I am currently editing the “Spaghetti Westerns” chapter of Intellect Books’ forthcoming Directory of World Cinema: Italy. I am therefore on the lookout for scholarly submissions for consideration in this exciting new project, which will be published both as a printed volume and an open-access database of articles and film reviews. I need to receive these by early May 2010 if at all possible.

In particular, I am interested in receiving reviews of the following Spaghetti Westerns (though others will be considered):

• Una pistola per Ringo / A Pistol for Ringo (Duccio Tessari, 1965)
• Un dollaro a testa / Navajo Joe (Sergio Corbucci, 1966)
• Da uomo a uomo / Death Rides a Horse (Giulio Petroni, 1967)
• I giorni dell’ira / Day of Anger (Tonino Valerii, 1967)
• Ehi amico… c’è Sabata, hai chiuso! / Sabata (Gianfranco Parolini, 1969)
• Lo chiamavano Trinità / They Call Me Trinity (Enzo Barboni, 1970)
• Il mio nome è Nessuno / My Name is Nobody (Tonino Valerii, 1973)

Submission Guidelines:

If you are interested in submitting reviews, please email me at the following address, including a short biography and details of past academic writing / film reviewing:

Each review must adhere to the following format in terms of structure and the manner in which the information is provided:

• Title
• Studio/Distributor
• Director
• Producer
• Screenwriter
• Cinematographer
• Art Director
• Editor
• Duration
• Genre
• Cast
• Year

• Synopsis (100-200 words)
• Critique (300-600 words)

Most of the technical and cast and crew information for the majority of films is widely available online, with the popular websites IMDB and Wikipedia being the most reliable and the easiest to use. If there is a credit that you cannot find, or are unsure about, please just enter “?” and I will try to source the information myself. With regards to the Cast section, please just enter the name of the main actors, or stars, of the film. In many cases, listing four or five cast members will be sufficient.

The synopsis should be an outline of the story, which should not include any critical judgements. As the word count for this synopsis is 100-200 words, this does not have to be an exhaustive summary of the plot, as found in Sight & Sound magazine, and you should avoid ‘spoilers’ that give away any major twists or turns in the story, and avoid revealing the ending, as many readers will not have seen certain films that are featured in the directory.

The critique is the reviewer’s value judgement of the film, and should be written in a style that is intelligent yet lively. Reviews should demonstrate a particular knowledge of that film and films of the period, or the film in relation to the body of work of its director or other titles within the genre, but ultimately each film should be evaluated on its own merit and cultural significance. We are not assigning films with “star ratings” or other evaluative short-hands that are used in magazines and some commercial film guides, so try to be as clear as possible in your evaluative summary of each film that you are reviewing. The word count can range from a minimum of 300 words to an absolute maximum of 600 words. Try to go into as much detail as possible within that word count, and edit your work judiciously.