Liu Xiaobo was a key figure of the Tiananmen uprising, and was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Yet few in China know his name, as the government continues to try to erase him from collective memory.
Liu Xiaobo was a human rights hero and intellectual who kept watch at Tiananmen Square in 1989 to protect protestors from encroaching soldiers. In 2008 he wrote the Charter 08, a pro-democracy charter that led to his arrest. When he was awarded the Nobel peace Prize in 2010 while in prison, Liu Xiaobo became China’s Nelson Mandela or Václav Havel. Yet many Chinese do not know much about him.
This documentary tells the exceptional story of Liu Xiaobo, a man who valued freedom, who courageously spoke the truth, and never considered going into exile to save himself. He wanted to stay in China, and he did so until the end. But he never had a chance to address the Chinese public. Before Liu Xiaobo died in 2017, he had officially gained medical parole, but remained under guard even in hospital, and was kept silent. To this day, Beijing continues to try to erase his name from collective memory. Yet Liu Xiaobo is one of the great figures in the history of China and the world.
This film tells Liu Xiaobo’s legacy. It includes interviews with those closest to him, such as his wife Liu Xia, as well as a long interview Liu Xiaobo delivered before his arrest. This interview can be described as his own political legacy. It was unearthed while searching through archives for this documentary by French journalist Pierre Haski, who met Liu Xiaobo regularly during his time as a China correspondent.
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