天安门 (1991) : distribution, intrigue et streaming

Released in 1991, 天安门 is a documentaire film directed by Shi Jian, running about 420 minutes.

What it’s about. A CCTV-commissioned, 8-part series shot between 1988 and 1990, but barred from being released after the events of June 4th. A production of the Structure, Wave, Youth, Cinema (SWYC) Experimental Group, an informal collective of young filmmakers founded in the summer of 1989 and devoted to the production of documentaries, that includes: this series' two directors, Shi Jian and Chen Jue, as well as Beijing TV's Wang Zijun, and this series' screenwriter, Kuang Yang (under the name Guang Yi). Tiananmen documents various aspects of life surrounding the Square: survivors of the imperial era, street performers, fledgling entrepreneurs, fashion school students, foreigners marrying Chinese nationals, and so forth. Each episode starts with a close-up of a giant portrait of Mao hung over the Square, and proceeds as a hybrid of archival footage, direct cinema, and cinema verité, weaving a permanent dialectic between the present and the past, daily life and history.

Who’s in it. 天安门 stars Han Yang as Narrator, Shi Jian as Interviewer and Hu Jian as Interviewer.

How it landed. With an audience score of 8.0/10, 天安门 sits among the best-reviewed titles in the catalogue.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch 天安门 page.

If you liked it. Fans of 天安门 tend to enjoy One Direction : Le Film, Burn the Stage - The Movie, BTS World Tour: Love Yourself - Japan Edition and Senna.