What Happened at Tiananmen? FILM "The Gate of Heavenly Peace"

The Gate of Heavenly Peace by Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon 1995, 189 minutes (full theatrical release) $6 admission Telling the story of the demonstrations and violent response at Tiananmen Square in 1989, Hinton and Gordon weave first-hand accounts, interviews, documentary footage and commentary. Their film examines contradictions that arise when the leaders of a movement for democracy are only familiar with authoritarian political and social structures. Did the movement founder because of that, or did it function historically as an avant garde, its membership sacrificed to death, prison and exile in the course of changing the set of choices its people are presented with?