''Moving the Mountain'' is a 1994 feature documentary directed by

Michael Apted Michael David Apted, (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was a British television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the '' Up'' documentary series (1964–2019). He later directed '' Coal Miner's ...

and produced by

Trudie Styler Trudie Styler (born 6 January 1954) is an English actress and film producer. Early life and family Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the daughter of Pauline and Harry Styler, a farmer and factory worker. When Styler was two years ...

, with cinematography by

Maryse Alberti Maryse Alberti (born March 10, 1954) is a French cinematographer who mainly works in the United States on independent fiction films and vérité, observational documentaries. Alberti has won awards from the Sundance Film Festival and the Spirit ...

and music by

Liu Sola Liu Sola (Chinese: 刘索拉; pinyin: Liú Suǒlā; b. Beijing, China, 1955) is a Chinese composer, vocalist, music producer, and author. Biography After graduating from the Central Conservatory of Music with a degree in composition, she publi ...

. The film takes its title from the memoir by

Li Lu Li Lu (born April 6, 1966) is a Chinese-born American value investor, businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Himalaya Capital Management. Prior to emigrating to America, he was one of the student leaders of the 198 ...

, one of the student leaders of the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

. Though Li Lu is a central figure in the finished film, the project set out to provide a comprehensive understanding of the events leading up to and following the Tiananmen Square protests. The film features interviews with five of the student leaders ( Wang Dan,

Chai Ling Chai Ling (; born April 15, 1966) is a Chinese psychologist who was one of the student leaders in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. She is the founder of All Girls Allowed, an organization dedicated to ending China's one-child policy, and t ...

, Wu'er Kaixi, Wang Chaohua and Li Lu), several supporters of the movement and

Wei Jingsheng Wei Jingsheng (; born 20 May 1950) is a Chinese human rights activist and dissident. He is best known for his involvement in the Chinese democracy movement. He is most prominent for having authored the essay "The Fifth Modernization", which w ...

, a prominent dissident who led the Democracy Wall movement of 1978. Interviews with Wang Dan, number 1 on the government's most-wanted list, and Wei Jingsheng were conducted in secret in Beijing, with the remaining interviews conducted in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles. the film includes extensive archival footage from the Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen Incident of 1976, the Death of Mao Zedong in 1976, the Democracy Wall movement of 1978, and the protests of 1989. This footage was supplemented by dramatic recreations of key childhood events in the life of Li Lu filmed in Taiwan and of the escape routes of several student leaders filmed in Hong Kong.

Year-end lists

* Honorable mention – Betsy Pickle, '' Knoxville News-Sentinel''

References

External links

* 1994 films British documentary films Canadian documentary films 1994 documentary films Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Michael Apted Documentary films about China Films produced by Trudie Styler 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films 1990s British films {{poli-documentary-film-stub