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Pioneering filmmaker Hu Jie uncovers the tragic story of the Cultural Revolution's first victim.
Made as a follow-up to his stunning Searching for Lin Zhao's Soul, Though I Am Gone sees Hu Jie return to the Maoist era to tell the story of Bian Zhongyun, a deputy headmistress at a top Beijing high school beaten to death by her own students in the opening weeks of the Cultural Revolution.
Incredibly, Bian's husband photographed the events leading up to her death, as well as her battered corpse - images he revealed publicly for the first time in the course of being interviewed for this film. The photographs and testimony of Bian's husband are history in the raw, making for a profoundly moving memorial to the victims of Mao's senseless political violence.
Contains scenes that may disturb some viewers.
D Hu Jie WS dGenerate Films L Mandarin w/English subtitles TD digibeta/2007
Read curator Dan Edwards' extended article on Chinese indie documentary at Senses of Cinema.