“Hitchcock” star Helen Mirren to attend Shanghai Film Festival

PanARMENIAN.Net - Helen Mirren and her husband, the director Taylor Hackford, are the latest Hollywood luminaries to announce attendance at the Shanghai International Film Festival, which kicks off its eight-day run on Saturday, June 15, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Mirren will be meeting the audience at a June 19 screening at the Shanghai Film Art Center for Hitchcock, in which she plays Alma Reville, the wife of the legendary filmmaker played by Anthony Hopkins.

The screening of Sacha Gervasi’s film – which revolves around the making of Psycho – supplements the festival’s celebration of Hitchcock in a program showcasing eight of the British director’s early silent films from the 1920s.

Meanwhile, Hackford will be appearing at the festival’s opening ceremony on June 15 as both the president of the Directors’ Guild of America and also the director of the action thriller Parker, which will make its bow at the festival on June 18. Mirren will also be attending the screening, according to an announcement released by the festival.

Mirren and Hackford are the latest Hollywood stars to put in an appearance at mainland China’s biggest film festival. Oliver Stone has already been scheduled to turn up to receive an honorary award, preside over a showcase of his films, and conduct an on-stage discussion with Hong Kong director Johnnie To during the festival’s film market.

Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) is president of the jury for the festival’s Golden Goblet Award, alongside Czech auteur Jiri Menzel, German director Chris Kraus, Iranian filmmaker Khosro Masoumi, French critic Michel Ciment as well as Chinese director Ning Hao and actress Yu Nan.