Screening: "The Revolutionary"

The Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University presents a screening of the film, "The Revolutionary" at Quad Cinema in New York

From April 12-18, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University will be hosting a screening of the film, “The Revolutionary”.

Showtimes: 4:00PM and 7:30PM

The film tells the story of Sidney Rittenberg, an American who went to China after WWII, joined the Chinese Communist Party, and was an active participant in the communist revolution for 35 years. An intimate of the Party’s leadership, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, he gained prominence at the Broadcast Administration, one of the most important agencies of government. But in the convulsions of the Mao era, he twice ran afoul of the leadership and served a total of 16 years in solitary confinement.

For more information, please contact info@revolutionarymovie.com or visit www.quadcinema.com. 

THE REVOLUTIONARY: Mao's Call for a Cultural Revolution Was Answer By Millions of Chinese...and One American

The Cultural Revolution was among the most catastrophic and least understood events of the 20th century. Mao Zedont's call to "make revolution" was answered by tens of millions of Chinese and one American, Sidney Rittenberg.

Now 91 years old, his extraordinary memory opens a door to understanding China - then and now - that outsiders very rarely are alloweded to enter. His perspective and insight could only have been provided by someone who was there. And it is made all the more compelling by Rittenberg's irrepressible sense of humor, and irony, and of anecdote, evident during 26 hours of interviews that took place over a five-year period. The filmmakers have transformed those interviews into an extraordinary portrayal of historical events unknown to many Chinese, let alone to most Americans.