.

He has served on the juries of 45 international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Hawaii, San Francisco, Taormina, Locarno, Sundance, and most recently at the 2008 Rome Film Festival.