天安门

Part 3: On the Street, 52 min.
Part 4: On Stage, 54 min.
Part 5: Going Places, 48 min.

Followed by a talk with Shi Jian 时间 and Chen Jue 陈爵.

Eight-part documentary by China Central Television (CCTV) filmed in the late 1980s with a planned air date of National Day, October 1, 1989. Canceled after the June 4th Tiananmen crackdown, co-directors Shi Jian and Chen Jue completed the films independently. 

Parts 3, 4, and 5 discuss the informal economy and marginal lives; the beginnings of avant-garde culture; mobility, travel, and dislocation. 

Shi Jian (时间) is a documentary filmmaker, editor, and producer who worked for decades within state television, while repeatedly testing its limits. After co-directing works such as Tiananmen (1991) and I Have Graduated, he returned to independent filmmaking following his retirement in 2021, most recently completing My Grandfather Liu Wencai (2023).

Chen Jue ( 陈爵) spent his career working at China Central Television (CCTV), where he directed documentaries that explored social change during the reform era. From environmental damage to education, migration, and daily work, his films show how political and economic shifts shape ordinary lives in China, sometimes in ways that proved difficult to broadcast.