Tonight sees the start of the Steven Spielberg Film Festival - opening in style with the screening of the blockbuster director's first ever film - Duel.

A taut, nail-biting thriller from 1971 about a truck driver who terrorises a motorist on a lonely desert road, it set the 23-year-old Spielberg on the road to international stardom.

Four years later he made Jaws.

The festival is co-sponsored by the Oxford Mail and the Phoenix Picturehouse, in Walton Street, Oxford, and over the next seven days we will be screening some of the director's best-loved films - everything from Jaws to Schindler's List.

And don't forget your special Spielberg Festival Coupon, printed in the Oxford Mail each day of the festival, allowing you half-price entry, for £3.75 instead of £7.50.

Jeremy Smith, the Oxford Mail entertainment editor, said: "We wanted to celebrate the fact that Steven Spielberg's latest blockbuster - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull - opens next week in Oxford.

"We thought a special season of Spielberg movies would be a great way to get in the spirit for what promises to be one of the biggest opening weekends in cinema history.

"But what's really terrific is that for a huge number of people whose favourite films these are, a lot will only have ever seen them on the small screen.

"That's why I think Jaws, for instance, is attracting such huge attention. To see it on the TV and love it is one thing; to see it in the dark, on the big screen, surrounded by at least a 100 other people, makes it a completely different, and even more memorable exper-ience."

Suzy Sheriff, manager of the Phoenix Picturehouse, said: "It's easy to overlook just how versatile Spielberg's work is.

"We start with an edge-of-seat psychological thriller, in Duel, and finish with the brooding menace of Schindler's List, but there's a whole host of other emotions and fabulous films in between.

"You may never get the chance to see some of these films on the big screen again, so do come along and enjoy yourself."