“The Revolution They Remember”—a documentary produced by the University of Pittsburgh Library System—explores how ordinary people experienced the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966–76) and how they remember it today. The featured interviews with Chinese citizens were among many collected as part of two oral history projects by the Library System’s East Asian Library and Dartmouth College Library.

The film is available to stream online for free and is accompanied by additional material about the Cultural Revolution and an archive of all the interviews.

The Revolution They Remember, a full-length documentary film, explores how the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) was experienced by ordinary people and how it is remembered today based on two video oral history projects. Initiated in 2015 by the East Asian Library of the University of Pittsburgh Library System, the CR/10 Project recorded, preserved, and published video interviews with Chinese citizens sharing their memories and impressions of China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. At Dartmouth College Library, the Down to the Countryside Movement Project includes interviews with former “Rusticated Youth,” young people who were relocated to China’s rural areas during the Cultural Revolution. The Revolution They Remember features selections from the interviews from these two projects, as well as images contributed by interview participants, archival footage, and photos. The film also comprises commentary by scholars of modern Chinese history.

Support for The Revolution They Remember has been provided by the Henry Luce Foundation, University of Pittsburgh Library System, University Center for International Studies, and the China Council of the Asian Studies Center.

Watch the film