01/03/2022 - The film, sold by the UK’s Dogwoof, promises to use “a very unexpected technique to look into Hitchcock’s films”

Northern Irish writer-director Mark Cousins has announced his new documentary, My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock. After a prolific 2021, during which he released three remarkable projects, The Story of Looking [+see also:
film review
film profile], The Story of Film: A New Generation [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and The Storms of Jeremy Thomas [+see also:
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interview: Jeremy Thomas
interview: Mark Cousins
film profile], the helmer is now ready to provide his own unique angle on the “Master of Suspense”. The announcement was first reported by Sight & Sound.

Cousins only provided a few details about his project, including its running time, which is “exactly two hours long”, his collaboration with Donna McKevitt, the English composer who recently scored The Story of Looking, and the fact that the style of graphics throughout will steer clear of becoming a pastiche of Hitchcock’s films. Moreover, he disclosed that the project is already “completely finished”.

Speaking to Sight & Sound, he added: “There have been scores of films about Hitchcock… But I think that ours has something new to say. Some of the themes that recur in Hitchcock [are] the ideas of stardom, of gender, of suspense. We don’t look at any of those. It’s a contemporary look at Hitchcock, and we’re looking at other themes, like loneliness and fulfilment. I don’t think I can tell you what it is, but we’re using a very unexpected technique to look into Hitchcock’s films. The title of the movie might help you guess what technique we use, but I’m going to be slightly mysterious about it. I think people will be surprised by the technique, but then, once they’re used to it, it will be revealing.”

My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock is expected to be released later this year or in early 2023, following a festival run. London-based outfit Dogwoof, with which the director is collaborating for the sixth time, is in charge of its world sales.