Coen, Streep join U.S.-China Forum

BEIJING -- Filmmaker Joel Coen, thesp Meryl Streep and musician Yo-Yo Ma are among the big names coming to Beijing for the inaugural U.S.-China Forum on Arts and Culture. The four-day event starts Wednesday night with a dinner for 240 guests at the U.S. embassy, overseen by the organic food guru Alice Waters, proprietor of the Chez Panisse bistro in Berkeley. Waters will cook the meal at the embassy, which will be served by the celebrity guests, which also include artist Eric Fischl, scribes Amy Tan and Mark Danner, and ballet dancer and director Damian Woetzel. Coen will reportedly meet "City of Life and Death" helmer Lu Chuan during his visit, while Streep will host a screening of the Margaret Thatcher biopic, "The Iron Lady." Waters will also attend a screening of Robert Kenner's "Food Inc." The helmer will attend along with scribes Corby Kummer and Michael Pollan. "We hope this is the first of many annual events of this type, alternating between China and the United States," said the United States' freshly minted ambassador to China, Gary Locke. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com