Multimedia | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

“Three Days in Wukan” by Ai Xiaoming (available only in Chinese, 100 minutes)

March 28, 2012 Comments Off

In “Three Days in Wukan,” Chinese filmmaker Ai Xiaoming documents the disappointments and hopes of Wukan villagers at the height of their protests against the government’s seizure of farmland. Ai and some volunteers secretly entered the village on December 19, 2011, when Shanwei City Party Secretary Zheng Yanxiong’s spoke to (read more…)

Let the Sun Shine on the Ground

September 8, 2011 Comments Off

“Let the Sun Shine on the Ground” (让阳光洒到地上) is a documentary about Wang Lihong made by Ai Xiaoming. Wang was criminally detained for “creating a disturbance” on March 21, 2011, during the government’s “Jasmine Crackdown.” On September 9, 2011, she was convicted of “creating a disturbance” and sentenced to nine (read more…)

Chen Yunfei, Come Home!

June 25, 2010 Comments Off

A short film by Sun Yat-sen University professor and documentary filmmaker Ai Xiaoming (艾晓明) about Sichuan human rights defender Chen Yunfei (陈云飞), who was recently detained in a black jail between June 17 and June 19, 2011.

Emergency Shelter- A Documentary About Ni Yulan

June 21, 2010 Comments Off

Emergency Shelter (应急避难场所) is filmmaker He Yang’s (何杨) documentary about the persecution faced by Beijing human rights defender Ni Yulan (倪玉兰).

Disbarment

June 3, 2010 Comments Off

Disbarment (吊照门) is a film chronicling the case of human rights lawyers Tang Jitian and Liu Wei, whose lawyers’ licenses were revoked by Beijing authorities in 2010 in what CHRD believes is a clear case of retaliation against the pair for defending “sensitive” clients.

Chinese internet activists take protests to the real world

May 18, 2010 Comments Off

A video produced by Jamil Anderlini for The Financial Times looks at the case of Fan Yanqiong (范燕琼), Wu Huaying (吴华英), and You Jingyou (游精佑) as a means of examining contemporary internet activism in China.

Let Feng Zhenghu Go Home – A Documentary by Ai Weiwei

November 29, 2009 Comments Off

A documentary chronicles human rights activist Feng Zhenghu’s fight to return to China. Feng, an economist, writer and blogger, left China in April 2009 after being jailed in Shanghai, but then was refused re-entry and remained in Narita International Airport in protest.

“Our Children” – Documentary on Deaths of Schoolchildren in Sichuan Earthquake (by Ai Xiaoming)

October 13, 2009 Comments Off

“Our Children (我们的娃娃)” is a documentary about the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that focuses on the experiences of parents whose children were killed when their schools collapsed, and is dedicated to the memory of the children who lost their lives in the disaster.

Song of the Grass Mud Horse

March 29, 2009 Comments Off

This video, featuring an alpaca-like mythical creature whose name in Chinese (草泥马) sounds like a profanity, surfaced online in early 2009, and became a symbol of defiance against internet censorship in China.

Laoma Tihua (老妈蹄花), a documentary by Ai Weiwei

March 5, 2009 Comments Off

A documentary named “laoma tihua” (老妈蹄花), by the well-known artist and architect Ai Weiwei, is about his experience in August 2009, when he was detained and beaten for trying to testify at the trial of Tan Zuoren (谭作人), a Sichuan activist held for “inciting subversion of state power.”

Prisoners in Freedom City – A Documentary by Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan

February 5, 2008 Comments Off

“Prisoners in Freedom City” is a documentary by Hu Jia (胡佳) and Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕), both human rights activists and bloggers based in Beijing, about their soft detention by the police.