Legendary North American filmmaker Joe Dante will be the guest of honor at the 49th edition of Curtas Festival do Imaxinario de Vilagarcía de Arousa, where he will receive the honorary award at the festival’s closing gala, on Saturday, October 30, in recognition of his enormous contribution to the fantasy genre.

Born in 1946 in Morristown, New Jersey, Dante began his career as an editor for producer Roger Corman, until he made the leap to directing with “Hollywood Boulevard” (1976), a film he co-directed with Allan Arkush. In 1978 he made his solo debut with “Piranha”, written by John Sayles, with whom he collaborated again on “The Howling” (1981) which this year celebrates it’s 40th anniversary.

In 1983 he began a successful collaboration with Steven Spielberg as a producer, directing one of the segments of the film adaptation of the series “The Twilight Zone”. Collaboration that continued with the successful “Gremlins” (1984), its sequel “Gremlins 2” (1990) or “Innerspace” (1987). In addition to signing other titles such as “Explorers” (1985), “The Burbs” (1989), “Matinee” (1993), “Small Soldiers” (1998), “Burying the Ex” (2014), or the anthology “Nightmare Cinema” (2018), his latest feature film so far.

As part of the tribute, Curtas Festival do Imaxinario will host a meeting with the director and a retrospective with several titles, as well as an exhibition with reproductions of several life-size sets, original pieces of “Gremlins”, which is complemented by tributes from several international illustrators to the film.

The 49th edition of Curtas Festival do Imaxinario de Vilagarcía de Arousa will take place from October 22 to 31, and has the support of the Vilagarcía de Arousa City Council and the Deputation of Pontevedra, and the sponsorship of Cafés Candelas, Gadis and Planet Horror.