Description |
1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 92 min.) : sound, color |
Summary |
Sidney Rittenberg arrived in China as a GI Chinese language expert at the end of World War II. Discharged there, he joined the Chinese Communist Party, and was an active participant in the Chinese communist revolution and its aftermath. An intimate of the Party's leadership, including Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, he gained prominence at the Broadcast Administration, one of the most important agencies of government. But in the convulsions of a giant country constantly reinventing itself, he twice ran afoul of the leadership, and served a total of 16 years in solitary confinement. He returned to the United States in 1980. Rittenberg captivates the audience with his exceptional intellect, uncompromising honesty, and engaging personality. Over a five-year period, award-winning former-CBS journalist and China specialist, Irv Drasnin, interviewed Rittenberg to produce a compelling, complex and unique understanding of the 20th century's biggest revolution. From Sid first meeting Mao in the caves of Yan'an, to his becoming famous and powerful during the Cultural Revolution, to his battling insanity in solitary, his journey and his profound insight illuminate a much greater history--a history few Chinese are aware of, let alone many Americans, told by an American who was there |
Notes |
Title from title frames |
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Originally produced in 2011 |
Credits |
Director of photography and editor, Don Sellers ; music, Joel Goodman |
Performer |
Narrator, Irv Drasnin |
Notes |
Closed captioned |
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Official Selection, Port Townsend Film Festival -- Official Selection, Sedona International Film Festival -- Official Selection, Cucalorus Film Festival 2012 -- Official Selection, Heartland Film Festival 2012 -- Official Selection, Seattle International Film Festival 2012 -- Winner of the Golden Eagle Award, Cine 2012 -- Official Selection, BendFilm 2012 -- Official Selection, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival |
Subject |
Rittenberg, S. C. (Sydney Charles), 1914-
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Zhongguo gong chan dang.
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SUBJECT |
Zhongguo gong chan dang. fast (OCoLC)fst00535548 |
Subject |
Communists -- China -- History -- Biography
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Documentary films.
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Communists.
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Documentary films.
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SUBJECT |
China -- History -- Civil War, 1945-1949.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85024120
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China -- History -- 1949-1976. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85024122
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China -- History -- Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85024126
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Subject |
China.
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Genre/Form |
collective biographies.
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Biographies.
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Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
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Historical films.
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Biographical films.
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Nonfiction films.
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Documentary films.
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History.
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Made-for-TV movies.
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Documentary films.
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Biographical films.
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Historical films.
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Nonfiction films.
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Video recordings for the hearing impaired.
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Biographies.
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Documentaires.
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Films biographiques.
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Films historiques.
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Films autres que de fiction.
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Vidéos pour personnes handicapées auditives.
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Biographies.
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Form |
Streaming video
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Author |
Rittenberg, Sidney, on-screen participant.
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Drasnin, Irv, screenwriter, film producer, narrator.
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Ostrander, Lucy, film producer.
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Sellers, Don, film producer, film director, cinematographer.
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Goodman, Joel (Joel Scott), composer (expression)
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Stourwater Pictures, production company.
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