May 11, 2007–Tarantino will attend the 64th Venice Film Festival (Aug. 29-Sept. 8) as presenter of a sidebar dedicated to the Spaghetti Western genre, which shaped his career and aesthetics
A selection of 40 Italian oaters will unspool at the Lido introduced by Tarantino and a host of helmers, producers, thesps, scribes, cinematographers and stuntmen, in a major celebration of the genre which “has done the most to influence the image of popular cinema over the past few decades,” fest head Marco Muller said in a statement.
The titles unspooling will range from established classics, such as Sergio Leone's “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” to lesser known works, like Sergio Corbucci's Burt Reynolds starrer “A Dollar a Head” and Spanish helmer Jose Romero Marchent's “Cut-Throat Nine” this last touted by Muller as the most violent Western ever made.
The sidebar is titled “The Secret History of Italian Cinema 4: Spaghetti Westerns” is curated by Italian critics Marco Giusti and Manlio Gomarasca, who selected works based both on their “importance” and, conversely, their “lack of visibility,” in an effort to foster these pictures' rediscovery.
Muller also said this year's official selection will be peppered with contempo world preems referencing the genre and bearing witness to its still fruitful influence “on many filmmakers from different continents,” he said.
This month Tarantino will be attending the Cannes Film Festival where his expanded “Death Proof” unspools in competition.