The Revolutionary
Mao's call for a cultural revolution was answered by tens of millions of Chinese... and one American.
Genres
Overview
Documentary about the life of Sidney Rittenberg, an American who spent over 30 years in China and was an active participant in the Chinese communist revolution.
Details
Budget
$0
Revenue
$0
Runtime
92 min
Release Date
2011-12-30
Status
Released
Original Language
English
Vote Count
4
Vote Average
5
Irv Drasnin
Narrator
6.0
Art as a Weapon
Street art, creativity and revolution collide in this beautifully shot film about art’s ability to create change. The story opens on the politically charged Thailand/Burma border at the first school teaching street art as a form of non-violent struggle. The film follows two young girls (Romi & Yi-Yi) who have escaped 50 years of civil war in Burma to pursue an arts education in Thailand. Under the threat of imprisonment and torture, the girls use spray paint and stencils to create images in public spaces to let people know the truth behind Burma's transition toward "artificial democracy." Eighty-two hundred miles away, artist Shepard Fairey is painting a 30’ mural of a Burmese monk for the same reasons and in support of the students' struggle in Burma. As these stories are inter-cut, the film connects these seemingly unrelated characters around the concept of using art as a weapon for change.
2014-06-12 | en
6.8
Belarus: An Ordinary Dictatorship
It’s the last dictatorship of Europe, caught in a Soviet time-warp, where the secret police is still called the KGB and the president rules by fear. Disappearances, political assassinations, waves of repression and mass arrests are all regular occurances. But while half of Belarus moves closer to Russia, the other half is trying to resist…
2018-03-18 | fr
6.5
Nobody
Half blind and half deaf, ostraziced Cuban writer Rafael Alcides tries to finish his unpublished novels to discover that after several decades, the home made ink from the typewriter he used to write them has faded. The Cuban revolution as a love story and eventual deception is seen through the eyes of a man who is living an inner exile.
2017-01-13 | es
7.8
In the Intense Now
A personal essay which analyses and compares images of the political upheavals of the 1960s. From the military coup in Brazil to China's Cultural Revolution, from the student uprisings in Paris to the end of the Prague Spring.
2017-11-09 | pt
8.0
Maidan
A chronicle of the civil uprising against the regime of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych that took place in Kyiv in the winter of 2013/14. The film follows the progress of the revolution: from peaceful rallies, half a million strong in the Maidan square, to the bloody street battles between protesters and riot police.
2014-05-21 | uk
0.0
The Naked King - 18 Fragments on Revolution
In 1979, a revolution in Iran. In 1980, a revolution in Poland. The fall of the Shah, the “King of Kings,” in Iran. Mass strikes and the foundation of Solidarność (Solidarity) in Poland. What was in the minds of the young women and men who fomented revolution in their own country? What did they think when their revolution was quelled, or – as in Iran – an authoritarian regime was instituted under the name of an “Islamic Republic”?
2019-09-12 | de
0.0
The American Revolution
Everyone knows the story of Paul Revere and his famous midnight ride to warn colonial forces of the British approach. But history books don't tell of the man who sent Revere on his mission: Joseph Warren, America's least remembered founding father. Uncover the forgotten history of Warren and stories of other unsung heroes in our fight for independence in The American Revolution.
2016-01-01 | en
7.9
The Gate of Heavenly Peace
The Gate of Heavenly Peace is a feature-length documentary about the 1989 protest movement, reflecting the drama, tension, humor, absurdity, heroism, and many tragedies of the six weeks from April to June in 1989. The film reveals how the hard-liners within the government marginalized moderates among the protesters (including students, workers and intellectuals), while the actions of radical protesters undermined moderates in the government. Moderate voices were gradually cowed and then silenced by extremism and emotionalism on both sides.
