Grace of Monaco was spotted in Shanghai over the weekend - the actress playing Grace Kelly, that is. Nicole Kidman has appeared at the Shanghai Film Festival to promote her latest film "Grace of Monaco", which also has a Chinese connection.

Nicole Kidman attends "Grace of Monaco" premiere in Shanghai. [Photo / Xinhua]

They both won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. They're both icons of their times. But Nicole Kidman did something that Grace never did - taking her work in person to the Chinese audience.

"Grace of Monaco" tells the story of former Hollywood star Grace Kelly's identity and marriage crisis during a political dispute between her husband, Monaco's Prince Rainier III, and France's Charles De Gaulle. In spite of her desire to return to Hollywood and star in Hitchcock's new film "Marnie," Kelly eventually abandons the film and devotes herself to helping Monaco evade a looming French invasion.

While Grace Kelly and actress Nicole Kidman have many things in common, the similarities go beyond what they share as actresses. "Her vulnerability and her desire to have a family, have a marriage, but also do something good in the world," Kidman said.

Kidman also received an Outstanding Contribution to Film Industry Award at the Shanghai Film Festival. Even though she has already taken home an Oscar for her rendition of Virginia Wolf in "The Hours," the actress is still humbled by the award and expresses her desire to work in China.

"This is such a great opportunity as an actor, to be able to come here and to receive the award at the Shanghai Film Festival, and also to keep my desire to keep moving forward, to work here and grow," she said.

While many movie fans were surprised to see Kidman herself at the film's premiere, Kidman also got a surprise of her own. Seven Stars Entertainment Media Chairman and CEO Bruno Wu, who financed and distributed the film in China, held a pre-birthday celebration for the actress.

"Grace of Monaco" is the first Hollywood film produced and distributed by Seven Stars Entertainment Media, one of China's largest private media groups since it partnered up with Content Media. While the company has a number of action and commercial blockbusters in the pipeline, it also insists on making arthouse films such as this one.

"People's taste need to be satisfied at different layers. You can't just only have the blockbusters and action hero franchises. These are good and I'm making a lot of those, but we have to make pedigrees and arthouses," Wu said.

The Chinese film market restricts foreign movie imports to 34 titles per year, which has limited the variety of foreign films available to the Chinese audience. For those used to watching commercial blockbusters, "Grace of Monaco" is bringing something different for a change.

"I usually watch a lot of American blockbusters, but this film is very different from those and that's why I wanted to see it," a movie-goer said.

"I was quite impressed by this film. On the one hand, because I got to know the lives of Monaco royalty and see all those luxurious palaces. At the same time, I also learned the sacrifices that royalty makes for the good of the people. I wish everyone could do that," another said.

"Grace of Monaco" is in theaters in China on June 20.

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