Spaghetti Western Directors, Screenwriters, Cinematographers

Spaghetti Western Director ~ Diego Bonuccelli

Diego Bonuccelli was born in Viareggio, Tuscany, Italy on November 11, 1993. He’s a director, writer, cinematographer and actor.

He studied at the University of Pisa. Since 2013 he directed several short films, feature films, documentaries and video commercials. In 2016 he directed two short films: "XII844" about the Sant'Anna di Stazzema Massacre and "Più Accecante della Notte" starring famous Italian comedian Giorgio Panariello.

Diego Bonuccelli's filmmaking is distinguished by an extreme use of close-ups. As an independent filmmaker, he frequently assumes multiple key roles—including director, writer, editor, and cinematographer—across his projects, allowing him to maintain tight creative control over the visual and narrative execution.

Diego has been the cinematographer on two Euro-westerns: “The Green Furies” in 2012 and “Welcome to Elderstorm” in 2014

BONUCCELLI, Diego [11/11/1993, Viareggio, Tuscany, Italy -     ] – director, writer, cinematographer, actor.

The Green Furies – 2012 

Welcome to Elderstorm - 2014

Spaghetti Western Screenwriter ~ Gianfranco Baldanello

Son of Venetian dialect actors Emilio Baldanello and Wanda Vianello (also known as Vanda Baldanello), Gianfranco Baldanello was born in Merano, South Tyrol, Italy on November 13, 1928. He was the brother of the script supervisor Maria Grazia, Baldanello. Gianfranco began his career as an assistant director in the mid-50s, with low-profile films in the historical-mythological genre. In 1965 he directed his first film, "30 Winchester for El Diablo", a western with a fairly simple plot for which he also wrote the screenplay (which he would do in many of his films). In 1966, he released his second western film entitled "Kill Johnny Ringo". We have to wait until 1967 to see him make 3 films: Don't ever say goodbye, a comedy, "The Infernal Ray", an adventure lived between spy plots and futuristic equipment and finally "The Long Days of Hate", a fairly crude western.

In 1968 he made another western film entitled "Black Jack". In 1969 he directed the thriller "Yellow", in 1972 the western "When the Devil Grips a Colt", starring a skilled William Berger and defined by critics as of modest spectacular effectiveness. In 1973, and again with the help of William Berger, he directed the film "The Son of Zorro". In 1974 he directed the film "The Great Adventure". 1975 marks the year in which Baldanello produces his first erotic film, a genre that he will follow with 3 other films. In fact, he will come out with "Quella provincia maliziosa", "L'ingenua" and in 1976 with "What a Doctor Boys!". Finally, with the espionage adventure of "A chi tocca, tocca...!" He made his last film in 1979.

Baldaneelo was often billed under the aliases George W. Breakston, Frank G. Carrol and Paul Elliotts

Baldanello wrote screenplays for six Spaghetti westerns: “30 Winchester per El Diablo” (Gold Train) with Giovanni Vari, Alfonso and Adriano Micantoni in 1965, I lunghi giorni dell’odio” (This Man Can’t Die) with Luigi Emmanuele and  Gino Mangini in 1967, “Un i dannati della violenza” (Black Jack) 1968 with Augusto Finocchi, Mario Mattei and Luigi Ambrosini, “Una Colt in mano del diavolo” (When the Devil Grips the Colt) with Alfonso Brescia and Augusto

Finocchi in 1972, “Dieci bianchi uccisi da un piccolo indiano” (Blood River) with Mario Damiani and Juan Antonio Verdugo and “Il figlio di Zorro” (The Son of Zorro) with Guido Zurli, and Arpad De Riso both in 1973.

BALDANELLO, Gianfranco (aka France Baldanello, Franco Baldanello, Franco Bladanello, George W. Breakston, Frank G. Carrol, F.G. Carroll, Frank G. Carroll, Paul Elliotts. Joseph Rossen) (Gianfranco Baldanello Merano) [11/13/1928, Merano, South Tyrol, Italy - 1/22/1990, Merano, Balzano, Italy] – producer, director, assistant director, writer, film editor, son of actor Emilio Baldanello [1902-1952] actress Wanda Vianello.

Gold Train – 1965 (co)

This Man Can’t Die – 1967 (co)

Black Jack – 1968 (co)

When the Devil Grips a Colt – 1972 (co)

Blood River – 1973 (co)

The Son of Zorro – 1973 [as Frank G. Carroll]

Spaghetti Western Cinematographer ~ Eberhard Borkmann

Eberhard Borkmann was born in the Free City of Danzig on May 21, 1935.

“Tödlicher Irrtum” (Fatal Error) and “Weisse Wolfe” (White Wolves) both in 1969. At the time of his birth, the Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state established by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, placed under the protection of the League of Nations with special administrative ties to Poland. The arrangement persisted through the 1930s, during which local Nazi influence grew significantly following their electoral successes in 1933 and 1935, until the city's annexation by Nazi Germany in September 1939.

Eberhard Borkmann entered cinematography with the East German state film studio DEFA in 1964, beginning his career as director of photography on the film “Als Martin vierzehn war”, directed by Walter Beck. This youth-oriented drama set during the 1920 Kapp Putsch marked his professional debut and first known credit in the field. Following this initial project, Borkmann contributed to several more DEFA productions during the late 1960s, establishing himself within the GDR's state-controlled film industry. In 1966, he served as cinematographer for the children's film “Alfons Zitterbacke”, directed by Roland Oehme. His next credit came in 1968 with the historical comedy Hauptmann Florian von der Mühle, directed by Werner W. Wallroth.

Borkmann's early output continued with the East German-Yugoslav co-production “Weiße Wölfe” (1969), a western directed by Boško Bošković and Konrad Petzold, where he handled cinematography duties. He rounded out the decade and his early period with “Tödlicher Irrtum” (1970), another western directed by Horst E. Brandt and Heinz Thiel. [1] These five films from 1964 to 1970 represented Borkmann's initial contributions to DEFA cinema across genres including youth stories, historical films, westerns, and detective narratives, forming part of his broader involvement in approximately 22 GDR film and television productions from 1964 until the late 1980s.

Eberhard Borkmann died on March 6, 2015, in Treuenbrietzen, Brandenburg, Germany. He was 79.

BORKMANN, Eberhard [5/21/1935, Free City of Danzig – 3/6/2015, Treuenbrietzen, Brandenburg, Germany] – writer, cinematographer.

Fatal Error - 1969

White Wolves – 1969