OLYMPIA, WA—Alfred Hitchcock may be Halloween’s favorite filmmaker, and what better way to kick off our most macabre month with the world’s only international convention dedicated to him? This year’s HitchCon will be held over the weekend of October 1 & 2, 2022. The event will be online, with some 25 filmmakers, educators and authors speaking and joining panels from their homes in Canada, England, Poland, and the United States.
2022 Theme: Hitchcock in a Time of Crisis
Four decades have passed since Alfred Hitchcock’s death, and it’s a very different world. Humankind faces a range of crises: climate change, pandemics, political unrest, and threats of war, to name a few. Yet, Hitchcock’s films remain as timely as today’s headlines. HitchCon ‘22 will consider his artistry and technique against the background of such concerns. For example, his wartime and Cold War films have gained new significance in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Birds (1963) can be interpreted as a parable about the environmental apocalypse. And filmmakers continue to graft Hitchcockian tropes onto modern concerns: Steven Soderberg’s Kimi (2022) updates Rear Window (1954) to explore motifs of imposed isolation, voyeurism, and surveillance in an always-connected, post-Covid society.
Advisory Board Selections
Some of the most familiar and respected leaders in film scholarship have signed on to help make this year’s HitchCon better than ever. Alphabetically: author and teacher Elizabeth Bullock, author and teacher Steven DeRosa, author and professor Sidney Gottlieb, showrunner and filmmaker Joel Gunz, playwright Elisabeth Karlin and author and professor Walter Raubicheck.
About HitchCon
From its first series of events in 2021, HitchCon has already grown into the world’s largest (okay, only) annual convention dedicated to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. While its October summit is the crown jewel, HitchCon takes place year-round with bi-weekly events that bring together an international community of filmmakers, scholars, and fans for lectures, movie screenings, and fun, lively discussion. HitchCon is designed to appeal to a wide range of individuals of all ages—including underrepresented groups—united in their appreciation of film. More at hitchcon.org.
Note: The above post is a press statement released by HitchCon 2022.
