Quentin Tarantino will host a secret screening at Cannes

The 2023 Cannes Film Festival will be welcoming back director Quentin Tarantino after a four-year absence. And although the prolific director won’t be showing his rumored last movie, which begins filming later this year, he will be hosting a “secret screening” as part of his duties as the guest of honor at this year’s Directors’ Fortnight.

The Directors’ Fortnight is a parallel film festival, shown alongside Cannes, showcasing independent selections that began in 1969.

What will be shown at the secret screening?

“In 1969, in Cannes, the Directors’ Fortnight was born, a counter-programming of free-spirited films from all over the world. In 1969, in California, a new generation of filmmakers rose against old Hollywood,” a rep for the Directors’ Fortnight said in a statement.

“Of this, Quentin Tarantino has recently published a captivating analysis in a critical essay on 1970s cinema. As an exceptional and generous cinephile, Tarantino is at home at the Fortnight.

“He will be our guest this year to present a secret screening and discuss his counter-history of cinema. A rockabilly vibe on closing day,” they added, providing a hint on what the secret screening will be, showing on May 25.

Tarantino was recently spotted in Paris, promoting his book ‘Cinema Speculation’, a part-memoir, part film-theory look at 1970s Hollywood and the “new generation of filmmakers [that] rose against old Hollywood.”

The Director’s Fortnight honors the movies that went against the grain, and the festival itself was made as a response to worldwide civil unrest and changing cultural values.

Tarantino’s history at Cannes

Tarantino has had six of his nine films shown at Cannes, beginning in 1992 with ‘Reservoir Dogs’. He returned in 1994 with ‘Pulp Fiction’, which won a Palme d’Or. ‘Kill Bill Vol. 2′ was shown out of competition, and ‘Death Proof’ competed for a Palme d’Or in 2007.

‘Inglourious Basterds’ also competed in 2009, followed by ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ in 2019, which was Tarantino’s last appearance at the festival.

Tarantino’s final movie

Tarantino has stated multiple times that he planned to stop directing after his 10th movie, and it appears that time may be sooner rather than later.

“I like the idea of a 10-film filmography, especially after I’ve given everything I have for the last thirty years and then dropping the mic, and saying that’s it,” he said at the 77th Golden Globe Awards in 2020.

It was previously rumored that Tarantino had just finished writing the script for what may very well be his last movie, speculatively titled ‘The Movie Critic’, and could potentially revolve around the life of 1970s movie critic Pauline Kael.