29 minutes / Color
Release: 1999
Copyright: 1998
This nominee for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short explores artist/ filmmaker Shui-Bo Wang's past as a Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution, his stint in the military as a propaganda poster artist, and his teaching experiences in the 1980s, through a rich collage of original artwork, animation, and archival and family photographs.
A committed member of the Communist Party throughout, it was not until he was exposed to rural poverty and illiteracy in the mid-80s that he began to question the Revolution.
Colliding icons, such as Mao and Coca-Cola, Tiananmen Square and the Statue of Library, evoke contradictory ideological symbols that have haunted China for years. SUNRISE OVER TIANANMEN SQUARE is Shui-Bo's thoughtful attempt to sort through ideology and arrive at his own truth.
"Profoundly Moving! A beautiful, honest, eulogistic tribute. Highly Recommended!"- Educational Media Reviews Online
"[Shui-Bo's] skillful pastiche of still photos, animation, and his own wonderful drawings, paintings, and propaganda poster art trace a history as powerful as the rise and crest of communism."- National Post
"Editor's Choice! Starred Review! A striking blend of autobiography, history and politics... Dynamic!"- Booklist
"A visually arresting and entertaining viewing experience [and] effective, imaginative autobiographical piece that also illuminates the lure of the idealistic promise of China's vision and the reality of its shortcomings. Highly Recommended!"- Video Librarian
"Very compelling, both because of the topic and the way in which images - both photos and illustrations, some of which are animated - are captured on film. [The film is] fascinating for the way it talks about political ideology, dreams, and realities in a such a candid way."- Animation World
Select Accolades
With unprecedented access to a Communist Party leader, investigative filmmaker Zhou Hao offers a startlingly candid look inside Chinese politics at the local level.
ZHOU Hao | 2009 | 114 minutes | Color | English; Mandarin | English subtitles
