Beijing Spring

Interviews and archival materials that escaped the Chinese censorship in the last forty years tell the history of The Stars group of artists, formed in Beijing in the late 70s, during what became known as the Beijing Spring. Their words are intertwined with Chinese history from 1966 to the Eighties: the rise of Mao Tsé-Tung, the failure of the Cultural Revolution and the regime of censorship and surveillance. The Beijing Spring began with the death of Mao, when the artists posted a series of texts and posters denouncing crimes committed by the Red Guards on the so-called Democracy Wall, near Tiananmen Square. Thanks to the initiative of Ma Desheng and Huang Rui, The Stars group was born which came to involve about fifteen painters and sculptors, including the young Ai Weiwei, and gained attention for having organized an independent exhibition exhibited outside the Beijing National Gallery. Through the use of unpublished 16mm films shot by filmmaker Chi Xiaoning, directors Andy Cohen and Gaylen Ross tell how art and literature have played a central role in affirming freedom of expression at a difficult moment in Chinese history.