For the month of August the Laogai Museum will be hosting its first ever film series. Starting August 10, the museum will be showing a different documentary every Wednesday for the rest of the month, detailing a different area of human rights in China. The films will be playing all day long in the museum’s theater room. As always, this is open to the general public and is free of charge. Please join the Laogai Museum as we explore human rights challenges in China.
For more information on each documentary being shown and the dates, read on.
8/10/11 China’s Lost Girls (43 min.)
This documentary follows reporter Lisa Ling as she travels with American families going to China to adopt baby girls. The film touches upon the negative effects of China’s one child policy which, when coupled with a long-time cultural preference for boys, results in little girls being aborted, abandoned, hidden or killed. Today, one in four children adopted overseas come from China - most of them are girls.
8/17/11 Devotion and Defiance and Leaving Fear Behind - alternating throughout the day
Devotion and Defiance (35 min.)
This film shows the history of persecution of Buddhists in Tibet. In Tibet, religion and culture are very much fused together. The Communist Party’s paranoia and insecurity is highly evident as it wages harsh crackdowns on peaceful demonstrations held by Tibetan monks and nuns.
Leaving Fear Behind (25 min.)
Dhondup Wangchen -a Tibetan filmmaker - interviews Tibetans about their views on the 2008 Olympic Games, and to a greater extent, the influence of dominant Han Chinese populations on Tibetan culture, history, language and religion. After the filming was completed, Wangchen and his assistant were arrested on charges of subversion and are still serving out their sentences.
8/24/11 Human Rights in China: The Search for Common Ground (50 min.)
(WARNING: This documentary contains graphic images of torture, which may not be suitable for children or the faint of heart.) Do cultural differences influence or affect human rights? This documentary discusses China’s political and economic history and how it has shaped the China of today. The film sends the message that the U.S. and China need to find common ground so that they can engage in serious human rights discussions and work towards a tangible improvement.
8/31/11 The Tank Man (90 min.)
This documentary attempts to investigate the identity and fate of the tank man - the lone soul who bravely stood in defiance of the Chinese Communist Party after the violence of the Tiananmen Square Incident. Western reporters and experts on human rights in China discuss the lasting impact this “tank man” had, not only on China, but also on the rest of the world.
Where: Laogai Museum, 1734 20th Street NW, Washington DC 20009
Contact: [email protected], 202.408.8300 x300
Museum Hours: M-F 10-6, Sat 10-5 | Free Admission!