1995-10-14 | en
6.4
Here and Elsewhere
Here and Elsewhere takes its name from the contrasting footage it shows of the fedayeen and of a French family watching television at home. Originally shot by the Dziga Vertov Group as a film on Palestinian freedom fighters, Godard later reworked the material alongside Anne-Marie Miéville.
1976-09-15 | fr
6.5
First Case, Second Case
First Case, Second Case is a documentary about a teacher who sends a group of pupils out of the classroom when one of them does not own up to talking behind the master's back.
1979-02-01 | fa
6.3
The Russian Revolution
Starting in 1881 this film shows the personal battle between Lenin's Ulyanov family and the royal Romanovs that eventually led to the Russian revolution.
2017-06-15 | en
8.0
AI Evolution
Take a journey through the ever-changing landscape of artificial intelligence with this doc exploring the challenges and opportunities ahead.
2024-02-15 | en
0.0
Torn from the Flag
A sociopolitical historical documentary-thriller about the international decline of communism and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
2007-11-10 | en
0.0
Maos China, Protokolle einer Revolution
Short film directed by Walter Knoop
1974-01-01 | de
6.0
The Singing Revolution
Most people don't think about singing when they think about revolutions. But song was the weapon of choice when, between 1986 and 1991, Estonians sought to free themselves from decades of Soviet occupation. During those years, hundreds of thousands gathered in public to sing forbidden patriotic songs and to rally for independence. "The young people, without any political party, and without any politicians, just came together ... not only tens of thousands but hundreds of thousands ... to gather and to sing and to give this nation a new spirit," remarks Mart Laar, a Singing Revolution leader featured in the film and the first post-Soviet Prime Minister of Estonia. "This was the idea of the Singing Revolution." James Tusty and Maureen Castle Tusty's "The Singing Revolution" tells the moving story of how the Estonian people peacefully regained their freedom--and helped topple an empire along the way.
2006-12-01 | en
8.5
Stolen Kosovo
Stolen Kosovo is a Czech language documentary by director Václav Dvořák (b. 1948), about the Serbian–Albanian conflict in Kosovo. The documentary describes the situation, first in a short overview of the history of the area, followed by the 1990s conflicts and bombing of Serbia by NATO forces in 1999 and ending with the situation after the Kosovo War. The documentary focuses on the 1990s in the time of Slobodan Milošević's rule as well as on numerous interviews of Serbian civilians and, less, of Albanian insurgents against the Milošević regime.
2008-03-17 | cs
5.9
South of the Border
A road trip across five countries to explore the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media's misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents.
2009-09-07 | en
0.0
Land of Upright People
October 2014. Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, is the scene of an unarmed uprising that ousts the dictator in power since 1987 and later staves off an attempted coup. In 2015, the country votes freely for the first time in its history, yet real change remains allusive, especially regarding ongoing economic exploitation by foreign companies. In one year of struggle and resistance, the film follows the daily life of four Burkinabes: a musician and leader of the revolution, a local political candidate, a miner engaged in the labor movement, and an impoverished mother, all sharing hopes that the elections will change the country’s path.
2023-02-02 | it
7.0
Karl Marx und seine Erben
Over the past hundred years, dramatic social upheavals have taken place in the name of Karl Marx's theories. In Western Europe, the student movement of 1968 and the Eurocommunists were inspired. And in recent times, the thinker has experienced a renaissance.
2018-04-28 | de
5.4
How to Start a Revolution
HOW TO START A REVOLUTION is the remarkable untold story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Gene Sharp, the world's leading expert on non-violent revolution. This new film (from first time director Ruaridh Arrow) reveals how Gene's work has given a new generation of revolutionary leaders the weapons needed to overthrow dictators. It shows how his 198 steps to non-violent regime change have inspired uprisings from Serbia to Ukraine and from Egypt to Syria and how his work has spread across the globe in an unstoppable wave of profound democratic change. How To Start A Revolution is the story of the power of people to change their world, the modern revolution and the man behind it all.
2012-02-24 | en