TV Article Hitchcock silent films added to UNESCO registry By Sheridan Watson Published on July 11, 2013 04:10PM EDT Photo: Baron/Getty Images As if being one of — if not the — most famous director of all time wasn’t enough, the Alfred Hitchcock legacy can add another notch to its belt. On July 9th, the United Kingdom National Commission for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (also known as UNESCO) welcomed nine of Hitchcock’s silent films into the UK Memory of the World Register, which is “a list of documentary heritage which holds cultural significance specific to the UK.” BFI, the British Film Institute, restored the nine surviving films, including the classic The Pleasure Garden, and premiered them during the 2012 London film Festival and nominated them to the UNESCO registry. Though Hitchcock is considered an influential icon of cinema, “Made between 1925 and 1929, the silent films are among the greatest achievements of British silent cinema, and are blueprints for the rest of his body of work, containing many of his characteristic motifs and obsessions,” according to the U.K. National Commission for UNESCO website. Read More: As ‘Hitchcock’ arrives, here’s a look back at the mystique of ‘Psycho’ ‘The Girl’ review: Breaking news: Alfred Hitchcock abused Tippi Hedren, badly and melodramatically ‘The Girl’ and the Director: A guide to the Hitchcock Blondes