With no script, markup or studio lights, Zhang told his life mission first time after 16 years of anonymous. He sat in front of my first video camera, recounted one of the most magnificent freedom experiences of our time.
This is the true story of how a young man faced bullets, temptations, and the grind of daily life to uphold his conscience, courage and his devotion to humanity. Zhang Jian was one of the student leaders who shielded others from bullets during the 1989 Tiananmen Square student massacre. As the world watched the massacre on their TV screens, the communist regime claimed that no life was lost. This is one of the most complete, authentic and truthful films about the Tiananmen student movement in China and its aftermath.
For the first time, the film captures its audience with unmasked and raw storylines from China. Zhang Jian was the only student leader who survived three bullets during the massacre, he was only 17 years old in 1989. He later endured 16 years in hiding, before we recorded his story in 2005. Through years of struggle and awakening, Zhang emerged again as a Chinese thought leader, and a Christian to challenge the most sinister regime - Chinese Communist Party.
Crowds of people watch the unveiling of the "Goddess of Democracy" sculpture in Tiananmen Square. The Monument to the People's Heroes and Mao Zedong Mausoleum are visible in the background.
The day after the Chinese government declared martial law, students, protesters, and thousands of Beijing residents and workers in sympathy with them flooded the streets and peacefully persuaded the troops not to continue on to Tiananmen Square. They often gave the troops food.
Students from a Beijing nursing school look after hunger strikers during the protests.
Waving banners, high school students march in Beijing streets near Tiananmen Square on May 25, 1989, during a rally to support the protest against the Chinese government.
A sea of student gathered in Tiananmen Square on May 4, 1989.
Tanks are rolling into the square.
Students appeal to soldiers in Beijing during 1989 student movement.