Women In China:

Up Against The Wall

 

For centuries, China has been a country of many walls. The Great Wall of China is the most recognized wall in the world. Today, as the world becomes more global, China, the "land of the dragon," once shrouded in mystery, has become a serious world power, facing new ideas and challenges. This documentary serves two purposes: 1) it documents the historic United Nations' Fourth World Conference on Women, which occurred in Beijing in 1995, when Hillary Clinton gave her "Women's Rights are Human Rights' Speech"; 2) it offers an eye-opening look at the country and politics of China as a whole, using walls as a symbolic metaphor. Through an historical and psychological lens it tracks the suppression of the feminine from dynastic times through the Communist era. It visits the Forbidden City, a palace and prison for concubines who lived there; it tells of the foot-binding ritual endured by Chinese women; of Mao Tse-tung (Zedong), who became the leader of the Chinese National Party in 1949; and of the Tiananmen Square protest of 1989. Also, five songs written by Yoko Ono help to underscore the message of the program.

 

1 x 45 minutes

Produced by Laurie Layton Schapira.