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China – Remembering the Cultural Revolution

A Traumatic Past, Memory, and Change

Ayelet Idelberg – anthropologist and researcher of East Asian and Pacific cultures; lecturer, writer, photographer, and tour guide.

The Cultural Revolution that took place in China in the late 1960s and early 1970s left a painful scar on the history of modern China. How does one cope with a disaster caused by a rigid ideology that left no family in China untouched?

By exposing the past, with the help of books and films, the Chinese choose what to deny and what to forget, what to remember, and how to forgive.

The lecture will address Mao Zedong and the rise of the Communist Party in China; myths and realities surrounding the Communist Revolution; from the murder of opponents and the personality cult surrounding Mao to the transformation of China’s image.

This is a lecture about a chapter in history that the Chinese would have preferred to forget.

Full-Length Film Screening: Coming Home

At the height of China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1970s, a family is forced to separate when the father, an educated professor, is arrested and sent for reeducation.

Years later, he is released from prison and returns home, only to discover that his wife, who suffers from severe amnesia, is unable to recognize him.

Despite the sense of estrangement, the couple’s strong love does not fade, taking the story and their future in surprising and hopeful directions.

The film by master director Zhang Yimou, which premiered at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, is a rich, intimate, and compassionate family drama that promises not to leave a dry eye…

In this film, Zhang Yimou reunites with the great star of his early films, the wonderful actress Gong Li.

Running time: 109 minutes
Director: Zhang Yimou
Cast: Gong Li, Chen Daoming